Yesterday, I had some back and forth on Twitter when someone sent me a link to a “statement” attributed to Tom Hardy. As we discussed on earlier this week, Drew McWeeny at HitFix went HAM on Tom Hardy via Twitter. McWeeny claimed that Tom made reporters wait four hours for interviews, and then didn’t even deign to sit down with several outlets. McWeeny also said that this is a regular thing for Hardy during junkets and promotional tours, that he’s consistently rude, not just to journalists but to studio people, publicists, handlers, etc. Lainey pretty much confirmed that Tom is really That Guy, the celebrity who acts like a pissy, bratty baby all the time.
Anyway, back to my story – there was a claim that Tom had responded to McWeeny by writing an open letter, which Tom then handed off to his “official” fansite to publish. This… is not the way to handle the situation. It’s so odd that I honestly didn’t even believe that it was real. What movie star/actor writes out a statement and gives it to a fansite to publish? But at this point, JustJared, Dlisted, Vulture and other sites are running with it, so here’s the alleged open letter that Tom wrote to Drew McWeeny (I made some minor edits because swear words):
Dear Drew,
Thank you for your email offering to retract your misdirected anger. I apologise for any part of you having to wait for an interview and then not get one. The truth is we (as I was paired for all interviews that day) were unaware that ANYBODY was waiting. Or even went without a TV interview. Someone somewhere must have thought putting it on me was a lot easier than losing their journalist relations for the ongoing junkets and multiple movies that are pending. I wish I would have napped to be honest.
One note to make is that per Fox, they said they “never actually told (you) that the interview was cancelled, simply that they were running behind schedule.” They also said that “Drew chose not to wait and left. Had he stayed, he would have gotten his interview as planned.”
F–k.. Plot thickens … Who knows what to trust my friend, but I do know the cancellation was definitely not made by myself.
Resisting the urge to dare you to say what you “rant tweeted” so publicly, to my face next time we meet, which I doubt you have the balls to do; I want to apologise regardless on behalf of those that misled the both of us. That isn’t cool. At all. Neither were your tweets. But that’s by the by.
I appreciate your apology of sorts in your emails to and fro which I am happy to openly post. Also as I hope you understand now and which you’ve made very clear in our emails back and forth, your legitimate frustration lies with those who organised the junket; who fed you and I misinformation; not me.
Again apologies for the clusterfk. And it’s knock on effect to your personal life. I appreciate it is a busy time of year for you and your time shouldn’t have been wasted. I never had any intention of causing you any inconveniences at all.
Best regards and thanks for calling me an a–hole a lot
Tommy xxx
[From Tom Hardy’s fan-run Tumblr]
Passive-aggressive much? There’s nothing like screaming “NUH UH SAY IT TO MY FACE” to prove that you’re a well-adjusted adult. So, Drew McWeeny confirmed, in a tweet, that Tom did write the open letter. McWeeny was tweeting extensively about it on Wednesday, actually, and then he ended up writing a lengthy blog post about the incident on HitFix. Here are some of assorted tweets:
Here's some truth for you: I have never exchanged any e-mails with Tom Hardy. Hmmmm. Guess we can keep those plot twists coming, huh?
— DrewAtHitFix (@DrewAtHitFix) December 23, 2015
You want to believe what you want to believe. I'm not going to stop you. And I don't need anyone to pick sides. You're being very silly.
— DrewAtHitFix (@DrewAtHitFix) December 23, 2015
The whole world is a schoolyard, and most of you, deep down at heart, side with the bullies.
— DrewAtHitFix (@DrewAtHitFix) December 23, 2015
Amidst all of this, I named "Mad Max: Fury Road" my second favorite film of the year. "Revenant" is in my Runners-up. Boy, I hold a grudge.
— DrewAtHitFix (@DrewAtHitFix) December 23, 2015
While some sites have run this story like Tom Hardy got the better of a slimy journalist, my immediate reaction is to still be Team Drew. I believed his original story, and I still believe it. I also think he’s being quite professional about the sh-t-ton of grief he’s probably gotten from Tom’s fans and from the studio. You can read Drew’s HitFix post about the incident here. He says, again, that he and Tom did not exchange phone calls or emails. He offers a more detailed account of how Tom was a pissy baby on this junket, and in previous junkets. Drew is also telling hard truths about the long-standing rumors of Tom’s unprofessional behavior on and off set, how his bad attitude costs a lot of people time and money. The whole piece is definitely worth a read. And yes, I’m still Team Drew.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Same that open letter read like a long whine from a child that got called out on their bad behavior. Tom didn’t think he would get called out and he did.
Frankly the movie doesn’t need this type of press going into awards season so they should’ve just reached out and squashed it privately. So stupid
Yeah as soon as I read that letter, I knew the journalist was telling the truth.
