Coke and Saunders
Ab Fab star reveals she dabbled with drugs in Newsnight’s latest lightweight celebrity interview
It is the programme that has seen presenters go toe-to-toe with political heavyweights over the big issues of the day. But a Newsnight interview between Jennifer Saunders, 56, and Lena Dunham, 28, was a touch less intellectual.
the pair – a comic giant of the 1980s and 90s, and a current rising star of tV – spent their time discussing drug-taking, acting and the awkwardness of filming sex scenes.
they did touch upon the issue of sexism in the tV his industry, but devoted more time to their generations’ differing attitudes to casual sex and drugs.
the interview, in which Miss Saunders admitted she had ‘ smoked a couple of spliffs’ and taken ‘ two or three lines of coke’, was part of a new series for Newsnight called Encounters, which sees conversations between cultural figures.
But it will lead to further accusations that the BBC’s current affairs programme is dumbing down. It has been dogged by such accusations since being taken over last year by former Guardian deputy editor Ian Katz. Under regime, the number of celebrity interviews has increased, with the programme receiving criticism for twice giving extended slots to controversial comedian Russell Brand.
In the recent interview, Absolutely Fabulous star Miss Saunders also revealed she faced sexual harassment when she started out at the BBC. Asked by Miss Dun- ham, creator of American television programme Girls, if she has faced sexism early in her career, Miss Saunders recounted a story of a meeting at the BBC when she and Dawn French were pitching a show.
She said: ‘I mean there is a story that Jimmy Moir, who was the Head of Light Entertainment, which was what it was called then at the BBC, did sit me and Dawn [French] down and say: “Right girls, I’m going to put my d*** on the table, you’ve got a series”. that was what he said but he was just a big jolly man.’ Miss Dunham simply responded: ‘I don’t even get mad when old guys say that, I think it’s cute. I don’t like insidious sexism but if someone is just right out there with it…’
thursday night’s conversation also touched on the subject of drug- taking. Miss Saunders admitted: ‘ I’ve smoked a couple of spliffs, I’ve probably had two or three lines of coke in my life but I’ve never really [taken a lot of drugs]’.
this prompted Miss Dunham to reveal: ‘I have had two lines of cocaine, one of which I sneezed out, like all the comic greats, and then a little bit of marijuana but I can’t drink, I vomit almost immediately’.
‘Two or three lines’