Austrian daily under fire after Clint Eastwood slams ‘phony’ interview

VIENNA – An Austrian newspaper came under fire on June 3 after Hollywood star Clint Eastwood said an alleged interview with him published by the paper to mark his 95th birthday was “entirely phony”.

The row was sparked by a purported interview with the Oscar-winning actor and director carried by the German-language Kurier newspaper on May 30.

In the interview, which was picked up widely by American media over the weekend, Eastwood criticises a lack of fresh ideas in the current film industry as “we live in an era of remakes and franchises”.

“I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote films like Casablanca (1942) in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea,” he was quoted as saying.

“My philosophy is, do something new or stay at home,” it adds.

In a statement to Deadline magazine published on June 2, Eastwood said: “I thought I would set the record straight.

“I can confirm I’ve turned 95. I can also confirm that I never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phony.”

On the evening of June 3, the editorial team of the Vienna-based Kurier said its freelancer Elisabeth Sereda had compiled the interview by citing from “a total of 18” round-table conversations with Eastwood.

But since the article was published as an interview and not as a profile, the daily said it would cut ties with the writer.

“Even though no quotes have been fabricated, the interviews are documented and the allegations of falsification can be refuted, we will not be working with the author in the future because transparency and our strict editorial standards are paramount to us,” Kurier said in a statement published on its website.

The newspaper had recently published interviews by Ms Sereda with celebrities such as English actor Jude Law and English singer-songwriter Elton John. AFP