I have sympathy, man. People DO waste your time, because they can. And everyone just expects you to go along with it. I’m also going to go one further and say that I think British administrative/bureaucratic culture is just the worst. This passive aggressive response to a legitimate complaint–smacks of that culture to me (or maybe it’s just Tom Hardy. Just saying this is my initial take).
“Passive aggressive open letter” is redundant. They are ALL passive-aggressive (as well as being TL;DR).
You mean that’s the nature of an open letter? That’s true. I don’t think the journalist’s tweets could be described as passive…
Yeah, still TeamDrew. Tom’s an ahole. Even if this particular thing wasn’t true, other incidents have been confirmed.
It will be interesting to see how Tom acts on future press junkets. Also whether some journalists may decide to bait him to get some reaction and in doing so get a good story. Tom may have opened up a can of worms
That’s what I was thinking too. He has opened himself up to a lot of trouble, especially since he hates this part of being a celebrity.
When I was in college, I worked as an intern for the Nashville Tennessean and often assisted during press junkets for country music events, etc. One of the nicest celebrities that I ever met was Dolly Parton. She was an absolute joy and treated everyone like an old friend, even if she didn’t know you. She was very professional, did not keep anyone waiting.
@Michelle B: I love Dolly! She’s my favorite celebrity of all time! So glad to here she was nice and professional
I can second Dolly. She is an absolute pro and she recognises that journos and press have a job to do. I think she’s never forgotten where she came from and, as a result, treats everyone like their special. I got a hug, a compliment from her: the resultant high from that lasted weeks.
My mom interviewed Dolly on the phone back in the 70s and said she was just delightful. She told my mom she was in her kitchen, eating a bologna sandwich. She’s good people!
I met Dolly when I was seventeen, and working as a hostess at Austin, TX eatery. She was lovely to me, asked my name, told me I was “Darling,” and tipped the waitstaff 40%. Fantastic, classy lady.
The thinly veiled threat of violence was an especially classy touch. The Napoleon complex is strong with this one.
I look forward to being called a bitch (IN ALL CAPS!) again by one of his many, equally classy fans 🙂
Must be the fact that he’s also quite short with an ego that doesn’t fit in his body.
You know, I actually do think this Drew guy would “say it to his face”.
Hardy’s letter is one of the worst reactions to controversy by a professional actor I’ve seen in a while (although Renner still reigns supreme). I’m still not even sure it’s real.
If it is, while I was willing to give Hardy some benefit of the doubt a couple days back, that letter actually proves the guy is a whiny prick.
This was obviously his own insane unchecked plan as anyone who is likely to give the ok for this (Manager? Publicist? ) would surely have edited for spelling and grammar.
He comes off like such an inarticulate a hole. Way to confirm the original story.
Interestingly, Charlize Theron has spent months in the middle of nowhere filming in difficult conditions with both Hardy and Renner. Hardy she clearly despises, despite being diplomatic during the Mad Max press tour; she is a great actress, but body language speaks volumes. Renner she loves to the point of helping to run his first Oscar campaign. Renner is often a d**k in interviews, but you will never hear bad things about his attitude on set or in the way he treats the people he works with.
Hardy’s letter wasn’t great. A simple apology from the organizers of the press junket explaining what had happened and where the fault lay would have really made Drew look foolish and forced an apology. Hardy’s threatening tone and the way he speaks about the underlings doing the organizing does kind of support Drew’s comments. I would really like to hear from the organizers on this because I am not sure I can take Hardy’s word that they are at fault.
Very interesting! I picked up some shared distaste between the two of them in Mad Max but assumed it was part of their roles. I still find Tom Hardy to be an incredible, underrated actor. And a train I’d enjoy riding allllll night.
That’s what I thought about the letter, too. A manager or publicist cannot be that stupid to let that thing get published.
Well I see that Tom wanted to show he had the bigger dick, but only proved that he is a big dick. I wonder how Leo feels about his movie being hijacked by Tom and his pettiness? I wonder if the whole movie will be affected by this come time for nominations?
Tom seriously needs to get over himself because he is replaceable. He isn’t a Hollywood heavyweight, so his career can be in jeopardy.
I read somewhere that Tom is annoyed that his performance is being overlook for Leo’s give-me-an-Oscar push.
I am with the reporter too, but I find it very hard to believe that Hardy really penned that email and passed it on to his fansite. Who does that? If it is true, than I hope to read a tell-all book by his pr one day, as he must be anabsolute nightmare to work for.
Maybe his team didn’t release it because they knew it would make him look worst and advised him against it,but Tom wouldn’t listen so he went about putting it out there himself. Maybe they are enjoying him publicly hang himself, seeing as he’s such a terror to subordinates.
The reporter has confirmed Hardy wrote it on twitter. I assume that means he has spoken to Hardy’s people about it.
Nah, whiney Drew (lol, that name) is just looking for more traffic to his website. 15 minutes of ‘fame’. So sad. Such is the fragile male ego. Then again, critics always do bruise easily, poor dears.
