Robert Downey Jr. walked out on an interview yesterday with a British reporter. I recognize this reporter too – Krishnan Guru-Murthy is sort of a famous UK presenter/interviewer and he’s the same guy who hammered Quentin Tarantino (QT gave as good as he got) several years ago about QT’s love of film violence and love of the n-word. In this interview, RDJ is pretty game for the first half, like it’s completely normal to have a sober, intellectual conversation about Iron Man and comic-book movies in general. Skip ahead to about the 3:45-minute mark to see the lead-up to RDJ walking out, where you can see RDJ start to get prickly about politics.
I was sort of on RDJ’s side at first. I mean… yes, he’s promoting a Marvel movie and who cares about a quote he gave about politics five years ago? Then again, people bring up that quote (where he said going to jail made him more conservative politically) a lot about RDJ, and I think he explained it in the most non-committal, uncontroversial way possible. After all, he has to sell this movie to political liberals and conservatives. After that, the interview turns very, very awkward and you can see RDJ looking off-camera to his publicist (or the film’s publicist).
At the end of the day, I want to believe that it was the sort of slimy, awkward, ultra-personal way Guru-Murthy asked about RDJ’s drugged-out past that sent RDJ packing. We know RDJ will talk about his past, sometimes without even being prompted by an interviewer. He’s talked about his past in many, many interviews before. If Guru-Murthy had simply fed some of RDJ’s past quotes back to him and asked, “Do you still believe this?” or “Do you still feel this struggle?” it might have been gone over a lot better. While I support Guru-Murthy’s right – and any journalist’s right – to ask any celebrity any question, I also think it’s fair game for a celebrity to walk out on an interview this creepily awkward.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Totally justified. The interviewer was rude and super creepy. He didn’t just ask the questions, he asked them in a demeaning way.
Yes! Seeing RDJ’s breath quicken, while he kept his poker face on, really saddened me. This was neither the time nor the place for these questions, asked in THIS manner. RDJ handled it like a pro.
@ Seneber…Have to agree , I am not an RDJ fan but this was a case of the interviewer overstepping the mark.
@Helen…totally agree, part of being a good interviewer/conversant is being aware of the other person’s response. Krishnan was moving in for a perceived kill and totally ignored Downey’s dis-ease.
I think it also really started rolling downhill when he asked a question about RDJ’s relationship with his father. I am nearly positive that this was a lead in to talk about RDJ’s son’s struggles with addiction and think that is actually the reason he shut the interview down.
I also noticed the mention of the father seemed to anger him (or his face went dark at that point).
I agree this was not the time or place. This looks like it was a press junket where each reporter gets a few minutes? Definitely not the place to delve into deeply personal and difficult issues. If you want to ask those sort of questions, ask to do a lengthy feature piece, not is probably little more than a quick little blurb attached to a news story on the movie.
wow, I didn’t see that at all. I think as soon as he mocked the interviewer for his foot shaking, it was clear that he knew he had the upper hand and that he wasn’t going to answer the next question if it was at all objectionable. He looked offended by the comment that he had become a better man, covered it up with a fake smile and completely checked out afterward. Certainly his prerogative but I didn’t see him being “wounded” in any way by the question.
RDJ is an azzhole. Anyone recall his weird commentary on that female reporters breasts, or about wanting to say hi and talk to Sarah Jessica Parker (his ex from his drug laden 80s/90s) after all these years but having to ask permission of Matthew Broderick first (because of course, SJP can’t make decisions on her own)? Dude is pals with roidy conservative Kookoo racist/sexist Mel Gibson also….nuff said.
If he doesn’t want to answer questions, don’t give a news program all access. More importantly, if you don’t want a reporter to ask you about your public statements made during the promotion of a previous movie, maybe don’t make public statements for people to read and want to inquire about.
He’s a douche tool.
I didn’t know about RDJs comment on someone’s boobs but the “ride or die” attitude with Mel Gibson killed all the respect I had for him.
I mean Mel isn’t just some shock jock comedienne type like say Chelsea Handler. This man is through and through racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. If we caught him maybe half a dozen times saying and doing hateful and even violent things can you imagine what we haven’t seen? This is a guy who on tape in two different incidents threatened to murder people. But since he put RDJ in a film when everybody else was justifiably wary then it’s fine? RDJ proved to me not only how selfish he is but how little respect he has for Mel’s victims and the minorities he attacked.
So I co-sign, RDJ IS a douche tool
“Rroidy conservative Kookoo racist/sexist Mel Gibson”.
1. What does being a conservative have to do with how disgusting Mel is? I know people on both sides of the isle that are wonderful.
2. You forgot to include that he’s anti-Semitic.
You are right on Sea Dragon. Too many times on this site a Conservative point of view is automatically viewed as a demeaning characteristic. Your political point of view has nothing to do with what kind of person you are.
He also did do blackface in a film as some kind of comedic thing so for me that was when I started to dislike him completely. He seems like a complete jerk and like he’s actually very similar to Tony Stark.
The weird commentary on the breasts was quite a while ago as I recall, perhaps even before he sobered up. The questioning Matthew Broderick may have also have been wanting to see if SJP would be upset by any contact from RDJ. He may have been testing the waters to make sure he wouldn’t be opening up old wounds. As for Mel Gibson, yes he is a horrible person. However, RDJ has made it clear that GIbson was the first person willing to give him any kind of meaningful work after he got out of jail. I am sure he believes he owes any chance at current success to GIbson. I understand the loyalty given how far he had fallen and Gibson was the one to pull him up professionally. Maybe someone else would have later, but Gibson did it first. I know it’s more fun to just view people as 2 dimensional. Either they are complete a-holes or they are cool but they can be both.
As for the interviewer, he was completely out of line. This was a junket for promoting a movie, not a place for a probing interview about someone’s very personal struggle with addiction.
I don’t know much about him, but I know if it was public knowledge that I was a drug addict and went to jail, I know I’d be asked about it in job interviews 20 years later. I guess he’s just not like the rest of us, having to rehash our checkered pasts.
It was totally justified. The body language and looks to someone off camera were obvious signs to where this was leading. As well as his increased clipped and dismissive answers. Reporter should have toned it down and maybe he would have gotten a good interview.
And RD was wise to skirt around the question. Conservatives are pretty much black-balled in Hwood.
Justified I think in this case and I think Guru-Murthy knew it was a strong possibility. He clearly had no idea those questions were going to come up and the way they were asked was a bit iffy. A lot of the problem is with the delivery rather than the topic itself.
I’m not saying he shouldn’t be asked about them ever but to blindsight someone like that (which this guy has a history of doing during press for movies) you’re going to get some sort of reaction.
Guru-Murthy is known to hijack his interviewees with awkward questions and keep pushing until he gets a reaction thou its usually with politicians not actors.
They are both quite arrogant with massive egos – bad combo.
