I’m a celeb ...get me out of here!
Bertie’s TV drama reminds us of some famous walkouts
DIFFICULT as it is to believe, next month will mark the tenth anniversary of Bertie Ahern stepping down as taoiseach. He had announced his decision to quit weeks earlier, as concerns were growing about his evidence to the Mahon Tribunal regarding his personal finances.
Mr Ahern has kept a low public profile for much of the past decade. Yet in recent months he has floated the idea of running for the Presidency in the event of Michael D Higgins deciding not to seek a second term in the Áras. He also had a prominent presence as the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was marked.
Even fierce critics of the former Fianna Fáil leader admit he was a consummate politician. Very rarely, if indeed ever, did he let the mask slip. Yet, in a move that surprised many observers, he took umbrage last week when he was challenged on a German public TV channel about both the economic crash and the tribunal’s criticisms of him.
Insisting that he was there to speak about the Stormont deal of 1998, he ended up bringing the interview to a premature end. But, of course, he is not the first politician, celebrity or public figure to storm out of a TV studio when the going got that little bit too tough. Here are a few of the others…
JULIAN ASSANGE
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange was interviewed by CNN in London about the release of 400,000 pages of documents on the Iraq War. But he took exception during the October 2010 broadcast when he was also asked about the allegations of sexual assault against him. He described the line of questioning as ‘disgusting’ and repeatedly threatened to walk out. Which, after struggling at some length to disentangle himself from the microphone attached to his clothing, is exactly what he did.
QUOTE: Assange tells interviewer Atika Shubert: ‘I’ll have to walk if you’re going to contaminate this extremely serious interview with questions about my personal life.’ WALKOUT RATING: 3/5
JOAN RIVERS
WHEN Joan Rivers appeared to have a meltdown after being asked on CNN about wearing fur on the cover photo of her latest book, it was unclear at first whether she was joking or not. But it soon became clear that she couldn’t have been more serious. After delivering a ferocious rant, Rivers stormed off the set – where her tirade reportedly continued in even more colourful language.
QUOTE: Rivers shouts at interviewer Fredricka Whitfield: ‘I made people laugh for 50 years, I am put on Earth to make people laugh. My book is funny… You are not the one to interview a person who does humour, sorry!’ WALKOUT RATING: 5/5
THE BEE GEES
BEE Gees frontman Barry Gibb became increasingly stoney-faced as his 1997 television encounter with Clive Anderson proceeded. It probably didn’t help that when he remarked that the band’s original name was meant to be Les Tossers, the host quipped: ‘You’ll always be Les Tossers to me.’ The acerbic Anderson went on to say that the brothers’ trademark falsetto vocals were much appreciated by his dog. Eventually, Barry stalked off, closely followed by twins Robin and Maurice (both now deceased).
QUOTE: As Anderson expresses surprise at being walked out on, the departing Barry Gibb retorts: ‘Well, you’re the tosser, pal.’ WALKOUT RATING: 4/5
JOHN NOTT
MONTHS after the Falklands War ended in 1982, British defence secretary John Nott appeared on the BBC to discuss cuts to the Royal Navy’s budget. It didn’t take long for him to object to the tone of Robin Day’s questions and, muttering about the interview being ‘ridiculous’, he stood up and walked off. But only after first removing the microphone that was clipped to his tie and throwing it on the desk in disgust.
QUOTE: A smirking Robin Day asks Nott why the public should be expected to believe the word of ‘a transient, here-today and – if I may say – gone-tomorrow politician’. WALKOUT RATING: 5/5
NAOMI CAMPBELL
PERHAPS the ABC reporter who quizzed Naomi Campbell about so-called blood diamonds was unaware of her fearsome reputation. The supermodel was asked in 2010 about claims that she had received a gem from former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was on trial for war crimes at the time. ‘I’m not going to speak about that, thank you very much,’ sniffed Naomi. ‘And I’m not here for that.’
When her interrogator persisted, La Campbell turned her head away initially and then stormed off. Oh, and she knocked over a television camera as she left. Presumably by accident.
QUOTE: ABC reporter says to Campbell: ‘We’ve been told that you didn’t help the prosecution in this very important case.’ WALKOUT RATING: 4/5 (mainly for the camera)
NICOLAS SARKOZY
FIVE months after becoming French president in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy was interviewed on the CBS News programme 60 Minutes. Journalist Lesley Stahl raised the subjects of rumours that his second marriage was in trouble. ‘If I had something to say about Cécilia, I would certainly not do so here,’ he replied in French. When he was pressed on the issue, he terminated the interview. It was announced a fortnight later that the couple had divorced. Within four months, Sarkozy married ex-model Carla Bruni. QUOTE: The departing President Sarkozy tells Lesley Stahl, then aged 68: ‘You really are a child.’ WALKOUT FACTOR: 2/5
S CLUB 7
WHEN the pop group S Club 7 decided to split in 2003, they were interviewed by Claudia Winkleman on BBC. Things turned sour when Winkleman mentioned rumours that the band members were ‘grumpy’ about the lack of money they had made – despite the band’s creator, ex-Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, being worth a reported €100million at the time. It was at this point that a PR executive crashed on to the set, interrupted the proceedings and practically frogmarched her charges away from the cameras.
QUOTE: The shrieking PR woman says to Winkleman: ‘I’m not having that, I’m not having you asking that question. I’ve tried to stop this and I’ve had to walk in here… we are going.’ WALKOUT RATING: 4/5
JACK O’CONNOR
JUST over three years have passed since Jack O’Connor – then Siptu president, now a Labour election candidate – walked off the set of TV3’s Tonight with Vincent Browne. The panel had been discussing a Dunnes Stores strike when Mr O’Connor raised the issue of union recognition at TV3. Testy exchanges followed and, after removing his microphone once and allowing it to be reattached by a member of the studio crew, he eventually ripped it off again and stormed off in supposedly high dudgeon.
QUOTE: Clearly amused at the turn of events, Vincent Browne chortles as his programme guest departs: ‘Well done, Jack!’ WALKOUT RATING: 1/5
JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME
IT is less than two years since Jean-Claude Van Damme did a promotional interview for a speaking tour of Australia that he was undertaking. But the Belgian action star, who was appearing by satellite from Bangkok, was less than impressed with the ‘very boring’ questions he’d been asked for the previous two decades. These included queries about his fling with Kylie Minogue in the Nineties and his current training regime. So he made his excuses and left.
QUOTE: To no-one in particular, Jean-Claude exclaims: ‘What the f*** is going on with Australia? What the f*** is going on? I cannot do this, I’m too natural.’ WALKOUT RATING: 3/5
ANNIE MURPHY
EVEN though she stayed right until the end of the interview, Annie Murphy still managed to stage a famous walkout of sorts. It was clearly a gruelling experience for the American divorcée, who’d had a child by Bishop Eamon Casey, when she appeared on The Late Late Show in 1993. By the end, she was clearly itching to get away from there. Matters weren’t helped when host Gay Byrne tried to wrap things up on an upbeat note: ‘If your son is half as good a man as his father, he won’t be doing too badly.’ Cue some frosty-sounding comments from Ms Murphy before she promptly turned on her heel and exited stage left.
QUOTE: Annie Murphy in response to Gaybo’s praise for Bishop Casey: ‘I’m not too bad either, Mr Byrne.’ WALKOUT RATING: 3/5