Rob Lowe was a guest on the latest episode of Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson's Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, where he casually made a shocking admission about hanging out with Michael J. Fox in the '80s when the stars were around the height of their fame.
Although Lowe and Danson were both massively famous the time, Danson admitted that they never ran in the same circles or really knew each other back in the day. However, the two actors realized they had one friend in common, actress and political activist Jane Fonda, which led to Lowe recalling his activism days.
"My favorite one is, you know, when you wanna shut down a nuclear power plant, the two people that are best to do it for sure are me and Meg Ryan," the 60-year-old quipped self deprecatingly. "I mean, you know that will make you rethink your energy priorities when we show up."
Lowe then brought up the time he was involved in the Hollywood Clean Water Caravan political campaign in support of Proposition 65, an initiative that set out to toughen state toxic waste laws. The bus tour, which was chock full of some of the biggest names of the '80s, traveled around California to inform voters on the issue. It was on that bus tour that Lowe and Fox inadvertently ran afoul of police.
"I just remember it like it was yesterday. I love doing all that stuff," the Parks and Recreation star explained, noting that the pair had evidently missed each other then as well. "It was Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the great producers, and there was a bus tour through California for Prop 65, which was about cleaning up our water system, and everybody on the planet was on it."
"But there were two different busses, it sounds like you weren't on either bus," Lowe said, which Danson confirmed.
"We got pulled over for speeding—well, also because Michael J. Fox and I were smoking pot out of the top of the Greyhound bus roof," he continued. "And the cop pulled us over, and it was like a clown car. Out came Whoopi Goldberg, Cher, Judd Nelson, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Robert Downey Jr., Jane Fonda, Danny Glover."
When asked if they were pulled over because of the smoke, Lowe added, laughing: "We had the top emergency hatch off, Michael and I, and we were smoking pot."
Sadly, the subject changed before he could elaborate, but ostensibly the young actors did not face any charges due to their indiscretion. Of course, given that Lowe has maintained his sobriety since 1990, just a few years after the incident, it's probably easy enough for him to look back on and laugh now.