That’s just shoddy journalism. If you’re good at your job, you shouldn’t need to resort to stunts like that for shock value.
Am I the only one who finds him arrogant? I remember when he said he something about not campaigning for an Oscar now because HE’S DEFINITELY GOING TO GET AN HONORARY one when he’s older. Really Robert? Imagine an actress saying that?
I don’t like him at all.
I like him OK.
But what I don’t get is why he’s always called “the biggest movie star in the world”, while truth is he’s not in Iron Man costume, RDJ films don’t do the business.
The much mocked Tom Cruise has more clout on this than Downey.
This so much. I always say the same thing and people look at me weirdly. But it’s true! His non-Marvel films hardly break even at the box office.
Yeah, I think the reason he became so famous and beloved is because of overcoming his very serious and very publicized drug problems. After treatment, when he made a “comeback”, I was kind of annoyed how everyone treated him and talked about him as if he walked on water or something. But all that aside, while I certainly don’t think he would warrant all the fame and kudos aside from his recovery, I think he’s become a pretty decent guy and I wish him the best.
I’ve been put off since the Nice Tits comment to a journalist.
You do know that was over 10 years ago, right?
He always comes over as arrogant to me.I loved his earlier performances but now he just turns in middle of the road performances and is so over paid.
On the other hand he has the right to refuse to discuss his personal life and previous drug abuse issues although i did find the interviewers approach intriguing.
He was great in kiss kiss bang bang, and zodiac, they didn’t get the limelight they deserved. I don’t blame RDJ at all. WtF is there left to say about his past, he’s never hidden it, if the reporter wants to know about it look it up on google. And like another poster says, I think he was hedging towards the issue of Indio downeys problems. Off limits. Plenty of questions he could have asked about RDJs career. The interviewer was pretty poor. I don’t know if RDJ is arrogant or if it’s part of his persona, but I like the guy.
I find him very arrogant. I hate people who are so in love with themselves.
@Stars, he was joking. That’s his sense of humor. A lot of sarcasm or Starcasm as fans call it.
@Jegede. At one time Clooney, Cruise, and Depp were all called the biggest movie stars in the world. Don’t take it so literally. It’s just like People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. When Pirates 5 or MI5 is released. Depp and Cruise might be back on top.
BTW , Cruise last couple of movies didn’t fair so well.
@V4Real –
TBH I only remember Clooney being described as ‘sexiest’, ‘suavest’, ‘new Cary Grant’ blah blah in the world I don’t recall him consistently referred being referred to as the ‘biggest’.
Clooney often referenced how he failed and buried the Batman franchise, in the movie star claims.
They’re roughly the same age but Tom Cruise’s back catalogue is far more deserving of RDJ’s in the ‘biggest movie star in the world’ claim, only Cruise is a punchline now.
I would add even Edge of Tomorrow did better critically/commercially than any non-iron man RDJ parts.
You missed the entire point of my comment. The point was not to take those titles to heart. They’re not facts just opinions of a few media folks. When Cruise was considered the biggest some folks didn’t agree with that, the same for Depp. RDJ is only considered the biggest because of his Marvel character, which has brought in more money than any of Cruises films. Just like Depp was considered the biggest at one time due to Pirates. Like I said don’t take it so literal.
By the way Clooney was at one time considered the biggest movie star.
Clooney was once called “the last movie star” by Time magazine.
The only non Marvel movie that did bad at the BO was The Judge, which is not surprising, that movie was awful. Downey got an Oscar nom for one of his non Marvel movies a few years ago.
I agree though that he is not making smart movie choices outside of Marvel. The only critically acclaimed movie he did was Tropic Thunder. Everything else was generic mainstream fare. Not surprising that people lose respect in him.
No you aren’t- he comes off like an entitled jerk. As a commentator on another site said this journo & and show are not the a celeb friendly outlet so if he was blindsided by the questions it’s his teams fault for not preparing him.
@Vreal I’m so sick of his brand of sarcasm . It’s not actually funny and IMO it just masks insecurity, and arrogance.
@Luca I know he’s not everyone cup of tea. And that’s fine. You may not like his brand of humor while others do. We all have celebs we adore and celebs we can’t stand. Why should a RDJ be any different?
I think its fine if people like him. He obviously doesn’t need me to go see Iron Man. It’s just my opinion.
It just irks me in general when people say so and so is sarcastic and its supposed to be a blanket excuse for
obnoxious behavior and if you call a person out on it then you’re not smart enough to get a joke.
Seriously I get the joke I just think it’s lame.
BTW he is talented but I think his sarcasm and arrogance has gotten in the way of him actually being in a good movie for years.
I agree with this very much. But was he always like this? Because it seemed to me like he morphed his personality with the one of Iron Man.
@luca76 his sarcasm and “humour” is embarrassing because it’s so unfunny. I can’t stand him at all and I think people are very justified to dislike him
I don’t like him either.
Robert didn’t want to be on tape saying what his politics are so that’s why he gave that answer, and the stuff about drugs could have been answered easily too.
Mixed feelings – I do think RDJ’s past is relevant to his portrayal of Tony Stark. I also think that Gurumurthy is notorious for wanting to rub shoulders with the rich and famous (hence the movie premiere and celebrity fluff interviews) while still wanting to consider himself a “proper” journalist. He’s basically just a troll at this point.
Celebrity or not, after you’ve gone through a dark period you might not be ready to talk about it unless you are in the mood. When RDJ seemed uncomfortable interviewer should just drop it. Also some people find their politics personal and don’t care to air it. His politics is not important unless he wants it to be, he’s not running for office. His drug past is his choce to talk about if he feels like it. Reporter should back off and not be a dick about a guy’s past he’s already admitted to that’s really not news.. RDJ was in his rights to leave. Celebrities are human too. it’s not like the reporter was asking him about his choice in roles or his job.
Agree with everything you said, goofpuff! Just because RDJ is a celebrity, doesn’t mean he does not have the right to say, “I don’t want to discuss that”….unless that interviewer was an idiot, he knew RDJ was not willing to discuss his past and should have gone back to questioins about the movie!
Right. No celebrity under any circumstances, (other than in a court of law) whether promoting a movie or no, should be compelled to answer questions about their personal life if they choose not to answer.
Yes to everything you said. And he was trying to be polite and have the interview move on to discuss his film, but the interviewer just kept pressing on though he had to see it was making RDJ uncomfortable. Totally justified in walking out.