I’m inclined toward this. Drew’s emails are just as immature, while trying to prove that he’s the bigger man.
I don’t see anything immature about his tweets–just Hardy’s letter.
I don’t get where Drew’s immaturity is? He didn’t actually write publicly “say it to my face” – the most childish response to anything ever.
I think calling an actor a “spoiled baby” and saying “f*k him” “thanks for making my job impossible because you’re such a delicate flower” and and calling Hardy a “piece of sh*t”, “dick move” etc etc is pretty damn unprofessional but that’s just me…
I personally would not say that publicly about someone whom I depend upon for my livelihood/professional success. Then again, I’m not on Twitter or social media really.
I am with Kitten on this one. Drew was unprofessional too.
Can we stop this trend of open letters on social media? For the love of God!
I’m kind of with you on this. Why doesn’t Drew just walk away? Why keep up the dialogue at all? The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s INDIFFERENCE. Theres a lot of ego-protecting going on here on both sides. Drew continues to stoke the flames of this thing on Twitter…why!? One actor stood you up one time…I doubt that’s the first time that’s happened. Drew has to be benefiting from the publicity. That doesn’t necessarily make me a Bloke Apologist either. But seriously, a Twitter war now? really? From where I’m sitting, Tom may have been out of line, but it’s Drew who is trying to keep this thing alive. I’m not buying it.
Drew McWeeny already has quite a decent following. Hit Fix does fine without this kind of attention. Does this publicity help? Sure. Is that the reason for it? Probably not.
I had never heard of, or been the slightest bit interested, in this McWeeny (name seems appropriate, you couldn’t make it up), joker before, and now I have. Mission accomplished I guess, and profile conveniently raised. I am a Bloke fan, but neither of these gentleman come off very well over this storm in a teacup situation. Now, I am taking my toys, and going home.
He genuinely sounds like a man who lost his cool. Drew’s reaction wasn’t very professional, he could have expressed his views without swearing and name calling, but he made it quite clear that this was based on 8 years experience of dealing with Hardy or at least trying to deal with him. I get the impression he was very tired, very angry and had possibly had a few when it all came pouring out. I am sure there was nothing cynical about it.
Agree, Jellybean, I feel like he probably got pushed to the point of losing his cool. Not terribly professional, but human.
lucy2
Very human. Most people have had jobs where people are jerks to them. You hit breaking points and snap. That he called out the behavior from his perspective seems fine enough. Not professional though. That Tom has pretty much confirmed he’s a jerk makes me more forgiving to the journalist.
1.) why is the name Drew something to be mocked?
2.) if anyone’s ego got hurt…it’s Tom’s.
Seriously. I mean, pettiness should be expected on a gossip site but really. Not cool.
If the guy’s name is Drew McWeeny, which part of the name do you think the poster is making fun of?
Granted, it’s not nice to make fun of someone’s name.
Oope..posted in the wrong thread…standby…
I agree
Is Tom Hardy mentally ill? He mentions twice or more about how Drew wrote him an apology e-mail… And Drew is like, i have never even sent him an e-mail. lol what the hell is going on?
McWeeny says that he has been in touch with Hardy’s publicist, so I think maybe he might have issued an apology to her (i.e. “I’m sorry my rant has created a problem for you,”) and maybe she forwarded that on to Hardy, and the Actor Ego has Hardy thinking the apology was actually for him?
If this were the first we were hearing of this type of behavior on Tom’s part then maybe I would think differently, but since it definitely isn’t, I am very inclined to believe that what Drew is saying here is accurate, even though I think his manner in spreading that truth came off badly.
Still team nobody. Tom was wrong. This guy is so immature and inarticulate, though. The whole world is a schoolyard? No, it isn’t, unless you’re still a child. Grow up. If you have to make your grievances public, do in a mature way. Or lets just all tweet out obscene rival every time we’re disappointed in someone.
Hey so called bridge partner, two spades is weak, asshat, and thanks for leaving me hanging when my bid was forcing, you chickensh@t.
In your opinion, what would have been the right way for Drew to adress this?
Was he supposed to keep quiet?
I think he should have written an intelligent, articulate, maybe even humorous article or tweet about it. Drop the obscenities. Drop the whining. Address the issue – he had an appointment and was kept waiting then stood up altogether so that he now won’t be paid. Stop acting like its the end of the world. It was rude. It was inconsiderate. Say so, once. Don’t tweet out angry little snippets every five minutes. Nobody else cares that much. Don’t call Hardy names. Grow up. Be professional.
He could have simply written the letter that Mom2 linked below, instead of firing off angry, nasty tweets knowing that the media would grab that and run with it.
The letter he wrote is rational, detailed, and explains exactly how he feels and why he feels that way. Don’t you agree that that is a more mature and professional approach than tweeting “F*ck Tom Hardy” ?
