He's the Academy Award-winning actor who stunned international audiences with his burly physique in the 2000 film Gladiator.
But on Friday night, it wasn't Russell Crowe's figure that set tongues wagging as he emceed the 30th American Cinematheque Awards - it was his language.
The 52-year-old New Zealand actor opened the prestigious event by bluntly declaring: "All right, American Cinematheque, let's grab the night by the pu**y!"
The bizarre remark appeared to mock US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, who recently came under fire when audio surfaced of him saying when you're high-profile like him, that it's okay to grab women "by the pu**y".
Russell then went on to joke about voting in the US election, in which Republican nominee Donald is competing against Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton.