Celebrities walk out of interviews with no consequence all the time, which is truly strange when you think about it. Promoting a project is a contractually-obligated part of their job – imagine if us mere mortals could just storm out of work every time someone asked us a question we didn’t like.
The main result of these incidents is that the celebrity trends on social media for a few days, which is actually beneficial if you need to plug your upcoming movie or TV show or album. It happened again this week with a New York Times Magazine story on Nicki Minaj. Writer Vanessa Grigoriadis profiled the superstar rapper, and aside from some key quotes on the Miley Cyrus dust-up at the VMA Awards, everyone will just remember that Minaj walked out.
Minaj, unhappy with what she perceived to be a sexist question (Grigoriadis asked if Minaj “thrives on drama”), shut down the interview. She called Grigoriadis a “troublemaker” and said ”Do not speak to me like I’m stupid or beneath you in any way … I don’t care to speak to you anymore.”
The quotes got picked up everywhere – many applauded Minaj, and Grigoriadis admitted in the story she regretted her choice of words. But it’s only one in a long line of stories about stars who have zero patience for the media. It occurs for a wide variety reasons; some instances, like the one with Minaj, are complicated. Often, though, celebrities can’t accept that pesky reporters don’t just want to gush about their latest project. (Just last month, star Robert De Niro walked out after too many “negative” questions about things not related to his movie “The Intern.”) What are the most common explanations for why they take the drastic step of cutting off an interview?
1) Questions focused on the past.
If someone was involved in a scandal that has nothing to do with their current project – and happened a long time ago – should they still have to answer questions when they’re on an innocuous press tour? This year, Robert Downey Jr. made headlines during an “Avengers: Age of Ultron” interview when Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy started asking about his past drug addiction and issues with his father. “It’s just getting a little Diane Sawyer,” Downey explained before taking his mic off.
Other example: Naomi Campbell knocked down a camera when ABC News asked if she received blood diamonds many years ago from Liberian dictator Charles Taylor.
2) Questions about other celebrities.
Stars are generally comfortable talking about themselves, but ask them about friends or an ex, and all bets are off. Selena Gomez straight up shut down a satellite interview when a reporter asked if she could explain ex Justin Bieber’s wild behavior.
Other examples: Marc Anthony left the room when a Univision show asked him about Jennifer Lopez’s “intimate” tape with her ex-husband; Cameron Diaz hung up on a radio interview when a host made a crack about her pal Drew Barrymore’s former drug use.
3) Questions that insult their craft.
Joan Rivers famously left a CNN interview when she felt the interviewer didn’t understand her comedy. “Stop it with ‘You do this’ and ‘You’re mean’ and ‘You’re that,'” Rivers told Fredricka Whitfield before leaving. “You are not the one to interview a person who does humor. Sorry.”
Other examples: Justin Bieber did not appreciate when “Mojo in the Morning” said he sounded really similar to Justin Timberlake; Paris Hilton walked out on ABC when the interviewer asked if her 15 minutes of fame were over; Russell Crowe gave the BBC a piece of his mind when an interviewer said he made Robin Hood sound “Irish.”
4) Questions about their love life.
Want to see Ryan Seacrest genuinely shocked? Check out the video of Robert Pattinson leaving after Seacrest asked an innocent question about whether he was dating “Twilight” co-star Kristen Stewart.
Other examples: Rihanna peaced out when someone broached the subject of her maybe dating Ashton Kutcher; Megan Fox’s publicist jumped in when a curious correspondent tried to get her to confirm her pregnancy.
5) Questions about controversies.
Back in 2009, Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” happened to go No. 1 right after the infamous Kanye West VMA stage-crashing incident, so she had to do some press. When a Tampa radio host insisted on asking questions about Kanye, Swift politely tried to change the subject (“I really would appreciate it if we could talk about something else, because I’ve asked you three times now, and I’m trying to be nice about it.”) until she simply handed her phone to her publicist.
Other examples: Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean told Larry King he was “extremely inappropriate” and bolted when he asked about her former lawsuit against the Miss California USA Pageant; Naomi Watts walked away when a radio host asked too many probing questions about her polarizing Princess Diana film.