Look, we all have daily frustrations that come with our jobs. My job involves a lot of client interaction and I sometimes want to punch a wall with how ignorant people can be, but I keep my cool, I stay calm and polite and I do my best to please our clientele. It’s called professionalism.
So Tom behaved badly and pissed this guy off but how is this guy’s behavior ANY better? That’s what I don’t get.
Tom’s job first and foremost is to play pretend as best as he can, the secondary component is all the promotional stuff. Ideally, he’s good at both but we all know many MANY actors hate doing the press and media stuff. So Tom can deliver a fantastic performance and make many directors, producers, film studios, and audiences happy but he fails at the second part. He’s temperamental and impatient and isn’t good at press junkets.
But here’s the thing: part of Drew’s job is dealing with different personalities and yes, big egos. He doesn’t seem to have a good handle on that so maybe it’s for the best that he’s done with these junkets. The truth is that neither of them seem particularly well-suited for the press/media routine so maybe they have more in common than you think.
The article Drew published on Hitfix is certainly more measured but thats after a few days of letting off steam. Everybody loses it once in a while. Anger is a very human emotion and it wasnt especially badly expressed here anyway. He didnt threaten violence, he didnt insult anybody in the periphery, he simply stated the facts in language that matched his emotion. I’m calling this fixation on a few swear words what it is, a red herring. A distraction from Toms list of sins. Classic PR handling. Not that I am accusing anybody here of being a PR flack. But this is how you flip a conversation – casually acknowledge Tom as a dbag but then quickly avert focus to the messenger and a few cuss words. Suddenly we are arguing about delivery, and now even I have fallen for the trick. I’m out.
They both sound like petulant children to me. And this guy is telling people not to be “silly” when he’s a grown man engaging in an internet feud with another grown man? Yeah ok.
@Naya-I hear ya, I was responding to Drew’s original tweets, not his open letter which was excellent IMO. Yes everybody loses it, but that’s why social media is dangerous, you know? Do I talk shit about my boss and my job? Oh hell yeah. But I would never be careless or unprofessional enough to do so on social media because I’m a mature adult who knows that the internet lives forever.
Keep in mind that Drew is not new to this game-he’s been doing this for a long time and there’s no way he didn’t know the shit storm that his tweets would create. It comes across as vengeful and petty, unlike his open letter which comes across as far more thoughtful and measured.
I think calling Drew out on his unprofessional Twitter rant is fair in this case, as long as we acknowledge Hardy’s misdeeds as well. One doesn’t somehow cancel out the other IMO.
“Or lets just all tweet out obscene rival every time we’re disappointed in someone.”
Yes please do!
ITA 100%, GNAT.
That being said, the threat of violence in Tom’s letter? Wow. Why would his people let him release this letter at all? Ugh. They both look pretty juvenile IMO.
Oh, totally. This put me off him permanently. As I said, team nobody.
Yeah it’s really bad. I’m disappointed because I was hoping he would smart enough to not respond. Not only did he respond, but he responded HORRIBLY.
Sigh. I still lust after him but it cannot be denied that this dude has serious anger issues.
@Kitten: I’m glad you’ve stopped claiming that Hardy’s critics are motivated by sexism towards women.
LOL GNAT
I’m team expose bratty celebs!
Just like bratty people who aren’t celebs. A false image drives me up the ceiling.
The more it’s exposed the more good people can get work.
Regarding the journalist. I appreciate the result of his actions. Surely, an omlette with breaking eggs case. Or something like that.
I don’t think he deserves any extra credit to this, but i’m glad the results happened.
Have you read an article in the Guardian about Anne Marie Duff ? It was about how she was not co-operating and how she refused to gel with the interviewer and it was honestly one of the most miserable things i had read. If this had been adressed in the form of an actual article I somehow cannot think how this would have been better.
I don’t mind a tweet, just the name calling and swearing.
Team Drew. I used to read him on Aint it Cool News. He always told it like it was. Plus he isn’t alone in this negative assessment of Hardy. Whereas this is one of the rare times McWeeny was complained about an actor.
And he’s right – junkets are a damn waste of time. Actors hate it, writers hate it. It accomplishes nothing but the occasional good interview.
If he had a little bit of salt in his head he would have personally called Drew, and apologize. Drew would have twitted something about it, the end.
Now I can’t imagine the scene he might have done to the publicistis in private.
Team Drew all the way.
Someone on the past post confirmed Tom was always with Leo that day which makes the whole accusation false and strangely personal on the side of this Drew guy. I cannot trust any of his remaining claims. He made it all about Hardy when we had a witness here confirming Hardy couldn’t have refused anything because he wasn’t doing the junkets on his own. I don’t understand how anyone could continue talking about Hardy not doing it. He wasn’t in a position to say yes or no singlehandedly.
Someone confirmed? And we should believe that person why?
For the same reason that you would NOT believe that person.
Is it really that hard to believe that maybe this Drew guy has an axe to grind? He’s been obsessively tweeting about this for days now. That doesn’t seem like someone who is even remotely objective or “over it”. Frankly, he comes across as infatuated.
