15 Most Awkward Interviews Ever

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5 – Sean Connery vs. Barbara Walters,

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  • Does Sean Connery prefer things shaken or stirred? Slapped, apparently – at least according to his 1985 interview with Barbara Walters.
  • Walters brought the issue up in reference to an earlier interview Connery had given. During this 1965 Playboy interview, Connery admitted he believed slapping a woman was warranted and justified if they were acting disagreeably.
  • ‘I think a man has to be slightly advanced, ahead of the woman,’ Connery was quoted as saying. ‘I really do – by virtue of the way a man is built, if nothing else.’
  • Connery confirmed to Walters that he still holds the view, and the surrounding temperature goes from brisk to frosty.

4 – Merlin from Big Brother Australia,

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  • In 2004, Australian TV viewers were enjoying the fourth season of Big Brother. The formula was well-known: a housemate was nominated, votes were cast and the evictee emerged for an interview during a live elimination show. So far these evictions had unfolded predictably.
  • That is until left-wing activist Merlin Luck emerged from the Big Brother house, outraging viewers and producers alike with an unexpected silent protest. This kind of thing was unprecedented in the show’s history, so the host and producers clearly had no idea what to do. As they scrambled to fill the hour and salvage their show, Merlin stood silent on stage with a taped mouth and a sign that read ‘Free th[e] Refugees’, which he’d concealed in the sewn-in pocket of his t-shirt.
  • Merlin was protesting the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers, who were being held against their will at Australian-run detention centres. Luck, who attracted the ire of most of the reality TV-watching nation, said he did not regret the negative attention, and was grateful to have brought the issue to national attention.

3 – Meg Ryan on Parkinson,

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  • This is one of the most famously awkward interviews of all time. Legendary interviewer Michael Parkinson tries to get reserved Meg Ryan – who, by her own admission, despises the limelight – to open up.
  • Ryan is polite and does her best with what is no doubt an uncomfortable line of questioning, but Parkinson probes on, seemingly determined to make her crack.
  • Consequently, Ryan becomes frosty and uncommunicative, which just makes Parkinson more aggressive still.
  • The whole thing ends in a big old explosion of awkwardness, with Ryan requesting they ‘wrap it up’.

2 – David Blaine on GMTV,

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  • In 2001, illusionist David Blaine appeared curiously vacant when he appeared on breakfast news show GMTV. The show’s host, Eamon Holmes, asked several questions about Blaine’s act, but received only brief, mumbled answers and a chillingly empty stare.
  • When Holmes asked whether Blaine identifies as a magician or illusionist, Blaine replied that he’s ‘Just a showman’. His creepy stare seemed to cross dimensions, but Holmes, who was being hung out to dry on national TV, remained unamused.
  • Towards the end of the interview, David Blaine raised a hand to reveal a drawn-on eye in the centre of his palm. When asked it means, he uttered ‘protection from death’.
  • Some speculated that Blaine was attempting to hypnotise an oblivious Holmes; others suggest he was on drugs, or pulling a stunt. Either way, it made for bizarre and uncomfortable viewing.

1 – Tom Cruise vs. Matt Lauer,

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  • Tom Cruise is no stranger to controversy – everyone remembers the time he used Oprah’s couch as a jumping castle – but it’s the interview he gave with The Today Show’s Matt Lauer that had our discomfort metres peaking.
  • In June 2005, Cruise and Lauer had an extremely intense exchange during a sit-down interview. Psychiatry and Scientology were involved – never good dinnertime discussion.
  • Promoting film War of the Worlds at the time, Cruise, completely flustered, criticised friend Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants and called Lauer ‘glib’.
  • The men have since put the incident behind them, but it certainly didn’t help Cruise’s reputation at the time.

 

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