I agree with many of the points above. I think RDJ masks his insecurities with sarcasm, he comes off as “better than you” and I’m not a big fan. You can tell he is insecure by the height of his “lift” tennis shoes. He’s a bit of a show boat and always has to be the center of attention. With that being said he has really turned his life around. Most people that were in his situation are either dead or in jail. It is his job to be interviewed, but its his teams job to not let him be blindsided. It is different if you are prepared to answer questions. If you have a very emotional topic, but know its going to be asked it is different. I don’t think stars are above others, but RDJ did try to tell him that he wasn’t going to answer this type of question in this interview. If I were him I would have said, “I told you I was not going to answer questions about this now” Then said goodbye. RDJ seemed like he didn’t want to get emotional and wanted to leave. I think he probably still has issues and this wasn’t the time or place. However, as an actor with his past he should realize its always a possibility that it comes up.
Bless Krishnan. He has form on awkward interviews.
I think this is a transatlantic cock-up to be honest. It’s very common here for political journalists to do interviews with celebrities in which the quid pro quo for plugging their product is a question or two about their politics, current affairs or social issues, and how their personal experience and their work impacts on their thoughts about these things.
For example, our big political shows will usually feature several interviews with politicians and one with someone from the arts, but the arts person will be asked political questions. So it doesn’t look weird to us to see celebs getting asked those sorts of questions.
It’s gone wrong here because Guru-Murthy is a political journalist, not an entertainment/showbiz correspondent. Why RDJ’s people let him in one of these 3-minutes-per-journo puff/promotion sessions, I can’t imagine. The POINT of him is to ask questions like that.
Failure of due diligence on the part of the Marvel team, I think. If they didn’t want those types of questions, they should only have let in the showbiz reporters.
But the Channel 4 roster, especially Jon Snow, are known for their left wing politics.
They are pretty much the Guardian newspaper on celluloid.
I wonder if Krishnan would have felt the need to go there, if RDJ was an ‘avowed’ liberal.
If that is a ‘known’, why sit for the interview then, though? If RDJ was an avowed anything, and he sat with a political reporter, maybe he should know what’s coming?
I’m neither chastising or praising RDJ, but it sounds like his rep probably made a mistake here.
Jegede – C4 might be vaguely liberal and marginally left of centre but what’s that got to do with the price of eggs in Brazil? RDJ’s team let a political journalist into a puff session and, lo and behold, the political journalist asked scrutinising questions drawing parallels between the themes of the promoted film and the actor’s life. That’s his job.
Personally, I couldn’t give a toss whether RDJ fielded the questions or walked out. Either reaction allows me, as viewer, to draw my own conclusions. But RDJ’s team has to take the fall for this if they don’t like how it turned out.
@Kiddo – Its known to us in the UK maybe not elsewhere.
(Same with the BBC, though they are less stringent)
And I still believe if RDJ never made any remarks about having ‘Republican’ beliefs (something he has EVERY RIGHT to). The left leaning presumptious Krishnan would not have thought to make it an issue.
Reminds me of Tom Selleck going on the then Rosie O’ Donnell show to promote a flick, and instead spent a good deal of time justifying his politics to his host.
Kiddo: just to clarify. If you are British and your politics are right-of-centre, you believe that the BBC (and C4) are liberal pinkos hiding under your bed. Conversely, if you are British and your politics are left-of-centre, you believe that the BBC (and C4) are bastions of the establishment parading faux-left values in order to keep the masses in line.
Go figure. 😉
@Jegede, Know your stage. If you agree to sitting with an interviewer who has a particular brand of questioning that you don’t appreciate, don’t go on the show. KWIM? Stick to Entertainment Tonight, late night talk shows, and the like. Do your research. If you want to be a star in a global market then you should have knowledge of that arena. It’s like saying it would be a surprise/shock if an entertainer went on Bill O’ Reilly’s show and and he pulled out a very right leaning/stilted position.
Sixer, thanks and noted. But you can still investigate the history of an interviewer and make notes according to your own perception. And if you don’t like talking politics at all, don’t talk to a political reporter, the end.
They definitely talk politics with anyone who’s put their politics on the table, and leading up to an election almost every American celeb get’s at least one question about that. If it was Damon or Clooney, who have talked about politics more than RDJ, it’s likely 80% of the interview would have been about politics.
PS and for Kiddo
You might like a previous Guru-Murthy interview with Richard Ayoade, in which Krishnan does his usual obnoxious thing, Ayoade mocks him for doing it, and the whole thing devolves into a surreal meta-level p!ss-take of the celebrity promotion interview. It’s hilarious and awkward and… well… transcript and video here: http://usvsth3m.com/post/100661849223/heres-a-full-transcript-of-richard-ayoades-bizarre.
If it is known, then RDJ’s people should have declined the interview and Marvel could have given somebody with a less problematic past to Krishnan, like Elizabeth Olsen or ChemBoy. Or make it really fun and give him Samuel L. Jackson and ask him about segregation, Martin Luther King, heroin addiction, and Star Wars
So that’s why Ayoade tweeted about this (“Pleased to announce that Robert Downey Jr. has just graduated from my media training school!”). I hadn’t seen that interview before. The whole exchange explains KRMs approach.
I agree this was a PR cock-up, his publicist didn’t brief him. KRM has posted on his twitter
that he did discuss the qs with his pr.
This discussion ended up being so much more interesting than I thought it would be. I love the commenters on this site 🙂
OMG thanks for the link, sixer. I liked him before. Now I love him.
Actually, the Ayoade interview does bring up one other thing that’s germane here. These interviews generally get aired in the entertainment segment of a news show in the UK.
UK news is not allowed to broadcast advertorial. So the journos have to ask questions other than about the film being promoted so that they can broadcast the interview at all.
If the actor sits down with a showbiz reporter, they’ll get softball questions where they can parrot the usual meaningless nonsense about the wonders of being a parent, that they have the world’s best spouse, that London is such a marvellous city or whatever other lines their PR has given them to regurgitate.
But if they sit down with a “proper” news journalist, they’re going to get asked something more searching. And it’s well known which journos are just a bit more cerebral about it and which get adversarial.
And I’ll say again: if the Marvel/RDJ handlers don’t know this shiznit, they’ve no business organising press junkets this side of the pond.
Sixer: I’m late to this discussion, but when I heard about this kerfuffle, my first thought was that RDJ’s team didn’t do their research if they let him sit down with KGM and C4. Of course KGM went there, why is anyone surprised?
My 2nd thought, why is KGM doing a celeb interview (yes I know he does them from time to time) with a major star where the star is clearly expecting the usual soft ball treatment.
3rd thought, why did RDJ sit down with a political journalist? Seriously marvel team??!!!! Someone should be carpeted for this kerfuffle if the intention was to make RDJ appear serious and deep. Wrong Journo to go with.
EDIT: going by everyone’s reaction on here, perhaps RDJ should have sat down with Lorraine and the team at GMB to ensure puff questions and no danger of straying to unwanted areas.
LAK – I think maybe they were hoping for something to give RDJ a slightly weightier result than Lorraine? And ended up making a disastrous choice. They should have given him a sit down with Charlie Stayt of BBC Breakfast. He’s plenty deferential enough but usually manages to get something that makes the celeb sound vaguely intelligent (or at least not moronic) on an unexpected subject.
