They say there's no such thing as stupid question — but the stars and celebrities who spoke to these reporters might just disagree.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00They say there's no such thing as stupid questions,
00:04but the stars and celebrities who spoke to these reporters might just disagree.
00:09It's always important for journalists to do their research before interviewing an actor.
00:14Why? Just ask KTLA Morning News' Sam Rubin, who experienced a reporter's worst nightmare in 2014.
00:22Speaking to Samuel L. Jackson during the press tour for RoboCop, Rubin asked Jackson about a
00:27Super Bowl commercial he'd once done. Specifically, this one.
00:32This is unreal.
00:33No, it's very real. This is what luxury looks like.
00:38A perplexed Jackson asked what he was talking about. Rubin paused,
00:42then apologized before Jackson called him out.
00:45You're as crazy as the people on Twitter. I'm not Laurence Fishburne.
00:49Rubin proceeded to apologize again before Jackson added,
00:53We don't all look alike. We may be all black and famous, but we all don't look alike.
00:58Rubin later issued a public apology for what happened, stating,
01:01I indicated to Samuel that I'd seen him during the Super Bowl,
01:05and he thought that I had confused him with the commercial Laurence Fishburne
01:08had done for a car company. Of course, a Captain America ad had also run during the Super Bowl,
01:13but I immediately felt so dumb. I didn't bring that up,
01:16and he gave me the shellacking that was well-deserved.
01:20In 2012, Extra reporter Jerry Penacoli sat down with Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson to
01:26discuss The Avengers, and ended up in some hot water. Discussing Black Widow's costume in the
01:32movie, Penacoli asked Johansson whether she was able to wear underwear. Johansson obviously
01:38wasn't pleased.
01:40What is going on? Since when did people start asking each other about their underwear?
01:46Penacoli dug deeper by trying to point out how tight the costume is.
01:49To which Johansson suggested she leave that up to Penacoli's imagination.
01:54Penacoli finally caught the hint that he may have asked an inappropriate question,
01:58and tried to diffuse the situation. But Johansson wouldn't let it drop.
02:02What? What kind of interview is this?
02:05Jerry Penacoli got into more trouble in 2012,
02:08when he interviewed Anne Hathaway about her role as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.
02:13During their talk, Penacoli asked Hathaway about getting in shape for the movie.
02:17Hathaway explained that it wasn't about being in perfect shape,
02:20but she needed to be fit enough to do the stunts.
02:24It's all the boring stuff that no one ever wants to do. It's just watch what
02:27you eat and get yourself to the gym.
02:29Penacoli then ventured into the topic of the figure-hugging nature of her catsuit,
02:33before asking her about what he called feline fitness regime. After this,
02:38he pressed her further about her workouts. And that's when Hathaway lost her patience with him.
02:43What's the deal, man? You look great.
02:45No, no, no.
02:46Seriously, we have to talk about this. What do you want? Are you trying to fit into a catsuit?
02:50Penacoli squirmed, trying to make a joke of her response,
02:54before finally catching the hint and changing the topic.
02:57Channel 4 News reporter Krishnan Gurumurthy made headlines in 2013 when
03:03Quentin Tarantino lashed out at him over a question about the violence portrayed in his films.
03:08I'm shutting your butt down.
03:09And that's entirely your role.
03:12This is a commercial for my movie.
03:15Two years later, Gurumurthy became the story once more,
03:18after he rattled Robert Downey Jr. during an interview on The Avengers' Age of Ultron press
03:24tour. The interview took a turn when Gurumurthy chose to delve into more personal topics,
03:30including a statement that Downey had once made about going to prison.
03:34Um, are we promoting a movie?
03:37Downey Jr. attempted to deflect the question, expressing how he had made those comments
03:42years earlier, and couldn't explain why he said what he did back then. But Gurumurthy
03:46pressed further, asking about the star's relationship with his father, and this was the result.
03:52What are we doing?
03:54Well, I'm just asking questions, that's all.
03:56Right.
03:57Bye.
04:01Media coverage of actors' sexualities often borders on the obsessive.
04:05While some stars are comfortable discussing such matters with the world,
04:09others prefer to keep their private lives, well, private. In 2015, Tom Hardy appeared
04:15at the Toronto International Film Festival press conference to discuss his film Legend.
04:20A reporter mentioned to Hardy that one of his Legend characters, Ronnie Kray,
04:24never hid his sexuality, before pointing out that Hardy had never quite given a definitive
04:29answer about his own. The reporter then asked whether Hardy thinks celebrities
04:33find it difficult to talk to the media about their sexualities. Hardy fired back,
04:38What on earth are you on about?
04:40The reporter and Hardy went back and forth for a moment, before Hardy asked the reporter outright
04:46if they were specifically asking about his sexuality.
04:50Why?
04:54Okay.
04:54Mel Gibson's infamous 2006 arrest for drunk driving put the Australian actor in the headlines
05:00for all the wrong reasons. Gibson apologized for his behavior in due course, but it was brought
05:06up four years later while he promoted his film Edge of Darkness. Appearing on WGN-TV,
05:12reporter Dean Richards asked Gibson if the actor thought the audience would accept him
05:16after all his previous scandals and controversies.
05:20That's almost four years ago, dude. I mean, I've moved on. I guess you haven't.
05:25Richards pressed the actor further, asking again if Gibson thought the public
05:29would have moved on. Gibson, however, was clearly beginning to become irate at this line of
05:34questioning.
05:36Let's move on, dude. Come on.
05:38Richards stopped the line of questioning and added a plug for Edge of Darkness while Gibson
05:43sipped on his cup of coffee and threw a thumbs-up at the screen. And the interview didn't exactly
05:48end on a happy note, either.
05:50Bye-bye.
05:53The internet is a powerful thing. All it takes is one little rumor on social media to run wild
05:58and spread misinformation. And suddenly, everyone seems to believe it. A few years ago,
06:04the gossip mill spun out a story that Lady Gaga had male genitalia. Gaga herself never
06:09outright confirmed or denied this, instead preferring to toy with the idea in interviews.
06:14In one interview, Anderson Cooper asked Gaga about the rumor. She replied,
06:19"'Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible?'
06:21Apparently, however, this wasn't enough for Cooper. He pushed her further,
06:26asking why she hadn't outright denied the rumor, to which she responded,
06:30"'Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not
06:34I have a penis? My fans don't care, and neither do I.'"
06:37In a 2024 interview on What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates,
06:41Gaga explained why she never bothered to answer the question.
06:44"'But I thought about, like, what about a kid that's being accused of that,
06:48that would think a public figure like me would feel shame?'