Robert Downey Jr discusses interview walkout

MANILA, Philippines – Avengers: Age of Ultron star Robert Downey Jr is sharing his thoughts about a recent interview that he walked out on after being prodded to talk about his past.

Listen to a portion of the interview here:

Robert previously left an interview with Krishnan Guru-Murphy of Britain’s Channel 4 News when Krishnan segued into questions about Robert’s personal history, particularly about his struggles with drug addiction.

“I just wish I had left sooner,” Robert told Howard Stern on his show.

“Here’s the thing. First of all, I don’t even know the guy’s name, but I know he did…he pulled the same garbage on [director Quentin] Tarantino, and Tarantino stayed in his chair and lit him up for 5 minutes.”

Robert was referencing the same journalist’s previous 2013 interview with Quentin Tarantino, where Quentin was visibly angered over Krishnan’s question comparing violence in movies and in real life.

“I’m one of those guys who, I’m always assuming the social, kind of decorum is in play, and that we’re promoting a superhero movie, a lot of kids are going to see it, and this has nothing to do with your creepy, dark agenda that I’m feeling all of a sudden like, ashamed and obligated to accommodate your weirdo shi*t,” Robert said, saying that he continued to feel strongly about respecting boundaries.

“What I have to do in the future is just give myself permission to say, ‘That this 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,’ he added.

Watch that original interview here:

Following Robert’s walkout, Krishnan defended his approach in a piece for The Guardian. “We don’t do promotional interviews on Channel 4 News. We agree with PR people that as well as talking about a new movie for a while we want to ask wider ranging questions on relatively serious topics, and we don’t guarantee to run any answers in particular,” he wrote. – Rappler.com