Perhaps it’s with good reason, or perhaps he’s enjoying the attention, or perhaps it’s a bit of both.
None of that excuses Hardy’s letter though. It’s threatening and juvenile…I’m pretty horrified that he would write that or that his team would think that was a good idea.
The commenter made it sound like the person’s who confirmed it words were absolutely true. I’m just saying that it maybe is, and maybe isn’t true.
I’m not sure but I think maybe the OP is referencing commenter named Cee below?
Because I had no reason to soubt the poster on the previous Hardy post and because at this point there are more people who confirmed indeed, who were there, on different websites, and it’s actually acknowledged on social media too, that both actors were present at junkets at all times and there was no way Hardy could have stood up anyone alone.
@Kitten – it was me, in fact, who sent the letter to Kaiser. But it was not me who confirmed Hardy spent all day doing interviews with Leo. It was a poster named Matt.
I am posting the link of what Drew posted last night explaining why he is done with junkets and his interactions with Tom Hardy’s PR person, not Hardy himself. He does confirm the letter is from Hardy and he also confirms that his interview was supposed to be with Hardy and Leo and his frustration with Hardy was this experience plus previous bad experiences that he and other colleagues have had with Hardy. I am assuming the reason why he did not single out Leo is because he personally had not previous bad experience(s) with the man.
http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/how-revenant-star-tom-hardy-helped-me-realize-i-am-out-of-the-junket-business
And obviously it is too early for me because Drew’s post is linked in the article…sorry Celebitchy!!!
Interesting. Thank you for posting.
Yes, thank you.
Heh, he didn’t accuse Di Caprio bevause in the business big names mean shut mouths. Always have,, always will. Sad but true. I’ve said many times before that it’s a s*itty business full of same people. The idols are very false.
Lainey’s tea was hot. He is mean to the people who have no power and that’s not cool. You think Jennifer Lawrence would act that way? No. And that’s why she sits at the #1 spot. It doesn’t matter how talented he is, if he keeps this up, no one will want to work with him.
I don’t know about that. Actors are given allowances that actresses are not.
I always think about that video of David O. Russell losing it on the set of ‘I Heart Huckabee’ and NO WAY would a female director be able to get away with acting like that.
Lainey is what seals the deal for me on Tom Hardy. She stanned over him HARD. And then took him out of her freebie 5, did a blind item about how he treated people at TIFF and then outright called him an a-hole this week.
And a few people came out on Drew’s twitter feed- one guy (who must be a critic also) said to Drew remember what I told you about him at TIFF when he was there for the Drop?-confirming some of Hardy’s antics.
Team Drew here. Hardy is a fine actor. He’s going to win an Oscar someday, but he’s not a nice person. I find it very gross that some Hardy fans have flooded Mc Weeny’s post on Hit Fix about this whole situation stating that he should be fired, taking credit for why he is not doing junkets, and saying he is going to have to explain to his kids why he is out of a job. If Hardy’s behavior is off putting, some of his fans (granted these are a minority) are worse.
And his letter-I don’t care what Vulture says-Hardy came off as totally unbalanced in that letter. Since his PR lady was in contact with Drew, why didn’t Hardy get on the phone, explain the situation and express his regret for what happened. And Drew could do the same about the name calling his twitter account…and this would have ended maturely…Tom would have looked very mature and Drew could post a positive resolution that would have ended this all.
He was my imaginary BF for years. At this point it all point to hardy being an a-Hole.
Sincerely, I’d love someone to clarify, did Hardy physically assault one of his directors? I might have read that in a “blind”, though so I don’t know if it is accurate.
I think I can handle someone being an ashhole. I don’t need to want to hang out with them in order to enjoy their work. But if someone is a tyrant going around hitting people, that makes me feel uncomfortable supporting that person.
I do think that Hardy needs to get a no-interviews clause written into his contract, though.
I agree. The letter confirmed for me that Tom is a complete ahole.
@Tiffany-It’s mostly blinds and speculation that people have latched onto as if it’s gospel.
He did have a tousle with Iñárritu. http://thefilmstage.com/news/tom-hardy-talks-wrestling-with-alejandro-g-inarritu-on-the-revenant-set-as-new-images-arrive/
And there were rumors of feuds with Shia and Charlize. He’s admitted that he’s difficult to work with FWIW.
Hmm. “Wrestling” can be so many things, but if that poster at the bottom of the article is from an actual picture of the event, it does seem good natured and not like an assault.
Being difficult to work with is one thing, being violent is another. Right now with the limited knowledge that I have, it doesn’t seem to me that he has been violent with people.
All the stuff with Inarritu has been confirmed by folks on Reddit – apparently there was an awful lot of crew talking about how miserable the entire experience of making The Revenant was (and not just because Leo got cold). No, not friendly wrestling. And hasn’t Hardy himself talked about getting into a pretty significant dust up with Shia?
