Billy Bob Thornton Displays Jerk-Like Behavior
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Trailers and Clips
Another day, another dash of celebrity petulance. By now, you've read about the "strange" interview Billy Bob Thornton gave to a Canadian radio station. But you haven't seen it, and once you do you'll agree that "strange" probably isn't the right word for Thornton's behavior. Many words will come to mind when you see it, but "strange" is probably too polite of one, as is the phrase "under the influence." It reminds me of a surreal, unfunny SNL skit.
The host, Jian Ghomeshi, really deserves praise for remaining cool and professional in the face of such bad behavior and thick tension. It's rather unsettling how Thornton attacks him for asking legitimate questions about music -- which Thornton chooses to answer by discussing Forrest J. Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland before blaming Ghomeshi for a bad introduction.
You also have to feel bad for Thornton's bandmates who are clearly on edge before the interview even begins. They deserve better than a drummer who won't bring his kit to perform and while there's supposedly no such thing as bad publicity, who would want to live this down?
Thornton's publicist currently has no comment, but one would hope he apologizes to Ghomeshi and to his bandmates very soon. That is, unless the whole thing was an act to begin with ...
The host, Jian Ghomeshi, really deserves praise for remaining cool and professional in the face of such bad behavior and thick tension. It's rather unsettling how Thornton attacks him for asking legitimate questions about music -- which Thornton chooses to answer by discussing Forrest J. Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland before blaming Ghomeshi for a bad introduction.
You also have to feel bad for Thornton's bandmates who are clearly on edge before the interview even begins. They deserve better than a drummer who won't bring his kit to perform and while there's supposedly no such thing as bad publicity, who would want to live this down?
Thornton's publicist currently has no comment, but one would hope he apologizes to Ghomeshi and to his bandmates very soon. That is, unless the whole thing was an act to begin with ...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-09-2009 @ 10:17AM
paul said...
When bbt started his moron tack I couldn't watch it. The interviewer was probably thinking, here's another name I can add to the list of people who can kiss my ass.
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4-09-2009 @ 1:45PM
Ken said...
The "Hill Billy-Bob" has taken the definition of Arrogance to a new level. Happy to say "I will no longer watch any film this pitiful little man has a role in.
4-09-2009 @ 10:19AM
Eric said...
What a asshole. If i where that dude. I would have thrown him out of my studio.
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4-11-2009 @ 10:13PM
John Rusart said...
All I can say is - Billy KNOB Thornton.
Him a Joking Phoenix should do an ad to extol the virtues of laughing gas if having teeth pulled.
They are painful.
4-10-2009 @ 11:02AM
Pete said...
Hey Billy boy, I don't how well you can act or play the guitar... the question remains, why are you such an asshole!!!!
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4-09-2009 @ 10:46AM
techstar25 said...
I can understand that Billy Bob stipulated ahead of time that he didn't want to talk about his acting. That's part of the business and part of every interiview. But damn, it's not like the dude asked him what it's like to sleep with Angelina Jolie.
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4-09-2009 @ 10:56AM
John said...
What a douche! What kind of a-hole gets that wasted before an interview?
That guy has much more class than I because I would have kicked BBT's ass right off the show.
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4-09-2009 @ 11:29AM
adrian said...
nice one Billy Bob, why are you such a smarmy deutschebag, are you trying to subscribe to the same uncomfortable interview aesthetics that andy kaufman, crispin glover, and joaqin phoenix made famous? i thought you were a trend-setter? but you're just another hollywood smarmy deutschebag who thinks people can be talked to like they're shit because they aren't as important as you think you are. i always wondered why your career shot downward after sling blade, maybe you need to change your perspective.
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4-09-2009 @ 12:10PM
Brian said...
In fairness, Casey Affleck's younger brother IS following him around with a camera, documenting the rise of an a**hole in Hollywood.
/end meta-joke
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4-09-2009 @ 12:17PM
Janice Ma said...
I always thought BBT was ugly but now I realize he's also either
(a) on drugs or (b) a total jerk or (c) has alzheimers. (I know I spelled it wrong.) Too many of these holiday jerks think that they're so much better than everyone else that they don't even pay lip service to normal rules of behavior. They cut in line, park in handicapped spaces, etc. Who do they think died & made them god? Otherwise I seriously think he should get an MRI of his brain. He looks & sounds seriously deranged.
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4-09-2009 @ 12:14PM
LiqwidZero said...
It looks like an act to me.
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4-12-2009 @ 2:45PM
Zoe said...
I honestly don't think he's smart enough to have planned that. "Yes, I'll act like a complete ass about my fame, thus assuring that people will listen to my second-rate vanity-project band!"
4-09-2009 @ 12:20PM
Janice Ma said...
My last comment I meant to say 'hollywood' not 'holiday'. Sometimes a person's brain & hands are at different places on the keyboard.
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4-09-2009 @ 12:46PM
frankts1 said...
He's not on drugs here, or if he is it's not the explanation for his behavior. IMO, what happened here is this: BBT had a bug up his ass from the outset for God knows why about mention of his acting career. Ironically, he's probably just trying to help his band rise and fall on their own merits rather than his stardom -- which is admirable if its done for the sake of the other members. He just doesn't realize that 1) he's not much of a box office draw anymore, and 2) the idea that no one would ever mention who he was or his past is unreasonable and unrealistic. As the interviewer mentiond this right out of the gate, BBT pulls his "I don't know what you mean" schtick while trying to figure out a way to respond. He then has the GENIUS idea to to respond to his "tell me about your youth and music" as if the host asked the same question in relation to Hollywood/acting. Wow, what an absolutely brilliant way to stick it to the poor guy doing his best to deal with the unreasonable demands of a egomaniac (and yes, only an egomaniac would pull something like this). F off, you SOB. I'd never buy your albums anyway, and I've always hated your movies, but somehow you managed to sink even lower.
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4-09-2009 @ 12:49PM
Kevin said...
He's just wasted. He says at the end that he doesn't bring his drums out at 6 in the morning, so I'm assuming that he was out boozing all night and got almost no sleep. Not that I think thats why he was a dick. He would've been a dick if he completely sober and they did the interview at 3 PM. Just saying that seems to me to be what he was under the influence of. The people I really feel sorry for are the folks who were out the night before hanging out with his arrogant ass while he was drinking. They probably had to put up with his shit for hours.
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4-09-2009 @ 4:14PM
Terri said...
He's certainly on something! Jian Ghomeshi deserves props for his elegance in the way he handled him. He really stayed composed through out the interview. If I were him, I would have thrown him out of the room!
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4-09-2009 @ 4:29PM
Jennifer said...
The guy should be grateful to anyone who would interview him. For WHATEVER he's accomplished. The guy is a complete jerk...but that's nothing new.
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4-09-2009 @ 5:45PM
CoreyBean said...
I loved the way his band mates were just cringing through the whole thing.
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4-11-2009 @ 10:15PM
John Rusart said...
Absolutely.
The poor band members and the rest people who who have to kiss his arse to keep their jobs.
4-09-2009 @ 6:14PM
C.A. said...
Wow. I read all the comments before watching the video so I was interested to see how bad it was. I can honestly say that it suprised me how rude he was. Everyone on here is right, he is pretty much acting like a pretentious a**hole. Since when do you go on a show, pretty much just to plug your band and try to attract fans and act so ungrateful. I've never got why celebs think they can order someone to not touch a topic, especially if it isn't even offensive. That is just nutty.
Good luck self-imploding Billy Bob.
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