Kiefer Sutherland’s touching Shane MacGowan anecdote that changed his mind about ‘trusting first encounters’ goes viral

• A 2019 clip of Sutherland has resurfaced where he recalls the touching moment
• The actor details meeting the singer and getting into a fight before making up 
• The Pogues frontman MacGowan died aged 65 on Thursday morning

It wasn’t exactly a fairytale in New York, but a clip of Kiefer Sutherland recalling an interaction he had with the late Shane MacGowan in Dublin has gone viral, with fans declaring it depicts the ‘great spirit’ of the musician.

In the 2019 interview with Sutherland on The Late, Late Show in Ireland, the actor details a night out in Dublin with The Pogues frontman, who died on Thursday aged 65, that changed his perspective and taught him to not judge a book by its cover.

Admitting they didn’t get off to the best start, Sutherland, 56, begins his story which started in a Dublin club in the ’90s about ‘two or three in the morning,’ where he ran into Sinead O’Connor, Van Morrison, Ronnie Wood, and MacGowan.

‘That’s something you’re never going to see. I knew Ronnie so he invited me up to say hello and I introduced myself,’ he told host Ryan Tubridy, adding: ‘I couldn’t help but noticing that Sinead O’Connor was drinking milk and everybody else was not.’

A clip from 2019 showing Kiefer Sutherland recalling interaction in Dublin between himself and the late Shane MacGowan has gone viral

The Pogues’ frontman Shane MacGowan died aged 65 after a battle with viral encephalitis – a life-threatening condition that leads to brain swelling

Upon taking a seat, the 24 star said he then made the  ‘cardinal mistake’ of bringing up politics: finding out that he and MacGowan had very different takes on the history of Scotland.

‘And before you know it, the two of us were fighting,’ he recalled. ‘We were rolling around on the floor and I remember Van Morrison laughing.’

‘I won’t get into the fight, but it ended. And I got up and I said, “I’m embarrassed, I’m very sorry” and I walked away,’ he continued, adding: ‘Shane MacGowan at that time had a cast on his arm that looked as well lived in as anything that I’d ever seen. So fighting just seemed unfair.’

Excusing himself,  Sutherland went to the bar and to get a drink, and realized ‘hours later’ that the bar’s almost empty.

‘[Then] I get a tap on my shoulder. And it’s Shane MacGowan,’ the bemused actor said. ‘He says, “I need a place to stay.” I said, “You’ve got to be kidding me, three hours ago we were fighting on the floor.”‘

An incredulous MacGowan replied, ‘That was three hours ago, now I need a place to stay,’ Sutherland recalled, saying the singer then announced his friends had gone.

‘I was so impressed with his directness so I asked him to have a last drink, we walked back to my hotel, I got out bunch of blankets and made a bed for him on the couch and he went to sleep and I went to sleep,’ he said.

The next morning, the actor woke to discover MacGowan had gone – but left a beautiful note depicting how grateful he was to Sutherland 

Sutherland (pictured right) appeared on the Late Late Show in 2019, where he retold the story to host Ryan Tubridy

The news of the Pogues’ frontman’s death came days after MacGowan returned home upon being released from hospital, with wife Victoria sharing a photo of him in his hospital bed 

News of his death was announced in a post on Instagram by his wife on Thursday

The clip has exploded online with devastated fans declaring it encapsulates the singer’s spirit

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3Vsm0gFtOd4%3Frel%3D0

‘I got up in the morning expecting him to still be there because it was quite early, and all the blankets were perfectly folded,’ he recalled. 

‘You couldn’t have done it better – the pillow was on top of the blankets, and I looked over to the desk, there was a note that he had written on the hotel stationery.’

‘And it was the most beautiful letter I’d ever read, it was like poetry.

‘And it was just a thank you note, but it was so generous, and the things he had to say about me and our night and humanity. It was quite long.’

Sutherland continued: ‘I’ve still got the letter to this day, and it changed my perspective, don’t judge a book by its cover and very rarely trust first encounters.’

The clip has exploded online with devastated fans declaring it encapsulates the singer’s spirit.

‘About a good a story as any about the spirit of Shane MacGowan. RIP,’ one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote.

‘”It was like poetry”… Shane Macgowan was truly something else, truly truly truly,’ another wrote.

‘My reaction to hearing about Shane MacGowan’s death was the same as my reaction to Lemmy’s, which was, how the f**k did he make it past 60?’ joked anther.

‘Glad he did though,’ they continued. ‘ I life very well lived. Here’s a fabulous anecdote about the great man from Kiefer Sutherland. Worth a watch.’ 

The legendary Irish rocker, who was behind the iconic Christmas song Fairytale of New York, died ‘peacefully’ at 3am on Thursday with his wife Victoria Mary Clarke and family by his side. 

The singer was battling viral encephalitis – a life-threatening condition that leads to brain swelling – and had been in and out of Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital for months. He was discharged last week ahead of his upcoming birthday on Christmas Day. 

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