He also confirmed slapping Paul Bettany.
@ Kitten & Tiffany
He slapped Paul Bettany on the set of The Reckoning. How do people know this? TH said it himself.
“I didn’t hit him, I slapped him. I didn’t want to leave a mark on his face.”
Add this with the rumors of fights on the Revenant and Lawless, and add that with his bad behavior on movie sets (Mad Max’s cinematographer said he was 2hrs late everyday) and press junkets. It’s not that people are taking blinds as the gospel. More of seeing who’s the common denominator in all of these incidents and then concluding that to be TH is an asshole. Sounds reasonable to me.
Interesting.
@Nik +1
His history is extensive and self admitted. The differences in how he’s treated and excused is the issue many posters are having here.
Hardy is straight up unprofessional, VIOLENT, and has been on many occasions. And everyone just excuses it as “bloke” behavior. Punching Refn, slapping Bettany (confirmed by hardy himself), getting into a “scruff” with Shia, 2 hours late on a regular basis for Mad Max (confirmed by the DP), the feud with Charlize, and the fights on the Revenant.
Sure Drew could have done it in a more professional manner, but he’s getting more raked over the coals for rage tweeting than Hardy ever got for being violent, rude, and unprofessional. I feel no sympathy for the posh bloke.
The funniest thing I’ve read all week is someone hoping Hardy works with David Fincher, because Fincher would set him straight. LOL!
You know, I totally get that someone’s not getting along with Shia, because he’s a total douchebag, but Paul Bettany? I was really irritated when I heard about that. This incident and Lainey’s hints/confirmations make it very clear for me that he’s not any better than Shia LeBeouf or David O’Russell. As many said he is a fine actor, but obviously not that smart.
Plus I can’t hear the argument “Oh he doesn’t like the paps and journos” anymore. Journalists are there to make his films public, to get him press and make people go to the cinema. He would earn half of his salary if not less if there wasn’t promotion with help of the press and if people hadn’t heard of his films via press. It’s his job, simple as that.
He is a sometimes hot white male. This will not affect him at all.
Truth. What could affect him however is how generally acknowledged his poor behavior on set is. In the HitFix piece, Drew posts a video of a widely respected cinematographer talking about his craft. In the middle of his talk he branches off to discuss how Tom Hardy on average waste two and a half hours every day of shooting. Theres a limit to how many directors you can humiliate, how many co-stars you can cross before even the studios blacklist you.
Hardy has passed on info/photos to this fansite before. Especially weird, personal photos with very Bloke-ish messages as captions. I believe this letter is real, which is why I passed it on to Kaiser.
I don’t have a bone in this fight: I have seen the nasty side of junkets and usually the Talent holds all the power because journos do not want to be black listed. They do complain, A LOT, but not publicly and not in front of the Talent, they complain to us mere mortals running the show and trying to get things on schedule. But I’ve also seen journos being unprofessional, insulting and down right insufferable.
However, whatever really happened at this junket, Leo has walked away untouched. They were paired all day and McWeeny went after Tom alone. This is a red flag to me – either Leo was part of it but he’s too big of a star to go after, or Drew went off his handle a bit.
My take? The Bloke is repping up a toxic reputation. People can handle starts being late, they can’t handle it when said stars are violent or mistreat their own teams. Someone needs a PR intervention, and it’s not Drew.
The part I do not like about this letter is the allegation that Drew will take a personal hit because of this. That seems like a threat at someone’s source of income, but I believe Drew knew this could happen and he must expect to have to work a bit harder in order to get access to anyone.
I like your measured assessment of things. I think Drew’s frustration simply reached a boiling point that day. And his ire was mainly directed towards Tom rather than Leo because of past instances of Tom’s behaviour. Continuing to write/tweet about it though makes it personal and definitely indicates that he has an ax to grind. That letter though. If Hardy did indeed write it then he’s an even bigger asshat than rumors would suggest.
ETA: Having read Drew’s post on HITFiX, I no longer think he has an ax to grind and I’m now firmly Team Drew.
Drew’s post did clarify quite a lot. Regardless, this is how it is. Drew can scream all he wants, but the junket system will remain.
As someone with experience with both sides (journos and artists) all I can say is that both can be downright nasty and disrespectful and I’m not surprised at anything. However, I am disgusted by allegations Hardy is nasty to his own staff. That’s a big NO. You don’t treat your team like sh!t.
Interesting post and I agree with everything, particularly the part about the PR intervention.
Hardy looks terrible right now and the letter was the final nail in an already-closed coffin.
Didnt Drew address the reason why he went after Tom. He said theres a Tom pattern stretching out years, some that he himself has experienced and others experienced by his colleagues. He also said that the studio in explaining what had gone wrong pinned it on Tom not Leo. And that this wasnt the first studio to blame Tom for a junkette gone wrong. Are we sure that Leo and Tom were even paired together anyway? Are we sure that isnt just Toms pr spin to paint himself as a victim of a bullying media?
