They say there's no such thing as stupid question — but the stars and celebrities who spoke to these reporters might just disagree.
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00:00They say there's no such thing as a stupid question, but the stars and celebrities who
00:04spoke to these reporters might just disagree.
00:07It's always important for journalists to do their research before interviewing an actor.
00:12Why?
00:13Just ask KTLA Morning News' Sam Rubin, who experienced a reporter's worst nightmare in
00:172014.
00:18Speaking to Samuel L. Jackson during the press tour for RoboCop, Rubin asked Jackson about
00:22a Super Bowl commercial he'd once done — specifically, this one.
00:26This is unreal.
00:27No, it's very real.
00:31This is what luxury looks like."
00:32A perplexed Jackson asked what he was talking about.
00:35Rubin paused, then apologized before Jackson called him out.
00:38You're as crazy as the people on Twitter.
00:40I'm not Lawrence Fishburne.
00:43Rubin proceeded to apologize again before Jackson added,
00:46We don't all look alike.
00:48We may be all black and famous, but we don't all look alike.
00:51Rubin later issued a public apology for what happened, stating,
00:54I indicated to Samuel that I'd seen him during the Super Bowl, and he thought that I had
00:58confused him with the commercial Lawrence Fishburne had done for a car company.
01:02Of course, a Captain America ad had also run during the Super Bowl, but I immediately felt
01:07so dumb.
01:08I didn't bring that up, and he gave me the shellacking that was well-deserved.
01:13In 2012, Extra reporter Jerry Penacoli sat down with Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson
01:18to discuss The Avengers, and ended up in some hot water, discussing Black Widow's costume
01:23in the movie.
01:24Penacoli asked Johansson whether she was able to wear underwear.
01:28Johansson obviously wasn't pleased.
01:30What is going on?
01:32Since when did people start asking each other in interviews about their underwear?
01:36Penacoli dug deeper by trying to point out how tight the costume is, to which Johansson
01:40suggested she leave that up to Penacoli's imagination.
01:44Penacoli finally caught the hint that he may have asked an inappropriate question and tried
01:48to defuse the situation, but Johansson wouldn't let it drop.
01:51What kind of interview is this?
01:54Jerry Penacoli got into more trouble in 2012, when he interviewed Anne Hathaway about her
01:59role as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.
02:01During their talk, Penacoli asked Hathaway about getting in shape for the movie.
02:06Hathaway explained that it wasn't about being in perfect shape, but she needed to be fit
02:10enough to do the stunts.
02:11It's all the boring stuff that no one ever wants to do.
02:14It's just watch what you eat and get yourself to the gym.
02:16Penacoli then ventured into the topic of the figure-hugging nature of her catsuit before
02:20asking her about what he called feline fitness regime.
02:23After this, he pressed her further about her workouts, and that's when Hathaway lost her
02:27patience with him.
02:28What's the deal, man?
02:29You look great.
02:30No, no, no.
02:31No, no, seriously.
02:32We have to talk about this.
02:33What do you want?
02:34Are you trying to fit into a catsuit?
02:35Penacoli squirmed, trying to make a joke of her response, before finally catching the
02:39hint and changing the topic.
02:42Channel 4 news reporter Krishnan Gurumurthy made headlines in 2013 when Quentin Tarantino
02:47lashed out at him over a question about the violence portrayed in his films.
02:50I'm shutting your butt down.
02:52And that's entirely your right.
02:55This is a commercial for my movie.
02:57Two years later, Gurumurthy became the story once more, after he rattled Robert Downey
03:02Jr. during an interview on The Avengers' Age of Ultron press tour.
03:06The interview took a turn when Gurumurthy chose to delve into more personal topics,
03:11including a statement that Downey had once made about going to prison.
03:15Are we promoting a movie?
03:17Downey Jr. attempted to deflect the question, expressing how he had made those comments
03:21years earlier, and couldn't explain why he said what he did back then.
03:25But Gurumurthy pressed further, asking about the star's relationship with his father.
03:29And this was the result.
03:30What are we doing?
03:31Well, I'm just asking questions.
03:34Right.
03:35Okay, that's all right.
03:36Bye.
03:38Thank you, guys.
03:39Media coverage of actors' sexualities often borders on the obsessive.
03:43While some stars are comfortable discussing such matters with the world, others prefer
03:47to keep their private lives, well, private.
03:50In 2015, Tom Hardy appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival press conference
03:55to discuss his film Legend.
03:57A reporter mentioned to Hardy that one of his Legend characters, Ronnie Kray, never
04:01hid his sexuality, before pointing out that Hardy had never quite given a definitive answer
04:06about his own.
04:07The reporter then asked whether Hardy thinks celebrities find it difficult to talk to the
04:11media about their sexualities.
04:13Hardy fired back,
04:14What on earth are you on about?
04:16The reporter and Hardy went back and forth for a moment before Hardy asked the reporter
04:20outright if they were specifically asking about his sexuality.
04:24Why?
04:25Why?
04:26Um, thank you.
04:28Okay.
04:29Mel Gibson's infamous 2006 arrest for drunk driving put the actor in the headlines for
04:34all the wrong reasons.
04:36Gibson apologized for his behavior in due course, but it was brought up four years later
04:40while he promoted his film Edge of Darkness.
04:42Appearing on WGN-TV, reporter Dean Richards asked Gibson if the actor thought the audience
04:47would accept him after all his previous scandals and controversies.
04:51That's almost four years ago, dude.
04:53I mean, I've moved on.
04:54I guess you haven't.
04:55Richards pressed the actor further, asking again if Gibson thought the public would have
04:59moved on.
05:00Gibson, however, was clearly beginning to become irate at this line of questioning.
05:05Let's move on, dude.
05:06Come on.
05:07Richards stopped the line of questioning and added a plug for Edge of Darkness while
05:10Gibson sipped on his cup of coffee and threw a thumbs-up at the screen.
05:14And the interview didn't exactly end on a happy note, either.
05:17Bye-bye.
05:18Ah, s**t.
05:20The internet is a powerful thing.
05:22All it takes is one little rumor on social media to run wild and spread misinformation,
05:27and suddenly, everyone seems to believe it.
05:29A few years ago, the Gossip Mill spun out a story that Lady Gaga had male genitalia.
05:34Gaga herself never outright confirmed or denied this, instead preferring to toy with
05:39the idea in interviews.
05:41In one interview, Anderson Cooper asked Gaga about the rumor.
05:44She replied,
05:45"'Maybe I do.
05:46Would it be so terrible?'
05:48Apparently, however, this wasn't enough for Cooper.
05:50He pushed her further, asking why she hadn't outright denied the rumor, to which she responded,
05:55"'Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or
05:59not I have a penis?
06:00My fans don't care, and neither do I.'"
06:03In a 2024 interview on What's Next?
06:05The Future with Bill Gates, Gaga explained why she never bothered to answer the question.
06:10"...but I thought about, like, what about a kid that's being accused of that, that would
06:14think a public figure like me would feel shame?"