Christoph Waltz was visibly displeased after facing an awkward grilling on ITV’s, This Morning.
Presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford had been interviewing the 61-year-old Django actor about his new film, Downsizing.
At first things appeared to go swimmingly as Christoph chatted amicably with the married presenters about his late blooming Hollywood career.
However, the talk quickly turned.
The subject of Harvey Weinstein arose – the Miramax co-founder – who’s recently been accused of sexual assault and harassment.
Eamonn asked Christoph if he and others in the film industry were aware of the unfolding and highly publicised, scandal:
Talking about casting, what do you make of this Harvey Weinstein situation? Is it something you guys are aware of in the industry?
Christoph responded by making it abundantly clear he did not want to offer a comment:
Of course, are you kidding? How can you not be? I consider this something that I don’t need to contribute my two cents worth, the situation I think is more than blatantly obvious.
Anybody in his right mind would be repulsed by the behaviour, so if the thing speaks for itself, why should I add a voice?
Check out the toe curling interview below:
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Eamonn wasn’t put off by Christoph’s reluctance to talk publicly about the matter and proceeded to push further.
This time he enquired if people in the film industry had been aware of Weinstein’s alleged behaviour:
What I’m saying is: was there an awareness in the industry? Was he talked about for a period of time?
The atmosphere appeared to be notably tense as Christoph simply replied:
He was one of the biggest players.
Unperturbed, Eamonn continued to dig for information, despite his guest’s obvious discomfort:
Did people know what his habits were?
It was at this point, Christoph firmly signalled Eamonn was barking up the wrong tree:
Look, you’re asking the wrong person… and I’m an old geezer.
This morning viewers have since taken to Twitter to dissect the cringe-inducing interview.
One Twitter account referred to Eamonn’s excruciating questioning as ‘pure cringe’, while another described the questions as being ‘irrelevant’:
Many people believed Christoph was treated unfairly during the interview and was put under unnecessary pressure to speak about Weinstein against his wishes.
One person tweeted:
The great Christoph Waltz being treated with total disrespect at the start of the interview #ThisMorning.
Another disappointed person tweeted at Eamonn Holmes:
Christoph Waltz handled interview v well on @itvthismorning @EamonnHolmes I usually like your interview technique but that was uncalled for.
Luckily, the conversation eventually returned to more light-hearted matters, much to the relief of daytime telly watchers nationwide.
Christoph was later photographed with a beaming Eamonn and Ruth so we can assume the frosty feelings melted enough for him not to leg it out of the studio as soon as the cameras stopped rolling!
I think there’s a fine balance presenters need to remember when trying to get the relevant information from people while making sure the person they are interviewing is treated fairly and with respect?
Did Eamonn take things a step too far this time?
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.