TEAM HARDY
BECAUSE: All this doesn’t matter. the point is ……………………………………………………..
Being A ‘PROFESSIONAL’ journalist , you should NEVER channel your anger/ frustration on twitter! That a real sin and unfair!
I loved Tom’s response. He handled it well; firm but with a touch of black humor…
@Britt
….Girl. Love yourself.
If you actually believe any studio in Hollywood would put Leonardo Di Caprio to pick up the coal with Tom Hardy, you are naive. Many of the big stars are total as*holes. Total. And you will never hear any of it because they are big names. It’s very simple and it’s all about profit, as in any busimess.
@Naya – if Hardy were a bigger name than he is, Drew wouldn’t have gone after him. That’s a fact. No one will throw DiCaprio under the bus, especially when it seems an Oscar is in the horizon for him and the film.
Hardy has his reputation to blame and his letter did not help, at all. If he behaved differently then studios would not pin it on him and that’s Drew’s point. I love him as an actor and respect his love for animals and rescue dogs, but his personal shortcomings do not interest me at all. If I’m bothered by something it is by his team’s lack of influence over him, and the allegations he mistreats those working for him. Artists are humans and their egos can go all aflutter. Their teams are there to reign them in and handle them so their personal shortcomings do not sh!t all over their professional lives. Hardy’s public persona and real one are clashing and it’s in his best interest to stifle it down so that only his public one is visible. You have no idea how many beloved artists are right c***s in real life, and people never perceive it, hence their successful careers.
Britt
Channeling frustration to social media is something even Hardy has done.
And you can not excuse the journalist unprofessional behavior, but that in no way excuses Hardy’s extensive behavior of violence (he’s admitted to) or how he handled this situation. Both handled it wrong. I’m with GNAT. Team Neither. They both kind of suck. A lot.
with Korra
Gotta love yourself.
If my name was McWeeny and I would change it. That’s all I got from this.
LOL. Thank you for that laugh and Merry Christmas 🙂
Well I am happy at least some of his antics are being talked about and how hard he is to work specially when people were so quick to jump on Charlize’s throat when it was rumoured they did not get along. Also The Revenant is so gory. I have no idea how people like such films and make such films holy shit.
Let’s face it: people never miss an opportunity to jump down Theron’s throat.
Signed,
A Charlize Apologist
+1
At first I was ambivalent about it after reading Drew’s original tweets ( though we’ve all heard rumors about Hardy’s attitudes)
Once I read Hardy’s letter, that changed.
So disappointed. Will find it hard to separate
what I know about him now from my enjoyment watching him act ugh There were so many better ways to handle this, and I would think he has access to knowledgeable advisors (whose jobs likely include spinning this kind if crap) and he prob blew them off and did exactly what his spoiled self wanted.
Which make Drew’s assesments even more believable. The dude does what he wants and gives no F***s.
Especially hate how he threw everyone else under the bus.
Dear Tom:
This is what happens when you treat people badly for a long time. Even if the junket going off the rails wasn’t actually your fault, it doesn’t really matter because people are always going to refer back to your many examples of bad behavior. Clean up your act.
Also, you’re a grown man. ‘Say it to my face’?
If someone used the words Drew used on TWITTER about me, i would react the same way. That has nothing to do with being ‘a grown man’. Did Tom treated people badly for a long time? I don’t think so…
I got nothing. What we or Mr. Mcweeny think is irrelevant. Tom Hardy is still a working in demand actor.
He’s been in several movies recently. It seems like it is one on top of another. I wonder how much time he has had to sleep. Perhaps this is just a case of someone who is exhausted and needed rest. I suppose he could admit that, but it might sound like he is blaming the studios (his employers) for his troubles. If I were an actor, I would be pissed off about having to spend my time doing press junkets and interviews, especially if I had a family I’d rather spend my time with. Shouldn’t acting be about acting?
It *should* be about acting but the truth is that the promotional stuff is imperative for younger actors who are still building a career to the point where it’s built into their contract. I think older actors like Deniro and Duvall can get away with not doing that stuff because they became established actors before the media frenzy that exists in Hollywood today.
That being said, I 100% agree with you that it would drive me CRAZY having to do that stuff. I’m the type of person who avoids all professional schmoozing events like the plague. But I’d be lying if I told you that it hasn’t hurt my career. It definitely helps in the industry I’m in to get your face and name out there and I’m sure with actors it’s no different, except that for them it isn’t optional.
I said this before – If it was just about acting he would act in his local theatre, or on Broadway, or even in indie movies. But you can not be in Batman, huge Oscar-baity movies and rom coms and pout like a baby for having to do press. The millions they are getting paid are only partially for acting, a lot of it is for promotion too.
McWeeny is a baby and Hardy is an asshole. McWeeny should have kept his chill and not gone on late night Twitter rants and Hardy needs to learn that press junkets are part of the job and even if they do suck, he can’t just take it out on other people.
