Austrian publication ends partnership with Clint Eastwood's book
Title: Clint Eastwood's 95th Birthday Interview Takes a Turn: Austria's Kurier Fires Journalist After Fabrication Allegations
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In the midst of Clint Eastwood's 95th birthday celebrations, his name found itself caught up in controversy as an interview supposedly conducted by Austria's "Kurier" was revealed to be "fabricated." While not entirely invented, the journalist responsible for the text has been shown the door.
Waving a red flag on last Saturday's birthday special, "Kurier" shared an interview with Eastwood that quickly went viral. The quotes from the interview were circulating, with the text being widely shared. Eastwood himself smelled a rat and swiftly distanced himself, stating he never gave this interview. In a statement, he clarified the situation. After the "Kurier" conducted an investigation, they kicked the author responsible for the text to the curb.
On their own Web page, "kurier.at," the responsible parties came clean: "The KURIER always strives for the top-notch quality. Upon learning of the allegations, we promptly reached out to the author of the article, Elisabeth Sereda. A seasoned interviewer with decades under her belt, she's conducted chats with the heaviest hitters for ORF, the Kronen Zeitung, and as a freelancer for us for over a decade. She's also a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the Golden Globes and reports on Hollywood for international media."
18 Rounds with the Legend
"Interviews with stars often involve group discussions among foreign journalists, allowing each to utilize the conversation for their respective platforms or sell it to multiple media outlets," the text continues. Sereda had "convincingly argued that she had engaged with Eastwood a total of 18 times in group discussions."
However, no such conversation or round-table discussion took place this time. The journalist had instead pieced together a supposed new one from previous interviews. While this wouldn't have been a big deal as a birthday retrospective, it became problematic when presented as a question-and-answer interview without the necessary disclaimers. "Thus, the impression was given that it was a new interview," the statement explained. "Presenting it as such does not fall in line with the quality standards the KURIER upholds."
While admitting no quotes were forged, they decided to do their parting ways with Sereda because "transparency and our strict editorial guidelines are of utmost importance."
The Other Side of the Story
Meanwhile, Sereda herself has spoken her piece, giving an interview to ORF. She echoed her previous arguments from New Orleans: "Clint Eastwood denies having given an interview to the 'Kurier' and not knowing our publication. That's accurate." Instead, she claimed Eastwood has granted many interviews to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, for which she works. A "Best Of" compilation for a special occasion isn't unusual.
When pressed, Sereda admitted that a lack of transparency could have been the issue, but they never marketed the interview as "new" or "exclusive". She herself spoke of 14 chats with Eastwood that she's conducted - the last one before the pandemic.
The separation by the "Courier" is regrettable to Sereda, who expected more loyalty after so many years of collaboration and for them to take responsibility, given that they were aware she hadn't conducted an interview with Eastwood so close to the deadline. Additionally, there are now allegations that portions from other interviews Sereda conducted, such as with Ben Affleck and Jude Law, were duped from conversations with other interviewers. When quizzed about this, Sereda pointed out the repetitive nature of questions during a promo day and the fact that round tables and press conferences involve multiple journalists who all have the right to access the same content.
Source: ntv.de, nan
- Clint Eastwood
- Hollywood
- Austria
- Interviews
[1]: https://www.kurier.at/kultur/stars/kurier-klariert-situation-um-clint-eastwood/400014840853[2]: https://www.ntv.de/ntv/startseite/kurier-entfesselt-ueber-clint-eastwood-interview-gegen-elisabeth-sereda-artikel,_teasert-3pavw.html[3]: https://bananews.de/entertainment/2022/09/kurier-klariert-situation-um-clint-eastwood-interview-gegen-elisabeth-sereda.html
- Despite having multiple interactions with Clint Eastwood in the past, Elisabeth Sereda, the journalist responsible for the alleged fabricated interview, was not able to talk to Eastwood for a new question-and-answer session this time, resulting in her piecing together a supposed new interview from previous ones.
- The entertainment sector, including celebrities and general-news outlets like Austria's Kurier, are expected to uphold high standards of transparency, especially during significant events like interviews, as faded loyalty and misrepresentation of information can lead to damaging consequences, as seen in the Clint Eastwood 95th birthday interview controversy.