As for KGM – he is a curmudgeonly git when it comes to celebs. And he’s certainly got an ego. I get the impression that he finds celeb interviews the drudge of the anchor part of his job. It’s a far cry from the Arab Spring, Gaza and Unreported World, isn’t it?
Perhaps C4 should get a proper dedicated culture correspondent instead of sending their serious journos to these things.
Don’t care about RDJ, but good GOD I love Richard Ayoade.
Our television interviewers used to be better at that sort of thing as well. Carson, Dick Cavett mixed up entertainers and politicians. Dave Letterman can do a great political interview and than follow that with something silly but things have changed and it is all about entertainment with no real interviews with even the entertainers, just lip synch contests and the like. But RDJ has been around long enough that he should be able to remember what a real interview is like and that, as much as he is revered among some sets, his past statements and actions don’t go away.
Also, he didn’t really answer that political statement at all, did he?
Why should he have to? His politics are personal and have no bearing on his actor role unless he wants it to be. Not everyone likes to talk about their political leanings.
goofpuff: He shouldn’t have to. He can answer what he likes. But the point isn’t what he answered: the point is what he was asked. And if he wanted what he was asked to be censored, his team should have ensured only puff reporters sat down with him.
Lilac: I enjoy a bit of arts-politics mix. Not everybody does, I guess, but I do.
Celebrity interviews are generally boring. I don’t know that you’d have to ask political questions unless it was pertinent to the film’s position/direction, but how many empty clips can you watch?
But we do seem to mix politics and arts more often here. For example, the nightly in-depth news show Newsnight has just done an adjunct show, Artsnight, in which prominent people from the arts take editorship. Actor Maxine Peake’s show was almost entirely political. You can see what she put in it here: http://thequietus.com/articles/17378-maxine-peake-sleaford-mods-artsnight. Sleaford Mods rock!
That’s not to say that we don’t have endless, cookie cutter celebrity puff though: we most certainly do.
@goodpuff – Exactly
I like the mix as well, Sixer. And there is context in the film’s that lead to the questions – RDJ’s Tony Stark is a weapons manufacturer/dealer and RDJ’s public persona is quite similar to Stark’s
Lilac – that is precisely the point. The questions asked drew parallels between the film and RDJ’s life and were asked in a scrutinising way. That is exactly the job Guru-Murthy is paid to do.
It’s fine not to like that type of interviewing as a viewer. Don’t watch that type interview.
It’s fine to not do those types of interview as a promoting actor. Don’t sit down for that type of interview.
Well said goofpuff!
Exactly.
And frankly Americans are so used to Journalism mainly being puff, they find antagonism where is isn’t – its called proper Journalism!
What the fuck is it with big stars these days, they think they get to control every last aspect of not only the film but the promotion – here’s the thing – you want to go parade your Cartoon Movie to the masses, you have to give a little back to the Media in the process. Junkets are so pandering these days.
He has earned billions for being a cartoon character – don’t get ideas above your station dear…you arnt playing JFK.
Who cares what role he is playing…if he was playing Porky Pig and some journalist asked him a question that he didn’t want to answer…he doesn’t have to answer…I don’t care how much money he makes….It is his right to walk out of that room…the public doesn’t own celebrities…and we sure as hell aren’t entitled to know their politics or things that they want to keep personal.
MrsBPitt – it depends though, doesn’t it? If your team sits you down with a political journalist, the journalist is completely within his bounds to expect answers to political questions – else why did your team sit you down with him in the first place? And if you’re doing interviews in the UK, your team should pay attention to the mores of reporting in that country in case you get caught on the hop.
Really, this is just transatlantic confusion and RDJ’s team need to do their jobs properly.
(I’m repeating myself a lot here, sorry!)
But what if the journalist was misleading by saying that he only wants to ask RDJ about the movie and his acting career. But once RDJ sat down with him, Guru changed the tone of the interview. Journalist are known for pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Also he’s a horrible interviewer. Did you notice how he stammered over his words as if he knew he shouldn’t have been asking those questions.
V4Real – but it’s the responsibility of RDJ’s team to know which journalists have the sort of form that might make them unsuitable for their client. I mean, Guru-Murthy’s style isn’t exactly a secret. They should have said, “Send Jackie Long, Cathy Newman or Padraic Surnameforgottenbysixer, but Guru-Murthy can’t come. This session is for lightweight promotional interviews only.”
Thank you MrsBPitt. I agree competely.
Thanks Sixer, interesting.
I didn’t go wrong, IMHO, because he asked a sort-of political question. RDJ answered that clear enough, in my perception. It DID go wrong because he went into deeply personal, painful stuff just *snap* like that. I completely understand that RDJ felt violated.
Agree completely, Sixer
BTW, May be completely wrong, but it seems like we might be similar age. Do you remember Guru-Murthy on Newsround? I used to have such a crush on him! And me and my brothers even had a ‘Krishnan Guru-Murthy’ song (which basically consisted of singing his name in a variety of ways, ad nauseam)
Oh my gosh, I had forgotten he was on Newsround! Yes, I used to really like him, and I still do when he’s doing actual political stuff. Just wish he’d stay away from the puff pieces.
Lol that sounds fun
Oh my giddy aunt, YES! My school (not me, though) was on Newsround once. We did a disco (!) raising money for the Blue Peter Christmas Appeal. Snigger!
Hey American friends, do you have news shows for children on TV?
@Sixer, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee
I seem to be in the minority, but I didn’t get what was so awful about asking him whether he was a liberal. RDJ had every right not to answer, and he didn’t really, but I wasn’t offended by the question. It got sort of creepy when he started in on the booze and drugs and relationship with his father, but surely he has been asked questions like that before. I’m not sure what to think. I guess you have the right to leave if you’re uncomfortable, but I agree with Sixer that puff questions only should have been agreed to before the interview.
I was wondering about all the fuss, before your comment, Sixer. Then again I am more used to this kind of interviewing style more than I am used to actors walking out on an interview, after looking bewildered at being asked questions they don’t like. Also, if they wanted a fuzzy feel good interview why go to Channel 4 and KGM?
The interviewer is destroying his career by going too far. He’s known for conducting this type of interview but celebrities will stay clear of him because they will remember the RDJ walk off.
HE’s not a celebritiy journalist so his career will be fine.
I liked this. I hate all the fawning interviews we see these days.
What Franca (and Sixer above) said.
Guru -Murphy is probably the number one journalist at Channel 4, he’ll be fine. I don’t know why they insist on putting him in these film press junket interviews though, nor why he can’t take a hint that it’s not the time or place. I do think RDJ overreacted and was maybe being a bit precious, but he clearly indicated to Krishnan he was not up for personal stuff, Krishnan should have backed off. It was awkward, if you can see you’re visibly making someone uncomfortable in that situation why would you keep pressing? The “Diane Sawyer” comment from RDJ at the end is pretty telling, he just wasn’t prepared or in the mindset for deep questions. I’m certainly not in the “All hail RDJ “camp, but I think he gets a pass here.