He still comes across like an asshole. Should have just let it be.
If you knew Hardy a little bit better, you would know he’s not an asshole. He’s intense and outspoken but honest and very funny. He’s a cool guy. Don’t twist the story’s of him being ‘aggressive’ on set cause the truth is a different one. For example; Tom wears a t-shirt with a print of him ‘wrestling’ with Alejandro González Iñárritu. It was in a playful way, never for ‘real’ etc. etc.
Hon, why would I know him? And why are you aiming at me? I didn’t say anything about how he is on set nor did I twist anything. Go read the other comments. How he came across in this case makes him look like an asshole.
edit: aw, you are a Hardy fan. Enough said. And FYI, threatening someone is not playful.
Those reactions are based on lies; that’s what’s bothering me…i can’t stand injustice!
I pick no sides in this story.
I am sure Tom Hardy is not a Saint, but I don’t think he is the devil either.
The truth lies in between and I would be inclined to believe the truth falls closer to Drew’s version. However, his open letter was petty and unprofessional too.
Hmmmm, the cynical in me (yeah, the Polyanna in me is on sabbaticAl) thinks this is a lot of publicity for the revenant and more positive stories for Leo by dragging Tom Hardy into controversy. Go Leo!
#givememyOscar
I honestly don’t feel that there is a correct party here. The tweet was unprofessional, but it was out of frustration and emotion. Fine. If Tom Hardy did indeed write that open letter and had it posted….he shouldn’t have. I would emphatically state that this fight of sorts has run its course, but there is an interest to it.
DM’s argument in regards to the disrespect and disorganization within these press junkets is valid. However, he misdirected his anger in a way that is ultimately bringing attention to the problem at hand, but also causing a sort of catfight in the process.
Drew is a great writer/critic, Tom Hardy is a great actor. That hasn’t changed, and will not change. Hopefully when this is all overwith, something positive will come out of it.
LOL @ “The Bloke behavior” being narrated for western female’s fantasy of the angst-filled misundertood white man of choice. It’s interesting because in Asia where I am from, male celebrities are squeaky clean and absolutely non-threatening so any rumours and/or blatant exchange like this is career killer. Although it could soon be the same for Hollywood as this part of the world is becoming their main meal ticket.
+1. “Bloke behavior” is a euphemism for people who drink too much and act badly–which is tolerated in the UK.
I really don’t know why everyone is so shocked by a reporter tweeting his anger. I very much sympathize. I know what it feels like to be pushed and pushed and pushed in situations where you really have no recourse. One day you finally explode and everyone takes offense–while the months and years of their offensive behavior are just passed over.
I don’t know why I should have sympathy for an actor doing press junkets. Of course that stuff is annoying. But selling the movie is what makes your career. You have a vested stake in selling what you made. So that’s life–they aren’t the first artists who have had to become better versed in the business end of their craft. Like the reporter said, the studios could set up better systems that don’t end up in an endless repetition of idiotic questions suited for ten second sound bytes. And a critic doesn’t require access to the artist to forge a career.
Drew was unprofessional, but I can understand the frustration. Wasn’t a classy way to handle his anger. There is no excuse for Hardy’s behaviour, at all.
Which behavior? Tom couldn’t do anything about it. The point is Drew should never have post this on twitter; that’s the issue here and nothing else!
No, Hardy posted his aggressive letter and made himself a target all of his own doing. Bad move.
The journalist had a human moment. He was tired and frustrated and became unprofessional.
And yes Hardy could have done a lot. Other actors do this all the time. There are good ways of handling it. And if it was truly someone elses fault Hardy still handled it terribly acting like he wants to fight this guy while blaming anyone else. He poured gas on this.
I just don’t understand how so many people are jumping down McWeeny’s throat. Alright, he was unprofessional in his approach to this situation with his cursing and ranting on Twitter, but is everyone just going to brush the fact that Hardy has many accounts of being unprofessional on set, as well as VIOLENT to his co-stars and the such? Are we really going to throw an axe at a man who honestly probably just blew up one night after being slighted one too many times by Hardy, as opposed to going after the man who has heaps and heaps of shit piled ontop of his already?
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And for Hardy, the smoke is strong.
“If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.”
I think in this case, since Tom has been repeatedly been called out for his unprofessional/violent behavior….I guess that makes him the asshole, not so much Drew.
So, long story short, McWeeny wrote a series of tweets saying Tom Hardy is an a-hole and then Tom Hardy himself wrote an open letter to confirm it.
Yup.
Side comment. Loads of new names here supporting Hardy and trasing the journalist. Damage control time!
Team Drew. TH is spoiled, whiny, violent and vile. There’s nothing cute about that.
I think Amy Pascal summed up actors best. She called them a bottomless vortex of need. It’s exhausting dealing with them even when you are on their side and want to do the best for them.