Supplemental Post 4

Robert Downey Jr recently walked out of an interview while on the publicity tour of the new Avengers movie. This got my attention not because the interviewer asked an inappropriate question, but rather the fact that stars are able to easily shed their personal life and past. They can pretend a part of them doesn’t exist even though part of a stars allure is knowing about their lives.

Guru-Murthy approaches his interviews more like a reporter rather than a celebrity interviewer. Meaning his questions can become questionable with the stars. By not sugarcoating his questions with a stream of compliments (like most interviewers), Guru-Murthy might get an actor’s blood boiling but brings up meaty questions.   

In their last meeting in 2008, Guru-Murthy said: “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.” This already testy exchange was not only brought up again in an interview this week, but fuel was added to the fire when Guru-Murthy asked about his relationship with his father, drinking and taking drugs. This seemed too much for Downey Jr who got up and left, stating “It’s just getting a little Diane Sawyer in here.” This declaration was interesting to me because clearly there is a division between ‘real’ reporting and interviews with celebrities.