# Estella Marie Thompson
**Estella Marie Thompson** (born 1969) is an American former sex worker and television personality who became internationally known under the stage name **Divine Brown** after she was arrested with the British actor [Hugh Grant](https://www.edgepedia.org/hugh-grant) in Los Angeles in June 1995.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113421/bio/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995) The arrest, made public days before the release of Grant's film *[Nine Months](https://www.edgepedia.org/nine-months)*, turned her into a tabloid celebrity and briefly made her one of the most photographed women in the English-speaking press.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1969; sources give San Francisco, California (IMDb) or Los Angeles (NNDB)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113421/bio/) • [3](https://www.nndb.com/people/437/000026359/) |
| Stage name | Divine Brown |
| Arrest | June 27, 1995, in Grant's BMW near Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood; both charged with lewd conduct[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995) |
| Payment | Grant paid her $60 (about £37 at the time) for oral sex[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995) |
| Sentence | 180 days in jail, $1,350 in fines and costs, five days of community service, and an AIDS education class, after pleading no contest[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/06/Divine-Brown-gets-180-day-sentence/2510810360000/) |
| Probation violation | The sentence also covered probation imposed for two 1993 prostitution convictions[5](https://www.deseret.com/1995/9/7/19191466/hugh-s-hollywood-hooker-gets-6-month-sentence/) |
| Later work | Star of the 1996 adult video *Sunset & Divine*; appearances on talk and court shows in the United States and Britain[3](https://www.nndb.com/people/437/000026359/) |
## The 1995 arrest
On the night of June 27, 1995, Grant, then 34 and fresh from the success of *Four Weddings and a Funeral*, was in Hollywood to promote *Nine Months*. He met Thompson, then 25, on the [Sunset Strip](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunset-strip) and paid her $60 to perform oral sex in his rented BMW, parked on a residential street off [Sunset Boulevard](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunset-boulevard). Hollywood vice officers knocked on the car window and arrested both of them.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995) • [6](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/hugh-grant-being-caught-with-sex-worker-divine-brown-did-not-stop-films-being-a-success-because-hollywood-only-cares-about-money-a7180721.html)
Thompson was not an unknown figure to Los Angeles police. Records obtained by the *San Francisco Examiner* showed she had been arrested 14 times for prostitution in San Francisco's Tenderloin district since 1991, most recently that April, and she faced almost $30,000 in fines for failing to take mandated AIDS tests and appear in court in Los Angeles.[7](https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Grant-s-hooker-is-from-Bay-Area-3141004.php)
## Legal outcome
Both defendants pleaded no contest to lewd conduct. At a hearing on September 6, 1995, Hollywood Municipal Court Commissioner Robert Sandoval sentenced Thompson, then 25 and a mother of two, to 180 days in jail, two years of summary probation, $1,350 in fines and costs, five days of community service, and an AIDS education class to be completed by November 2. The 180-day term absorbed a 90-day sentence from August 1993 for a prostitution conviction that she had never served, and the arrest violated the probation imposed for two 1993 prostitution convictions.[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/06/Divine-Brown-gets-180-day-sentence/2510810360000/) • [5](https://www.deseret.com/1995/9/7/19191466/hugh-s-hollywood-hooker-gets-6-month-sentence/) She reported to jail on November 2, 1995.[4](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/06/Divine-Brown-gets-180-day-sentence/2510810360000/)
Grant received the lighter outcome: a $1,180 fine, two years' probation, and an AIDS education course.[8](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/grant-s-divine-at-o-farrell-2990436.php) He apologized publicly on *The Tonight Show* less than a month after the arrest, and later described the episode as a "hiccup" in a career that continued largely undamaged.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/hugh-grant-being-caught-with-sex-worker-divine-brown-did-not-stop-films-being-a-success-because-hollywood-only-cares-about-money-a7180721.html)
## Fame and its uses
The arrest made Thompson a marketable name. The British tabloid *News of the World* bought her story for a reported $100,000, according to the *Guardian*'s account of the press scramble; the *San Francisco Examiner* reported the exclusive was worth a reported $160,000.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995) • [7](https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Grant-s-hooker-is-from-Bay-Area-3141004.php) In a 1996 interview with the *San Francisco Examiner* she put the change in her circumstances bluntly: "I ruined his life, but it made mine."[9](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/mar/14/to-err-is-hugh-man-but-to-cash-in-is-divine/)
