Well, I made it back from LA okay, and had a great time. More about that later, but meanwhile…
Did anyone catch Nicole Kidman on Jonathan Ross’s show tonight. If so, don’t you think that his treatment of the star was apalling? Now, I never like Ross at the best of times. He’s a smarmy, self-centred git consistantly trotting out crap scripted jokes and sucking up to his guests and whatever film/book/album they’re plugging no matter what it is. His treatment of Kidman was, however, simply appalling.
From the outset, Ross made it clear that the main comedic focus of the interview was going to be him lusting over her good looks. Cheap and dull, Kidman was clearly bored and frustrated with these cheap jokes, remarking ‘you’re repeating yourself’ when Ross commented yet again how attractive she is. Ross pushed it though, making lude remarks about her (such as them sharing a jacuzzi, him biting her nose, etc).
Ross also continually teased Kidman over her comments about arriving into the UK at midnight (and so not being sure what day that counted as) and her commenting that her mother once told her to ‘pull herself together’, to which Ross commented that she was a ‘hard-nosed bitch’ – clearly offending Kidman.
Not only this, but Ross also frequently got his research wrong, with Kidman having to correct him, and frequently ignored Kidman’s answers to his questions, sticking to the script and his lude anecdotes instead (one of which referred to a red-headed woman’s brazillian as looking like ‘a fish finger’).
In short, Ross was an obnoxious twat, with Kidman visibly uncomfortable throughout the interview (commenting at one point ‘i don’t know whether to just end this now’).
Someone get this wanker off our TV screens, please!
Update:
The BBC says: “Nicole Kidman was a wonderful guest with a great sense of humour who made a good interview even better with her responses. She didn’t take offence at Jonathan’s line of questioning and any regular viewers of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross will know that part of Jonathan’s interviewing technique is a certain amount of innuendo. Nicole Kidman reacted superbly and this made for an extremely entertaining interview.” Humpf.
Further Update:
Media Guardian reports on the complaints about the Jonathan Ross show, including the Shirley Ghostman interview (which I didn’t watch). The article quotes one viewer as saying Ross subjected Kidman to “continuous sexual innuendoes and salacious suggestions – much to Nicole’s clear discomfort and embarrassment”, and comments that Kidman looked “confused and unprepared for the experience”, saying “I hate these shows, I want to get off” during the interview. So on what basis exactly can the Beeb claim that Kidman wasn’t offended and reacted superbly? (Note: the BBC seems to have replaced the previous response with a new one which no longer mentions the Kidman interview)
David Thair said:
I didn’t think he treated her any differently to many other guests he has on. I prefer his to the Parkinson approach!
Johnboy said:
I agree – I thought it was appalling, also his interview with David Schwimmer. I normally like Ross, so for me it was an off-night, but . . .
Jo said:
On the contrary, I thought it was Kidman who made a fool of herself. She came across as being completely pissed. She couldn’t answer half of his questions, painful pauses with her repeating phrases back to him. She was off the planet!
Akilis said:
Jo, Kidman was very classy on the show, infact while Ross was rambling on about her looks and winking, Kidman took it for what it was even with her being visibly uncomfortable when the show took the ridiculous route it did. Off the planet, what show did you watch? not only did Ross not ask her many good questions, did he even ask her any memorable questions? No. He didn’t have a clue that she hadn’t worked on anything for months. He talked about the “brazilian”
Just because she was uncomfortable with the man that called her mother a hard-nosed bitch doesn’t mean she was off the planet and she even laughed it off, she was in full use of her faculties and continued with the interview in good humour.
Noone who saw the interview can in all honesty say she was off the planet. She handled it well and gave as good as she got, if she was off the planet or pissed, the show would have taken a different turn.
philip said:
Funniest was asked if there was one thing he regretted in his life Schwimmer said immediately “doing this show”
Felt sorry for Kidman.
JRoss and his material are old and unfunny.
James said:
There’s only one thing worse than people who aren’t funny… that’s people who aren’t funny but think they are.
Ladies and Gentlemen – I give you Jonathan Woss.
Rita said:
I could not belive the Jonathan Ross interview with Kidman. Its been over a week, and just stumbled over these comments. I thought everyone else had not taken note on how rude Jonathan was. Kidman is a star of class and grace, she acted in a very respectable manner despite all the insults Jonathan had. At the point where he calls her mother a HNB is the part i imagined punching his nose off if i were Kidman, which I am not because she carry’s herself with class!
Nic said:
I thought that shirley ghostman twat was appaling and the part about hitler i could’nt believe it i though nicola kidman and david schwimmer hadnled the interview fantasticly cause david is a jew and hearing that comment i would of been hurt but he kept going and johnathan ross really gets on my nerves
Andy Law said:
Thank you for your comments on Jonathan Ross, I have made a complaint to the BBC about him he is rude, crude and crass! I dont mind adult content but he is such a twat Please complain to the BBC if you do object to him and ask for a reply. http://www.bbc.co.uk
Sarabjeet said:
Jonathon Ross is brillant, sure he takes the piss abit but makes people laugh
bvnvnvn said:
but he does look like a serial killer
gary said:
I normally like Jonathan Ross. He however has these moments where you wonder what he’s trying to get at, but usually survives with a punchline that can make you forgive the last minute of ramblimg. But this show was just terrible – its been months in fat and i can still remember how cringeable it was.
If you insult someone and you make others laugh, you can excuse it as humour. If its not funny then you just end up looking rude and arrogant which is exactly how Rossy made himself look that night.
After making NK look uncomfortable, you would have thought he would perhaps apologise and then be kind to her, to try to restore some comfort, even if only momentarily. But he didnt, he just kept digging himself a deeper and deeper hole with more insults and gestures that were obviously making her feel more and more uncomfortable.
The David Scwhimmer interview top the NK one imo. While telling Wossy about how painful growing up as a kid with a metal frme attached to your head for medical reasons, wossy just starts laughing at him. Very insensitive.
These kind of interviews really get on my wick. Frank skinner is the worst culprit. They just try to get a rise out of people – to try and rubbish them – disrepectful and self centered.
Wossy’s normally funny, often not, a bit of a wally obviously, but he knows it and doesnt give damn which is why i like him – but he really did himself no favours at all that night
Sandra said:
That’s how classy Nicole Kidman is. No doubt, she’s one of the most talented and beautiful actresses in Hollywood today. I like most of her movies. She is unforgettable in her role as Satine in Mouline Rouge. Great movie to watch!
russ said:
Ross is not funny, maybe he was amusing in 1988, but times have moved on. I object to having my licence fee spent on this tit. He represents Brits when he interviews, most people must go away thinking what a tosser. Watching him interview is like watching a car crash..adsolutely terrible, but as he is a sacred cow in the BBC, expect him to be on our screens constantly until 2060…..Please BBC end this excruciating pain….what a total twat