Gina Gershon Reflects on Unsettling Encounter with Paul Snider Before Tragic Hollywood Case

Gershon says the encounter happened during a night out with Jodie Foster

Actress Gina Gershon is opening up about a past encounter that left a lasting impression. In a recent interview, she recalled meeting nightclub promoter Paul Snider years before the shocking tragedy that later stunned Hollywood.

In an interview on SiriusXM’s The Julia Cunningham Show, 63-year-old Gershon recounted her meeting with Snider just weeks before he killed his estranged wife (1980 Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten) and himself.

Speaking to Cunningham, the Showgirls actress recalled her brief meeting, which she described as “super creepy.” She says the encounter happened when she was at a nightclub with actress Jodie Foster, who she had met through mutual friends.

“Jodie and I became party friends because she came to see my show,” Gershon said of a musical she was appearing in at the time, adding, “You know, we’re like, ‘Let’s go dancing. Let’s dress up for Halloween.’ “

One night, the two went to a concert and after, Foster suggested they go to a new nightclub. Gershon recounted: “She goes, ‘Let’s just go dance,’ ” adding of their ages at the time: “I don’t think we were 21 yet. Maybe 19 or 20.”

“Anyway, we can get in, and so we were just having fun,” Gershon continued, adding: “We were just minding our own business, just having a good time, you know, dancing and stuff, and then that creepy guy [Snider] said, ‘Hey, I think you should be in Playboy,’ and I’m like, ‘Huh?’ and he could, he had smarm all over him, and then he kept talking about like, you know — I said, ‘No, no, no, thank you.’ I was polite. I said, ‘No, thank you. I wanna be an actress. I’m not interested in doing that.’ “

Gershon said he then replied, “Well, my wife is an actress and now she’s doing this and this and this and this and this.”

“Which she was, “Gershon said. “She was working with [filmmaker] Peter Bogdanovich, and then, you know, I just remember looking at, he gave me the card. I wish I had that card, but then he left and Jodie and I were like, ‘Ew, we should go. This is gross. We gotta go. There’s like yucky people here.’ “

A few weeks later, Gershon saw the news that he had murdered his estranged wife (Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten) and himself — reportedly due to being jealous of her success and her relationship with Bogdanovich.

On on Aug. 14, 1980, the day of her murder, Stratten went over to the home she and Snider once shared, despite friends warning her not to, to go over their divorce agreement. She and Snider would later be found dead by friends, naked in the bedroom.

The 20-year-old’s tragic death shocked Hollywood and inspired books, TV show and films.

“It was like two or three weeks later,” Gershon remembered. “I’m terrible with time, but it was really close. It was soon after that.. I got a very sick feeling in my stomach thinking, ‘God, what if I had been saying, ‘Yeah, I wanna go meet Hef and I wanna do this.’ “

She added: “I mean, he was definitely a creepy dude though. Right away, I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I didn’t want to keep his card. He was gross.”