CLINT Eastwood has hit out at an Austrian newspaper for publishing a bombshell interview he claims he never even gave.
The 95-year-old acting icon was directly quoted bashing Hollywood in the article – despite him now labelling the Q&A as “phoney”.
Clint Eastwood, 95, has hit out at the Austrian newspaper for the ‘phoney’ Q&A[/caption]
Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in 1966[/caption]
The supposed interview was published in Kurier, a Vienna-based paper with around 100,000 readers[/caption]
Despite his age meaning his career on the big screen has all but finished, Eastwood’s name was brought up again after his comments on the state of the film industry went viral.
Kurier, a Vienna-based paper with around 100,000 readers, published a major Q&A spread with the Dirty Harry star on Friday.
The main takeaway from the supposed interview was just how much Eastwood despised how reliant Hollywood has become on sequels and franchises.
One of Eastwood’s responses to a journalist’s question said: “I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like Casablanca in small bungalows on the studio lot.
“When everyone had a new idea.
“We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I’ve shot sequels three times, but I haven’t been interested in that for a long while.
“My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home.”
The answer stirred up days of debates from film buffs who argued both sides of the fence.
But Eastwood soon chimed in on the argument himself as he blasted the original interview as “entirely phony”.
He claims he has never given those comments to Kurier and hasn’t been interviewed by anyone in the past few weeks.
The paper’s editor has since conceded the quotes were in fact not from a formal interview with Eastwood who turned 95 last month.
Instead, they were repackaged by a writer who had spoken to the actor at more than a dozen media events in the past.
Elisabeth Sereda, a US-based Austrian journalist, had “convincingly explained” to editor Martin Gebhart that her and Eastwood have met on 18 occasions at round table media events.
This meant the quotes were a compilation of statements made by the actor over the years.
But Gebhart did admit that the way the article was presented as a tell-it-all exclusive chat went against his quality standards.
He then said he will no longer work with the Sereda as of a result.
The story has also since been withdrawn from the paper’s website entirely.
Gebhart said: “Even though no quotes were fabricated, the interviews are documented, and the accusation of fabrication can be refuted, we will no longer work with the author in the future.”
Michael Schumacher fake AI interview torment
MICHAEL Schumacher’s family were paid £170,000 in compensation after a magazine published a fake AI-generated interview with the F1 racing legend.
German publication Die Aktuelle claimed last April to have secured a “world exclusive” with the severely injured Ferrari great – who has not been seen in public since his 2013 skiing accident.
In a two-page spread, promoted with a picture of Schumacher, it claimed the seven-time F1 champ had said “My life has totally changed”.
It promised it was not a story based on “half-sentences from friends” but it’s “the incredible interview” with the F1 star with “redeeming answers to the most burning questions that the whole world has been asking for so long.”
The rest of the article was written in Q&A form, with an AI chatbot designed to mimic celebrities making up the answers Michael would supposedly give.
The bot even spoke about the racing hero’s physical condition, family and future recovery prospects.
Die Aktuelle only admitted the quotes, which used graphic details to describe his injuries, were written by a chatbot in a note on the inside pages.
The shameless interview just goes to show how “poisoned” bots can be weaponised, an expert warned.
Sereda is known for publishing celebrity based articles for Kurier and other Austrian media.
She is also a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and listed as a voting member on the website of the Golden Globes.
After Eastwood’s admission, Jude Law’s team also made similar comments on Sereda’s work.
She had published an interview claiming to be from the English actor earlier this year.
Sources close to Law said no interview has ever taken place and that the only time those direct quotes would have been made would have been at a press conference at the Toronto international film festival last year.
Eastwood is still working as a director with his most recent movie being Juror #2 which was released in November last year.
He has long been an influential figure in Hollywood for bis longevity and ability.
Since breaking through with the 1964 film of A Fistful of Dollars, Eastwood has continued as a leading man for decades.
He has even received the ultimate honour as a director through two Academy Award’s for best director with 1992’s Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby in 2005.
Eastwood in 2019[/caption]
The acting legend in Dirty Harry[/caption]