Maybe the reporter should have asked him a question about his small kids. You know the ones he hasn’t seen in weeks because he’s too busy globe-trotting and uploading pictures to Instagram. Some family man he is. Not buying his clean cut image.
Do you feel this way about every actor with a family who travels to promote or just RDJ?
A few of them have kids/families.
No just about people who are happy to leave their kids behind to be raised by nanny’s and butlers. I don’t see Scarlett or Hemsworth going to 50 different countries to promote a movie that doesn’t even need promoting.
Em..they were both at each premiere so far (LA and London). Hemsworth actually lives in Sydney so anywhere other than that he is traveling as he did with Avengers 1 when he had his first child.
Also, you may not feel the movie needs promoting but studios have these things called contracts, and part of them no matter how big the movie is, is press tours to heavily promote said movie. Marvel is especially known for these.
By all means criticise him but to single him out of a group seems a bit petty?
Hemsworth came back to L.A with wife and kids for the premiere then didn’t travel anywhere except for a London premiere. Scarlett also wasn’t at any other premiere except L.A and London.
RDJ on the other hand went to Korea, China, London and is now in New York. He’s been on the road for 2 weeks. His kids are 3 and 5 months, you’re telling me it’s normal for a millionaire father to be away for so long from his children.
I’m criticizing him because he’s promoting himself as this cleaned up family man when the opposite is true.
“you’re telling me it’s normal for a millionaire father to be away for so long from his children”
Yes I’d say there are a number of millionaires (both in the movie industry and in others) who work like crazy. It may seem mad to us but its also kind of usually how they become millionaires…but how do you know they aren’t with him?
I know of many sales reps in our company who are away for longer than 2 weeks, travel is pretty much a constant for them.
I think you just don’t like him.
Yeah exactly what GNAT said. Funny how that works 🙂
What? He’s a movie actor, he plays dress up and recites words others have written for him. You make him sound like he’s a nuclear scientist who has to be away because he’s really doing something meaningful.
Sure he has “work” to do, contracts and all that. I get it. Then do a premiere or two and be done with it.
It seems to me he’s the one that volunteered to go away for weeks rather than Marvel making him do it.
He really should know better. His eldest son grew up without a present father and just look at him now.
Wow..just wow.
I didn’t make him sound like anything, you came up with that. I said he works, like a lot of other rich folks. Likewise I’m sure he has a lot of downtime but he probably just locks his kids in a basement for that while he goes absailing or something, whatever image you have painted in your mind…
*shakes head*
@Donald did RDJ step on your toe and didn’t say excuse me. You sure are personalizing this. A lot of people in the business spend time away from their kids. So go after everyone of them if that makes you feel better.
How is he leaving his kids to be raised by nannies and butlers (butlers..wow) if his wife Susan is in CA with her kids while he’s away.
RDJ and Susan said they try to not spend more than two weeks apart so don’t worry about them; they’re good. They have a production company together. Lately the only thing she hasn’t worked with him on was Ultron and IM3. Oh and guess what? When he was away filming IM3, his wife and kid was right there with him. When he filmed The Judge, Susan was there pretty much every day. Because it was their production Co that produced that film. Little Exton was there too. So smile he spends plenty of time with his family.
Do you feel the same way about people in the military? And before you say well they’re protecting the country, that’s they’re job. Well being an actor is RDJ’s job. He chose acting like people in the Military chose the armed services. It’s all a choice now isn’t it. Some people protect the world while others entertain it. It’s all a balance.
If I decided to be an airline pilot are you going to cast judgement on me because that job requires spending a couple of weeks away from my family?
Actually, you don’t even need to be rich or in the business to be away from your kids. I’ve lots of friends whose husbands or wives have to work in another city (teachers, nurses, doctors) and they only see their kids on weekends. I’ve got a colleague this year who, unfortunately, as he so often points out, sees his wife and children once a month. He’s working more than 400 miles away from home, that’s where the government sent him. And his wife has her own job, so this year, they are living more than 400 miles away.. That makes him a bad parent? Really? Wow…
Yea…..in this I don’t think celebrities can win. When they keep their kids with them, as a family (coughJolie-Pitt’scough), they’re criticized for isolating their kids away from friends, real school, and the real world. If they don’t want to haul their kids everywhere, then they’re just letting their kids be raised by nanny’s/money.
He’s working, not vacationing. Sometimes parents travel for work. He’s promoting the movie on his Instagram.
He’s working. I am sure plenty of parents travel as a part of their work. He’s not just out on a drug bender being a deadbeat.
do we know that his family/children aren’t travelling with him?
and if they are not, true that many travel for work and don’t see their children for supper every night of the week.
he’s a MOVIE STAR for cripes sake.
they don’t lead conventional 9-5 lives…
How do you know his kids weren’t with him??? Because they weren’t in the interview room???
And here we go….people just making things up out of thin air!!! We’ve all come to the point that we feel we can say anything about anyone, proof or no proof! The world is turning into Star Magazine!!!!
I find your observations even more intrusive than what the British interviewer was trying to get out of RDJ.
women in the spotlight are asked those questions, so why not ask RDJ about it? how present is he in his childrens lives?
Exactly. But it’s okay because he’s “working”, earning more money than they need.
@Kara, I’m sorry but you’re wrong. Women shouldn’t be asked tiese questions either… Just because journos ask women these questions,doesn’t make the questions valid and less intrusive and wrong. A working mom should never be criticized for also being her children breadwinner… The same way they shouldn’t be asked whether they’re feminists or not, or what cares they have with their hair and their skin or diet… And nobody shou be asked about their religion, political views and their past actions.
Why he reacted this way, let’s think a little bit: the journo asked about his relationship with his father and the problems they had, then he asked about RDJs drug problems… The following questions, trust me, would be on his son’s drug problems and RDJs relationship with him.. Too intrusive…
RDJ is the biggest star of the picture, I imagine he is the one the public wants to see in every country/market the movie opens
I haven’t lived in the UK for afew years but when I did, Krishnan was a serious journalist. Serious as in, may interview celebs but only from a newsmakers perspective. He is NOT the guy to call when you want a fluffy interview piece where you just regurgitate the same answers you have given 14 times on that same day. I even recognize the publicists questions now having seen quite afew of this Avengers junkets. The “it’s nice not to have to carry the movie” and “we really like each other”, I have heard multiple times from RDJ and also both Chris Evans and Hemsworth.
I think these were all very valid questions. I do want to know what exactly he meant by that quote. I also want to know if he has changed his opinion over the years, then what triggered that switch. Team Krishnan.
