The actor has shared a hilarious story involving the country legend, some weed, and a bunch of steaks.
ByTrey Alston
September 23, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Matthew McConaughey recalled smoking weed on Willie Nelson’s tour bus while hosting a cookout.
- McConaughey panicked that his marinated ribeyes were burning, only to run outside and discover he had not even lit the grill.
- He laughed that “the little subplot became unmanageable,” adding another story to Nelson’s well-documented cannabis lore.
Matthew McConaughey has shared a hilarious story about smoking weed with Willie Nelson — and how it almost ended with a kitchen faux pas.
In a new interview with Esquire, McConaughey and Woody Harrelson — who are currently promoting their new Apple TV comedy series Brothers — were asked who their dream blunt rotation partner would be.
After Harrelson admitted to smoking “about 962 million tons” of marijuana with Nelson, McConaughey reflected on his own experience smoking with the legendary country singer.
“We go on the bus, I’m hosting everybody. Oh, yeah. I’m gonna cook the steaks and everything. I’ve been marinating these inch and five eighth ribeyes for a day,” McConaughey explained. “We go on Willie’s bus. Partake. All of a sudden, ‘Fucking steaks!’ I freak out that I’m burning the steaks. I run out to the grill. I hadn’t even lit it yet.”
McConaughey then burst out laughing, adding: “The little subplot became unmanageable.”
Nelson’s relationship with cannabis is very well documented. The most repeated entry in the canon remains the late 1970s night on the White House roof, which Jimmy Carter’s son Chip confirmed on camera in a 2020 documentary.
One detail ties McConaughey and Nelson together, more than their marijuana episode involving the steaks. Joe Turner, the Austin attorney who represented McConaughey after a marijuana-related arrest in 1999, had previously represented Nelson in a marijuana possession case.
