Robert Downey Jr calls British journalist 'bottom-feeding muckraker'

The actor who walked out of an interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy said he was being ‘scrutinised like a kiddie-fiddler who’s running for mayor’

Robert Downey Jr has spoken for the first time about walking out of an interview with British journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, calling the Channel 4 News reporter a “bottom-feeding muckraker”.

Speaking to US radio host Howard Stern, Downey professed himself unrepentant about the incident, saying: “I just wish I’d left sooner.”

Promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Downey was displeased after Guru-Murthy asked him about an interview he’d given to the New York Times in 2008 in which the actor said it was impossible to leave prison and still be a liberal.

Downey responded: “Are we promoting a movie?” When Guru-Murthy followed up by asking about drugs and the actor’s relationship with his father, the actor walked out.

Downey told Stern he did not believe that promoting a film meant that he had to delve into his past. “There’s an assumption that ... because you’ve sat down there [in the interviewee’s chair], you’re going to be scrutinized like a kiddie fiddler who’s running for mayor,” the actor said.

“What I have to do in the future is ... give myself permission to say, ‘That is more than likely a syphilitic parasite, and I need to distance myself from this clown.’ Otherwise, I’m probably going to put hands on somebody, and then there’s a real story.”

Downey added that the film’s family-friendly nature made Guru-Murthy’s questions inappropriate.

“I’m one of those guys who is assuming the social decorum is in play and that we’re promoting a superhero movie, a lot of kids are going to see it. This has nothing to do with your creepy, dark agenda that I’m feeling, like, all of a sudden ashamed and obligated to accomodate your weirdo shit.”

The actor said that walking out of the interview had been a stressful experience. “My heart’s beating in my chest, this is the first interview of the day: what do you think – are you in Kumbaya land?”

Noting that Guru-Murthy had also had a testy exchange with Quentin Tarantino, Downey said to Stern: “First of all, I don’t even know that guy’s name, but he pulled the same garbage on Tarantino, and Tarantino stayed in his chair and lit him up for five minutes.”

He added: “I’m a 50-year-old guy, I use fancy words and yet I’m completely unevolved when it comes to simple boundaries.”

Recalling his experience, he said of Guru-Murthy: “You know what, you’re weirding me out. You are a bottom-feeding muckraker.”

Guru-Murthy also gave his account of the experience to the Guardian on Sunday, writing of interviewing film stars for the news: “Maybe, like a bad relationship, this just isn’t working. We want different things out of it. I want something serious and illuminating, they just want publicity. Maybe we and the movie stars should just go our separate ways, and find people more suited to our needs. But I think that would be a shame.”

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