**Media and performance work.** She toured the United Kingdom, appearing on chat shows and in night clubs, and appeared with the adult-film performer and director [Ron Jeremy](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-jeremy) in the 1996 low-budget adult video *Sunset & Divine* (also released as *Taken for Granted*), in which she played herself and Jeremy played her lawyer.[3](https://www.nndb.com/people/437/000026359/) • [10](https://gwern.net/doc/rotten.com/library/bio/misc/divine-brown/index.html) In March 1996 she appeared as an entertainer at the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, in four "wild shows" that re-enacted the Grant arrest, complete with a woman playing Grant and another playing his girlfriend [Elizabeth Hurley](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-hurley); by then she had moved from Los Angeles to San Leandro, California.[8](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/grant-s-divine-at-o-farrell-2990436.php) Her American television appearances included [Danny Bonaduce](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-bonaduce)'s short-lived talk show in 1995, Howard Stern's radio program in April 1996, and the court show *Judge Judy* in 1999.[10](https://gwern.net/doc/rotten.com/library/bio/misc/divine-brown/index.html) She was also the first guest on Joey Buttafuoco's public-access cable talk show in 1998.[11](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buttafuoco-hits-the-airwaves/) IMDb credits her as an actress and writer on *The Divine Brown: Million Dollar Hooker - A True Story* (2006) and *Parental Advisory: Disciplinary Measures* (2014).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113421/bio/)
## Later life
Thompson's notoriety faded through the late 1990s, though her record continued: she was arrested in Las Vegas in 1996 for prostitution and loitering, and again in 1997 after an undercover officer inquired about her prices.[10](https://gwern.net/doc/rotten.com/library/bio/misc/divine-brown/index.html) • [3](https://www.nndb.com/people/437/000026359/) In interviews she said the money earned from the scandal's aftermath let her leave prostitution, buy a house, and put her daughters through school.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113421/bio/) • [12](https://www.celebitchy.com/116588/hugh_grants_hooker_divine_brown_wants_to_invite_him_to_her_wedding/) In 2010 she told the *Mail Online* that she was helping her partner run his music production company.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/hugh-grant-being-caught-with-sex-worker-divine-brown-did-not-stop-films-being-a-success-because-hollywood-only-cares-about-money-a7180721.html)
## The namesake singer
Thompson should not be confused with Divine Brown, the Canadian R&B and soul singer born 1974 in Toronto to Jamaican parents, who won the 2009 Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for her album *The Love Chronicles* and is known for the singles "Old Skool Love" and "Lay It on the Line".[13](https://thecbma.com/artists/divine-brown/)
## References
1. [Divine Brown – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113421/bio/)
2. [Hugh Grant arrested with sex worker 20 years ago, The Guardian (2015)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/from-the-archive-blog/2015/jun/26/hugh-grant-arrest-prostitute-divine-brown-20-1995)
3. [Divine Brown, NNDB](https://www.nndb.com/people/437/000026359/)
4. [Divine Brown gets 180-day sentence, UPI Archives (September 6, 1995)](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/09/06/Divine-Brown-gets-180-day-sentence/2510810360000/)
5. [Hugh's Hollywood hooker gets 6-month sentence, Deseret News (September 7, 1995)](https://www.deseret.com/1995/9/7/19191466/hugh-s-hollywood-hooker-gets-6-month-sentence/)
6. [Hugh Grant: Divine Brown sex scandal did not stop success, The Independent (2016)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/hugh-grant-being-caught-with-sex-worker-divine-brown-did-not-stop-films-being-a-success-because-hollywood-only-cares-about-money-a7180721.html)
7. [Grant's hooker is from Bay Area, San Francisco Examiner via SFGate (July 2, 1995)](https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Grant-s-hooker-is-from-Bay-Area-3141004.php)
8. [Grant's Divine at O'Farrell, San Francisco Chronicle via SFGate (March 12, 1996)](https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/grant-s-divine-at-o-farrell-2990436.php)
9. [To Err Is Hugh-Man, But To Cash In Is Divine, The Spokesman-Review (March 14, 1996)](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/mar/14/to-err-is-hugh-man-but-to-cash-in-is-divine/)
10. [Divine Brown timeline, gwern.net archive](https://gwern.net/doc/rotten.com/library/bio/misc/divine-brown/index.html)
11. [Buttafuoco Hits The Airwaves, CBS News (1998)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buttafuoco-hits-the-airwaves/)
12. [Hugh Grant's hooker, Divine Brown, wants to invite him to her wedding, Celebitchy (2010)](https://www.celebitchy.com/116588/hugh_grants_hooker_divine_brown_wants_to_invite_him_to_her_wedding/)
13. [Divine Brown, Canada Black Music Archives](https://thecbma.com/artists/divine-brown/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Adult film performers › American performers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license