But, as I already stated above, what set RDJ off was not the “political” question, he dogded that one, and rightfully so, what set him off were the personal questions. “Addiction, father history, the really painful, deeply personal stuff, now tell us how you feel about that, Robert, never mind that we are total strangers!” – Nah. Team Downey.
Team Downey as well.
I am team Krishnan as well – he is a well educated senior journalists who will ask you uncomfortable/personal questions. He was one of the few journalists in the world who dared to report the genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka while the rest did nothing.
The publicist, RDJ and Marvel knew that and yet they did this. I see this as RDJ as usual trying to make Avengers to be all about him. Dude seriously has the me, myself & I attitude. He high jacks the movie premiers, interviews and even makes sure that the movie’s features more of him than the other big names.
RDJ cannot suddenly talk about personal stuff during some interviews and then not in others – it doesn’t work like that in the real world. If he doesn’t want those kinds of questions then he should have done what celebs like Denzel, Rachel Weisz, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Day Lewis, Drew Barrymore who inform the journalists that no or certain questions won’t be acceptable.
Asking a politician about hard political issues and asking an actor hard personal questions are 2 entirely different things. If he’s such a great political journalist, then why doesn’t he go interview, I don’t know, politicians?
I am not so sure if this guy qualifies as a serious or respected journalist. Downey has been to Democratic fundraisers in recent years and is active in quite a few humanitarian causes. If he as a serious journalist really wanted to get personal with him he didn’t do a proper research to prepare himself for the interview. I think more than anything this was just some sort of shady click bait-ey effort to get people to watch channel 4.
I don’t think repeatedly asking/baiting someone with very personal questions about their family or past which they are clearly not wanting to discuss the mark of a respectful or good journalist. more like a tabloid journalist looking for a tidbit to sell.
Agree, Goofpuff. This interviewer knew he likely had 2 minutes left in the interview and decides to spring the drugs/booze/unhealthy father relationship on him? WTF? If this had been a 30 min sit-down with a Barbara Walters style journalist, RDJ would have known to expect these types of questions. He was on a film junket. These reporters get 5 mins. RDJ was prob going next door next to speak with Horse & Hound. These interviews are for the news “entertainment report” segment on their networks. Not the time nor place. The guy wanted this reaction.
Agreed.
This was just scandal mongering dressed as social commentary.
This interview made me think of the REALLY inappropriate interview TH and Scarlett did in Russia for the first Avengers. The lady was asking Scarlett is she dieted. She asked Tom is he thought Scarlett was attractive. It was really strange and the wrong place and time to ask these type of questions. A film press interview is different than a in-depth or personal interview. That is what RDJ was trying to say.
To me it seemed like he was tolerating it pretty well until Guru-Murthy mentioned the relationship between RDJ and his father. It looks like at that point he was done. My heart rate started going up the second RDJ started breathing heavy. It was strange watching his rage build like that. I know Downy can be arrogant sometimes but I’m Team RDJ here. It’s a fun superhero movie and there really was no reason to get all deep.
Yup, that was cold rage alright.
He’s got a legendary temper, which he’s kept pretty much under wrap for years now. Smart move to walk away before losing it.
Well said. I felt uncomfortable for RDJ. Sheesh. He was just there to promote a movie.
+1
+1
Nice close up of the lift sneakers. LOL!!!
He really needs to give up on those
Totally justified. For these sorts of promo tours actors have to sit through literally dozens of interviews each day. Imagine being asked about the worst, most embarrassing and shameful part of your life by self-promoting strangers when you’re just trying to promote a popcorn flick. It would piss me off too, but RDJ handled it OK – just up and left, no big confrontation.
This^^^^^^ Word for word!
Awww im sure the billions in his bank account helps him get through it all somehow.
Don’t do the Interview if you don’t want a potentially normal interview rather than a promotion piece – because otherwise what exactly IS all that money for – we all have to do shit things in our job we don’t like – we don’t storm out of meetings.
He was always arrogant – he just hid it well for a few years with good suits and witty banter…
Does you boss interrogate you about your personal relationships?
‘Does you boss interrogate you about your personal relationships? ‘
Please – get a grip – ive had FAR worse thrown at me by team members, bosses and the great unwashed of the British public – ive also worked alongside quite a few famous musicians in my past and have been treated like shit by some of them. And I got paid a goddam pittance compared to this entitled prick.
Come on, we’ve all had $hitty jobs. But most people’s jobs don’t involve in depth probing of their personal life and recorded for public consumption for all eternity.
He probably is an entitled prick, but he still has the right to not answer questions that he doesn’t want to. Just as you have the right to walk out on your $hitty job.
He had that option BEFORE the interview was set up – you think they accidently got in someone considered to be one of the senior journo’s on one of the two top news and analysis programmes in the Country? and expected a ohmygawd I just love your Ironman costume tripe? They would have been told to expect a tougher’ interview.
And you need to let go the personal questions claim – he maintains his ridiculous paypacket through the cache of FAME – which isn’t just developed by knocking out a few films – he was asked nothing that he hasn’t already dragged around the media to get some sympathy points/ or create talking points. You don’t get to control where the conversation takes place all the time. As I said he could have gone to channel 5 for fluff but he didn’t want to slum it with the Tabloids and this is what you get…
And no he doesn’t ‘have a right’ to walk out – his contract is to do Interviews and keep himself in the Media in the run up to the film.
Christian Bale is the best example of ” I continues to reply about my most embarrassing moments ” in many interviews 7 years after the fact
there is a good way to avoid that: get a real job. the millions and all the other perks have a price. what do you think somene in the service industry has to listen to? constantly being insulted? as far as i know they dont make a million per week.
we need to get away from those super cuddle celeb interviews.
It was creepy, rude and RDJ has freely stated that he isn’t and will never be fully clear if his demons.
Interviewer wanted a political gotcha moment and when that didn’t happen he went for personal. His agenda was to tie political conservatism with hypocrisy in personal behavior, imho. God knows the two can go together, but RDJ is the wrong target and smart enough to avoid thetrap
He’s justified. Downey’s problems with drugs and jail were at least 15 years ago. If it had been four years ago, then maybe the journalist would have had a point but it’s not that relevant now considering how much time has passed. This isn’t a Diane Sawyer or a tell all to People but a brief interview scheduled to promote a movie, which also should be factored in. The thing about his father though is what probably set him off.
I think it was a justified walk-out. The thing is, RDJ has talked about his past. On his own terms. It’s a different matter when someone else is asking such personal questions in such a leading, and frankly, accusatory way. The journey wasn’t asking to see if RDJ still felt the same way; he was asking to trap him into…god know what. Sobriety and one’s past before sobriety are so personal. We aren’t always in the mood to “go there” especially unprepared. It can feel like being hit by a truck when someone brings up your drunken/druggie past to you and you’re not prepared for it, especially when you’re working so hard to be a different kind of person.
