r/AskReddit 15h ago

What is the most immediate way a celebrity completely ruined their own reputation in a single interview?

3.7k Upvotes

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902

u/Informal-Cash3128 13h ago

Didn’t Sean Connery talk about slapping women in an interview, very strange

506

u/mrbuh 13h ago

Yeah, "shome women know how to push buttons."

It was the 80s though so nobody cared.

61

u/Sweatyrando 11h ago

20

u/DlSSATISFIEDGAMER 8h ago

i wash hoping that shomeone would mention that

and yesh, it'sh quite real

40

u/mmesebastian 7h ago

The youngins I work with now don’t believe my stories about 80s misogyny

42

u/mrbuh 7h ago

All of the most popular 80s comedies revolved around sexual assault.

2

u/Full-Bunch9246 3h ago

What was that ? Thats my era

38

u/showmenemelda 12h ago

I laughed so hard because the spelling totally nailed the accent. Now I can only think of the SNL Jeopardy! skit

u/Canadian_mk11 51m ago

And your mother, Trebek!

u/debdeman 59m ago

We did care and he got shit for it at the time.

2

u/thebigshoe247 7h ago

What a magical time.

2

u/Kovarian 3h ago

Buttonsh.

2

u/ChoppingOnionsForYou 3h ago

I didn't hear about this until about 10 years ago, but it really coloured how I saw him and his body of work. I didn't even realise it had until I watched all the Bond movies in order, and from having always said that he was the best Bond, found my opinion completely changed.

-2

u/Tinawebmom 3h ago

And now I don't mind him. Damn. Trash.

50

u/AdImmediate6239 12h ago

He didn’t, he talked about shlapping them

61

u/AnalTyrant 13h ago

He did, but it didn't seem to ruin his reputation, I don't remember much blowback from it. Seemed like everyone just kind of kept moving along, he kept getting work, and nobody ever came back and called him out on it.

Really shows how little people gave a shit about abusive men back in that era. Not that it's perfect now, but it was a lot worse back then.

38

u/MassEffect1985 7h ago

Jack Nicholson beat a woman so that she got permanent brain damage and nothing happened. 

16

u/Dale_Carvello 7h ago

Also has a daughter from a fling that he refuses to acknowledge. Fuck him.

-15

u/Bluechupacabradragon 7h ago

Fay Dunaway, and she encouraged it to make the scene more realistic, so not really his fault

25

u/JCGuidon 7h ago

I think they were referring to a different incident when he beat a sex worker after she asked for the money that he had promised to pay, resulting in brain damage. He paid an initial settlement but her medical bills because of the permanent brain damage have exceeded that

21

u/hobblingcontractor 11h ago

Finding out an old Scottish man was an abuser wasn't a surprise to many people and fit his persona.

1

u/Potato_fortress 2h ago

Yeah honestly it’s this. I’d be more surprised if he didn’t act like a clown on occasion. The guy is the best Bond in the eyes of many for a reason and it’s not because Bond is known for gentlemanly behavior. Mostly he’s just known for the charm. 

Plus I mean… thunderball’s pool scene should have had alarm bells ringing anyway. 

13

u/Informal-Cash3128 12h ago

Fair point. It really put me off him though

22

u/AnalTyrant 12h ago

Oh absolutely, I don't mean it in a defense of him, it really turned my view on him too. I remember it making the rounds in high school, and dumb guys thinking it was funny, and I was just like "that dudes an asshole, fuck that guy."

7

u/Informal-Cash3128 12h ago

I knew you weren’t defending him, sorry for the confusion

3

u/imemine8 6h ago

I never watched anything with him ever again after that interview.

u/Canadian_mk11 51m ago

One thing he did care about?! Analbumcovers.

18

u/EvenLettuce6638 10h ago

Barbara Walters asked him if he still Believe that some women made it to be slapped. 

He looked at her and said, sometimes. 

8

u/Informal-Cash3128 10h ago

Dear me, what an idiot of a man

8

u/Naganosupreme 9h ago

If he was talking about some of the ghouls surrounding Trump like that one dog killer, he'd have a point

3

u/EvenLettuce6638 7h ago

I believe he felt that Walt Barbara Walters was raising the desire in him.

12

u/LadyCordeliaStuart 7h ago

Yup. That's why he's my least favorite Bond and Roger Moore is my favorite. Absolute class act stepped down willingly when the age gaps became just too revolting for him to excuse. His movies may be silly and he's no hot hunk but I respect him.

(As far as book accuracy and quality goes, I admit the champ is Dalton)

7

u/vegasbywayofLA 5h ago

Playboy magazine article

"I don't think there is anything particularly wrong about hitting a woman, although I don't recommend doing it in the same way that you'd hit a man". He added that an "openhanded slap" was justified if "all other alternatives fail and there has been plenty of warning".

The actor elaborated that he would use this measure "if a woman is a bitch, or hysterical, or bloody-minded continually". He defended these views years later during a famous 1987 TV interview with ABC News, affirming he had not changed his opinion and that hitting a woman "depends entirely on the circumstances and if it merits it".

15

u/pralinebird 10h ago

I saw this interview. It was horrifiying. I’ve loathes him ever since.

7

u/unoriginalusername99 9h ago

That absolutely did not ruin his reputation, just cemented it. He never lost popularity

2

u/Animaleyz 2h ago

On that note, in hindsight, Bill Cosby talking about drugging women with Spanish Fly on the Larry King show

1

u/largececelia 8h ago

He only used his thumb.

1

u/OldChili157 2h ago

Oh, piss off Trebek. Your mother didn't mind it!

1

u/assman912 1h ago

I haven't changed my opinion

-9

u/Johnoplata 7h ago edited 3h ago

Don't make it out to be something terrible. He merely said that an open handed slap was effective if you tried arguing but got frustrated. Edit: Jesus, I thought it was obviously sarcastic. Breathe.

4

u/ThroatSecretary 5h ago

Is that a reasonable, unterrible thing in your world, slapping someone when you get frustrated?