Earlier this week, Tom Hardy called out an interviewer when he asked him about his sexuality.
In case you missed it, Tom pretty much shut the interviewer from LGBT site Daily Xtra down (scroll down for the video), after he asked "Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?", responding with "What on earth are you on about?".
Now Tom has explained why he was offended by the question in an interview on The Daily Beast, and why he chose to probe the interviewer about it.
"I’m under no obligation to share anything to do with my family, my children, my sexuality – that’s nobody’s business but my own. And I don’t see how that can have anything to do with what I do as an actor, and it’s my own business" he said.
While Daily Xtra argued that they had a right to ask Tom about his sexuality because of a responsibility to their community, he did not agree.
"If you knew me as a friend, then sure, we’d talk about anything. But that was a public forum and for someone to inelegantly ask a question that seemed designed entirely to provoke a reaction and start a topic of debate. It’s important destigmatising sexuality and gender inequality in the workplace, but to put a man on the spot in a room full of people purely for a salacious reaction?"
He added:
"To be quite frank, it’s rude. If he’d have said that to me in the street, I’d have said the same thing back: ‘I’m sorry, who the f*ck are you?’ And I appreciate that I could probably have more grace as a human being, but I’m just a bloke. I’m just a man. And I’m just a man doing a job."
Earlier, we wrote...
We all know it only takes one loaded question to completely blow an interview with a celebrity. Things can be going swimmingly until a poorly prepped question sees the interviewer free-falling with no sign of anything throwing them a rope, especially not the star they're interviewing. And that's exactly what happened to a reporter who interviewed Tom Hardy about his new movie Legend at Toronto Film Festival.
Graeme Coleman, from LGBT site Daily Xtra took a punt on asking Tom about his sexuality, as on off-shot from the fact that he plays openly gay Ronnie Kray (as well as twin brother Reggie) in the film about the notorious East London gangsters. However, the question was poorly timed and well, pretty confused. So sadly for Graeme, Tom had no qualms with shutting him down.
During the Q&A, he asked: "In the film, your character Ronnie is very open about his sexuality but given interviews you've done in the past, your own sexuality seems a bit more ambiguous. "Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?"
In response, Tom pauses before asking: 'What on earth are you on about?"
The exchange then continues like so:
Tom: "What on Earth are you on about?"
Graeme: "I was referring to your interview in Attitude magazine a few years ago."
Tom: "But what is your question?"
Coleman: "I was wondering if you find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality."
Tom: "I don’t find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality. Are you asking me about my sexuality?"
Graeme: "Sure."
Tom: "Why?"
Coleman: "Um..."
Tom: "Thank you."
The pair then move on with the interview, and we're left squirming a bit. Well handled by Tom, but we can't help but feel for Graeme.
***Watch the full interview below. ***