Completely team Robert Downey Jr. here. I feel that he made his discomfort with that sort of question known in a very polite way at first. The interviewer just wouldn’t let go and took it even further, up to a point where Robert felt violated, which I ABSOLUTELY understand. It is one thing for him to feel comfortable enough during an interview to bring up his past himself, or if it really relates to the film he’s promoting. It is a whole other thing to just jump right into his most private sphere and expect him to casually talk about something so raw and personal. I found the questions disrespectful to Robert Downey Jr. the man. He’s not only an actor, he is a person. And as such, he has the right to privacy, he has the right to not dwell on painful memories for our entertainment, or the interviewer’s entertainment. Team Downey all the way.
I don’t think it was creepy at all, but Guru-Murthy probably should have let it go when it was clear RDJ was becoming prickly. The interview was pretty boring up to that point with RDJ spewing off what seemed to be pretty canned, but complex, answers to questions regarding the Marvel character. Digging deeper, the interview was getting to be a bit more interesting, but it is clear that the questions made RDJ very uncomfortable. I don’t think he should have walked out because as he noted the interview was only a matter of a few more minutes. Answer the awkward questions as honestly as possible and then leave. The interview likely would not have been one of the most trending news bits from this week had he done so.
He has every right to walk out of an interview where he feels uncomfortable.
I would, however, have been interested in the answer to that question.
RDJ answered the questions as neutrally as possible and gave many, many cues to the reporter to back off. He didn’t get mouthy or hit anyone or knock anything over, so he handled it pretty well. The reporter was pulling a very…tabloid-y thing, digging for dirt so that more than the die hard fans would tuned into the interview…heck, it might have been staged. If it wasn’t, I find myself enjoying how professional that situation was on RDJ’s part.
Although I think the questions became inappropriately personal and patronising out of nowhere, I think RDJ could have handled it better. Refusing to answer a difficult question is the coward’s way out. I lost respect for Paris Hilton when she did the same thing a while back when asked whether she had a problem with being less relevant now when compared with the Kardashians. She just stormed out of shot until the journo agreed not to go down that path. RDJ could have replied confidently that his painful past would always be with him, because it was a huge learning experience and it has made him a much stronger person, and much more appreciative of his health, family, friends, and all the things that matter in life, such as love. I don’t understand why he had to freak out. Makes me wonder if he is truly at peace with his past.
That’s when you lost respect for Paris Hilton? LOL
I thought he walked out because he was asked about his awful past — The Shaggy Dog.
I appear to be in the minority, but I think Downey acted like a bit of a bonehead here. Sure, maybe the interviewer shouldn’t have kept pressing when he was clearly becoming uncomfortable, but Guru-Murthy is not really known for puff interviews, right? If Downey was only interested in giving canned answers, he and his people shouldn’t have agreed to this interview.
I’m with you Cankles – surely they knew about the Tarantino interview?!!
Triggering people is never alright but it’s gets bullies off. He’s not being adversarial, he’s being abusive but sure call it the first amendment because being adversarial in a situation with no stakes involved during a promo tour, it’s the mark of great journalism.
Cheap shots at movie stars like concern trolling, body shaming, slut shaming or whatever shaming is not journalism, it’s click bait.
I have no problem with calling actors and actresses out when they warrant it but this was hardly the place or the time.
I hate this interviewer so good on him for walking out. Good thing I never went for my childhood dream because if it was me, I would have punched this guy for asking such a personal questions in such a way. They are actors, and as long as they are are not harming me or others, their personal lives is none of my business
I think people are missing context here. This is a popcorn flick he is promoting. These questions are not relevant and he is under no obligation to answer them. If he was uncomfortable and the clueless interviewer keeps pushing, he gets to walk out. It doesn’t matter what you think of RDJ, the interviewer, journalism, or the question at hand.
I am pretty sure behind the scenes, someone at Marvel got an earful.
I would love it if one day if someone turned it around on the interviewer. Do some research, ask them about their divorce or their drug problems. I wonder if the interviewer would just answer all the questions in the same way they expect their interviewees to.
You have to be fair – the context cuts both ways.
As several Brits have pointed out, this is a known journalist who’s representing a serious news program. The UK news isn’t allowed to broadcast advertorial (fluff), so this journalist HAS to ask deep/newsworthy questions.
Why would an entertainer go on the show? Well, you do get a few light establishing questions, so you can advertise a little, and you get to reach a different audience. It works … as long as everyone knows what roles they are playing.
I’m “Team PR screwed up”. Both Guru-Murthy and RDJ were obviously sitting there thinking “why the heck isn’t the other guy playing by the rules?” That’s on PR, for not negotiating the ground-rules properly.
First time commenting – ever. This struck a chord. I could see RDJ becoming visibly agitated despite his stone face. He has a job to do. imagine if it were us of lower pay scales forced into a situation for our job to sit in that type of discomfort. The interviewer was out of line and I would have done the same thing – only earlier. RDJ gave him a chance.
Team RDJ. I walked out of a staff meeting today because my team leader pulled rank on me when I kept pointing out the floors in his argument over a workplace issue. Now I have to have a meeting with him next week which he said he’s happy to keep between us “at this stage”
I think he’s super arrogant and obnoxious. RDJ used to be a good actor now he’s just an overpaid sellout. I admire him for getting his act together but that’s all.
Plenty of celebs lay ground rules for can and cannot be asked. His PR person might try that. I didn’t find the questions creepy; RDJ doesn’t want to admit he’s a Republican because it’s not ‘cool’ in Hollywood.
The labels Democrat and Republican are actually rather uninformative in the US. We don’t have issue-based parties as in the UK, so even though the national party may devise a platform, individual politicians carrying the label vary considerably. Likewise, regular citizens aren’t really bound by such labels. Often the labels are just inherited for cultural/religious reasons. Americans often split their vote, depending on the individual running for office rather than voting a straight party ticket. It’s weird today because a scary and belligerent small faction seems to have taken over the national Republican Party, but it wasn’t always that way. Google Senator Mark Hatfield, who was a Republican, to see what I mean.
For similar reasons, the labels liberal and conservative (which can be applied to both Democrats and Republicans) are uninformative. If you want to know what someone thinks about a particular issue, better ask them because the label won’t really tell you the details. Neither label is intrinsically evil, although some people will use them as slurs for the “other” group. Even if you can figure out a common meaning, an individual can be considered conservative on some issues and liberal on others.
I think that’s more on RDJ or Marvel’s publicists not doing due diligence, not on Guru-Murthy. British journalists also seem to be more persistent (for the lack of a better word) when trying to get an answer, no (think there was one journalist who once asked a politician the same question 13 times or something)?
Lol. Yes. That was Jeremy Paxman, interviewing the then Home Secretary Michael Howard on Newsnight.
But Newsnight as a show, IS a hard hitting political interview programme.
