It is important for interviewers to get a good story, but a lot of the times when covering a story, sometimes they just go a little, or way too far into the lives of the people that they are interviewing. Celebrities have it especially bad. It seems as if they can’t do anything without seeing it on social media or in the tabloids the next day, and sensitive things from their past are never let go. Even when they do agree to be interviewed, some of the questions just go way past what they should be. Imagine having to go through the very deepest and darkest secrets of your lives with the rest of the world. Some things just need to be left alone.
Recently an incident occurred involving actor Robert Downey Jr. that demonstrated just how intrusive interviewers can be towards celebrities. The new Avengers movie, Age of Ultron, was released into theaters on May 1, 2015, and of course, Robert Downey Jr. is acting as Iron Man. Because of his major role in this new movie, Robert Downey Jr. has been involved with a number of interviews lately, but when he was on Channel 4 being interviewed by Krishnan Guru-Murphy, the conversation took a way too personal turn. According to msn entertainment news, when Robert Downey Jr. started being asked questions about his past, he tried to move on, but he repeatedly was asked about some past arrests and some time spent in prison that were not at all related to the new Avengers movie that was to be released. After a while of being mercilessly questioned, Robert Downey Jr. started to get defensive because the interviewer would not let it go. Finally, he had had enough, and ended up walking out of the interview. When the interview was viewed by the public, several people commented about how rude it was to question Downey like that when he clearly didn’t want to talk about it.
Robert Downey Jr. isn’t the only person who has had issues dealing with intrusive interview questions from the press. Over the past several years, there have been several instances that have become public involving interviews that have been stepping over the line. A few years ago, popular sports hero Wang Chien-ming, pitcher for the New York Yankees, announced that he would no longer have interviews with the Taiwanese media because they were affecting his family’s privacy. According to Taipei Times, after Wang revealed that he was adopted, his family was relentlessly followed for interviews, which enraged Chien-ming. Several instances have shown up in the news, but there are also numerous occurrences that people haven’t heard about. From the multiple accounts of intrusive interviews, it is obvious that a change needs to be made.
Interviewers need to stop being so disrespectful to the people that they are interviewing. It is time that celebrities and others who are being interviewed are treated better and more respectfully. Sometimes people forget that they are people too and need their privacy, even if an interviewer misses out on a good story.