That’s their whole premise so the context is different.
(But you may be right that everyone wants to be Paxo!)
I still LOVE that interview. Paxo skewering MICHAEL Howard. ‘did you threaten to sack her? Asked 13 times and MH refusing to answer and instead talking about what he wanted to talk about. Good all Paxo.
Totally, totally justified. He is doing the rounds and a press junket for his movie, nothing more, just quick interviews. He did not do some all-encompassing sit-down for Anderson Cooper or Barbra Walters, etc.
When Liam Neeson does his rounds and press junkets, interviews day after day, for his movies no one is bringing up his past and Natasha dying. Sure, it’s not the same thing, but it is something personal in his past, not something that should be the subject of some press tour for his latest movie. The same with Robert, who talked about it a lot when asked early on. He does not have to nor need to be thrown his prison time and drug time into questions in some press junket promoting his latest movie.
Good for him walking out. He didn’t act, to me, like a jerk, just someone not going to put up with it when trying to make the point to move on and the interviewer didn’t.
#AskHimLess
Ha ha ha..that’s perfect.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA
A+++++++++++++
Perfection!
Putting personal like or dislike of RDJ aside, he is doing what his contract calls for – promoting the movie. Where did it say he had to bare his soul on painful issues? He’s done that a number of times – willingly discussing his drug-addled father giving him drugs from the time he was 8; his own painful battles with addiction; his son’s drug problems; his politics, etc. etc. Those were done WITH his permission and by more sensitive interviewers, but this guy completely bushwhacked RDJ with questions that were not remotely germane to the movie.
I think it was justified.
His questions were inappropriate because there was no reasonable context to them. The guys promoting his movie, not there to discuss out of context quotes he said years ago or talk about intimate personal issues.
He was very polite despite being deeply uncomfortable and was right to leave. The interviewer could see the discomfort and stress he was causing and tried to exacerbate that rather than changing to a more appropriate topic.
I thought it was a little weird when the journalist asked “Are you free of all of that?” How does one answer that question? Even the interviewer seemed to hesitate before asking it. Maybe he knew he was going down a dangerous path because he seemed to take a long time to get to the question.
I don’t know what the proper etiquette would have been in this situation for the actor, but asking whether someone is free of their drug past seems like it could lead into dangerous psychological territory for someone who is a former addict. I’d be reluctant to ask a question like that or maybe I’d rephrase so it doesn’t seem like I’m asking whether there’s a possibility you could fall off the wagon again.
If you are an addict you can always fall off the wagon. It is one day at a time. One moment at a time. Addiction is never something you are free of. You just manage it. Team Downey all the way.
Or just choose not to answer? Whatever happened to “no comment”? The journo has a right to ask, you have a right not to answer, move on.
I don’t think either party is particulary “right” or “wrong.” I think Krish was going for an interview that went beyond blah-blah movie stuff to get ratings, RDJ knew it and chose not to supply. Krish did succeed in getting headlines b/c of the walk-out, but he miscalculated b/c Krish clearly didn’t want RDJ to bail and there’s so much love for Tony Stark/RDJ right now that much of the reaction has been anti-Krish.
RDJ’s “you better get to your next question” was the warning shot, Krish overestimated his patience, end of story.
If either had thrown a hissy fit, I’d feel differently, but they didn’t, so……meh.
I was on Team RDJ until he called Guru-Murthy a schmuck and made that comment about Diane Sawyer. What does it say about RDJ that he insults someone after his microphone has been removed and his handlers are beside him? Also, at 6:41, he looks like he struck Guru-Murthy on the shoulder in passing.
A jerk walked out on a jerk.
LOL, pretty much. RDJ met his match, and the minute he realized he was being outmaneuvered by an equal power player, he just left like a baby.
Whether it was fair to ask these questions during a movie promotion is one thing, but I’m not sure what people are finding “creepy” about this. The reporter asked questions about a past, well-known comment from RDJ and then asked about his heavily reported on past with drug and alcohol abuse. It’s not like he dug through RDJ’s trash and came up with something unknown.
How fkn rude and disrespectful of that journalist. RDJ handled that way better than I would have. In what way is any human being community property? What makes anyone believe that actors/actresses/people in general owe the public answers that are not our business, and have nothing to do with what they’re promoting?
I’m surprised to see people saying they dislike RDJ. I mean, to each their own, but I love the guy, always and forever.
Oh how I’d love to see this guy interview Tom Cruise. Now HE deserves some hard-hitting questions to be thrown at him, not Robert Downey Jr, who has worked hard to overcome his personal demons.
Must be nice to have the $$$ to enable just walking off in a hissy when the mood strikes …
yeah RDJ has a big fat ego but I’m on his side on this one. Bringing up issues from his not so very distant past in what seemed like a regular junket interview where you talk about the movie….not cool.
He’s free to do what he wants.
I would have walked out too. These tacky interviewers need to know that he is there to promote a movie not to have a therapy session to please this self-centered, hack journalist who is desperate to create a moment. I hate movie promotion. I wish actors didn’t even do interviews. They are all so contrived. People will see the Avengers without needing to know about Robert Downey Jr’s personal life of Scarlett Johansson’s favorite lip gloss.
RDJ approved of the questions prior to the interview then proceeds to have a hissy fit because he didn’t feel like answering them that day. Entitled spoilt brat behaviour! I feel embarrassed for him.
I didn’t read all the comments but I truly believe he stopped the interview because of the old RDJ “penitentiary” quote mention.
RDJ quote New York Times 4/20/08:
“I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since.”
It’s a shame no one him asked him to expound on his comment when he first said it years ago, because I fail to see how serving a prison sentence would make someone leave with more conservative views than when they went in. Did he think HE should’ve been in there longer? Or gotten harsher treatment from the law for his many prior drug offenses? like the general conservative POV about such things? Doubt it. I think RDJ is an excellent actor but I also think he came out of prison with racist sympathies
I don’t think either was completely right or wrong. I think RDJ went in there expecting fluff, and the reporter wanted a story with teeth. It struck me as more a mismatched pairing.
i actually feed bad for everyone involved. putting myself in the place of the interviewer; have you ever had a defining moment where you really want to ask someone a question for a quote that spoke to you- only to offend the person which was not your intent at all? he clearly started to back pedal and got flustered and failed. RDJ has opened up to journalists about his past before, so it may have seemed like open ground. However, I feel for RDJ- sometimes you just dont want to have to say anything else about the bad stuff in your life. Sometimes you just want to be in the present, and wish people would give up the dirt already.
RDJ was uncomfortable BEFORE the personal stuff. He was a babbling mess BEFORE the personal stuff WHILE he was talking about the movie. He then freaked out officially when he was asked about the NYT quote. @K, you might be onto something regarding racist sympathies. The NYT question was a legit and interesting question. There is clearly something else going on here apart from a journo possibly going too far into personal history.