As we take the first tentative steps into the new decade, it seems a good opportunity to look back on some of the worst interviews of the past 10 years.
We’ve left out some of the most recent ones – a little relief for Prince Andrew – as we’re sure you don’t need to read about them again now.
But we’ve put together a collection of interviews that have stuck in our minds for all the wrong reasons.
From spokespeople borrowing their tactics from a comedy film to the interviewee who whacked one of Media First’s journalist trainers on the head with a pamphlet, we’ve covered a wide-range of interview mishaps, together with a few media training tips.
There is even an interview that has been turned into a tattoo.
Tony Abbott
So, let’s start with that interview that has been immortalised in a tattoo.
There can’t be many media interviews that have ended up being inked on to someone’s skin
But that is exactly what happened to one infamous interview from the past decade.
It saw Channel 7 journalist Mark Riley ask Tony Abbott, the then Australian opposition leader, about his flippant comments on the death of soldier Lance Corporal Jared Mackinney in Afghanistan.
Having claimed the remarks had been taken out of context, when he was asked to explain that context Mr Abbott simply stood in silence staring at the reporter and nodding his head. For 28 seconds.
The bemused journalist found himself in the unusual position of needing to remind his interviewee that he needed to speak, saying ‘you’re not saying anything Tony’.
The interview is still regularly referenced and just last year made headlines again after an Australian man had an image of sweating Mr Abbott tattooed on his arm, together with the words ‘you’re not saying anything Tony’.
To commemorate one "of the funniest and most embarrassing moments in Australian politics.Adelaide man gets Tony Abbott tattoo - "you're not saying anything, Tony" https://t.co/Q92azvmH8c #Auspol
— Spotty Ireland (@SpottyIreland) January 9, 2019
Brendan Venter
The past decade shook sport and saw it exposed to more scrutiny than ever.
Lance Armstrong’s confessional interview with Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods’ televised ‘sorry’ for philandering and the tearful apology of Australian cricket captain Steve Smith for his part in the ball-tampering scandal are just a few of the memorable moments.
But I’d like to focus on what has to be the most bizarre sporting interview of the past 10 years.
Brendan Venter’s Saracens team had just lost 24-21 to Racing Metro in the Heineken Cup when he was asked to give his thoughts on Sky Sports in what should have been a routine post-match interview.
Interviewer Martin Gillingham asked nine questions in 57 seconds, but no one watching was any the wiser from the responses.
The South African coach dead-batted every question put to him, refused to offer an opinion and simply repeated everything he was asked.
He later admitted his interview style was inspired by a character in the Mike Bassett England Manager film.
Tournament organisers, however, took a dim view of the interview, saying they were “disappointed” by his approach to the interview and warning there must be no repeat.
Godfrey Bloom
There have been plenty of doorstep interview disasters during the past 10 years, but few stick in the mind as much as that provided by UKIP politician Godfrey Bloom.
The MEP was approached by Channel 4 journalist Michael Crick – now part of the Media First training team – who asked why the party’s brochure, entitled ‘changing the face of politics’, was covered with pictures of people’s faces, without a single non-white one.
Mr Bloom responded: “What a racist comment is that. How dare you, that’s an appalling thing to say - you’re picking out people for the colour of their skin. You disgust me.”
He then proceeded to whack the journalist over the head with the brochure before storming off.
Plenty of other politicians found themselves struggling with a doorstep interview from Mr Crick in the past 10 years – here is a collection of some of the more infamous ones.
Gary Southern
One of the worst crisis interviews we have seen – and one we continue to reference on our crisis communication training courses - was provided by Gary Southern, CEO of Freedom Industries.
The company was responsible for a chemical leak that contaminated water for 300,000 residents in West Virginia, depriving them of water to drink or even wash.
Mr Southern addressed the media at an impromptu press conference, during which he decided to sip water throughout, even though he was discussing people being without water.
He complained of having had an ‘extremely long day’ and speculated on what may have caused the leak despite having previously said there was no point ‘hypothesising’.
Mr Southern made Several attempts to end the awkward press conference and at one point was chastised by local reporter Kallie Cart who told him “We are not done” as he turned his back to the cameras.
A few days after the interview, the company’s local public relations company announced it would no longer be working with the chemicals firm, while Mr Southern’s performance was compared to Tony Hayward the BP boss.
Natalie Bennett
The past decade felt at times like one continuous election campaign.
One of the most memorable election campaigning interviews, for all the wrong reasons, was Green Party leader Natalie Bennett’s appearance on LBC.
It was widely described as a ‘car crash’ interview and one commentator went on to say it was ‘the worst political leader interview ever’.
Ms Bennett repeatedly struggled to answer questions about the figures behind her affordable housing policy, stumbled when asked to provide basic details and the interview was punctuated with lengthy pauses.
It made for awkward listening and Ms Bennett, who blamed her performance on a ‘huge cold’, described it as ‘excruciating’.
She later apologised to her party for what she described as a “mental brain fade”.
Jeff Fairburn
There’s always likely to be at least one awkward question for a spokesperson to face in a media interview.
The key, as we show on our media training courses, is to avoid your response to that question becoming the story.
Persimmon Homes CEO Jeff Fairburn did just the opposite during an infamous interview in 2018.
Speaking to BBC Look North at a brick factory, Mr Fairburn’s interview began to crumble when he was asked about his £75m bonus.
Mr Fairburn seemed prepared to answer the question, before an off-screen voice – presumably belonging to an adviser – interjected and he stopped talking.
When the question was put to him again, he said: “I’d rather not talk about that. It has been well covered actually.”
When the journalist tried for a third time, Mr Fairburn simply walked away from the interview. He could then be heard saying off-camera, "I think that's really unfortunate actually that you've done that."
Asked Jeff Fairburn, CEO of Persimmon Homes about his £75m bonus today. This was his response.... @BBCLookNorth pic.twitter.com/eJraBv1e8i
— Spencer Stokes (@spencerstokestv) October 18, 2018
The interview went viral. A few weeks later it was announced Mr Fairburn would be leaving his role as his bonus pay had become a ‘distraction’ and was damaging the firm’s reputation.
Stephen Bates
Stephen Bates produced an interview we have probably referenced more than any other when he appeared on BBC Breakfast.
The BlackBerry boss appeared on the programme as it prepared to unveil its latest phone, but such was his determination to stick to his PR script and ignore any negative questions about the delayed launch that he produced a memorably embarrassing encounter.
This little evasive exchange at the end of the interview gives a great indication of what went wrong.
Steph McGovern: “You still haven’t told me what went wrong.
Bates: “This is a phenomenal market. We are brave, we are out there, we are pushing it. We’ve transitioned and are supporting a business in the consumer world and the business world and what is important is ensuring we deliver a great, unique experience to those 79 million customers out there and all the other BlackBerry users that we think we'll get.”
McGovern: “Ok Stephen. We might never know what went wrong, but anyway, thanks very much for your time.”
If something has gone wrong, briefly answer the question about it and then look to move the conversation on.
John O’Keeffe
If I had to pick my favourite media interview disaster from the past decade, it would probably be the one produced by Garda Representative Association (GRA) spokesperson John O’Keeffe in Ireland.
I’ve watched it countless times and I still can quite believe the complete tangle he got himself into by rigidly sticking to a pre-approved line even when it was clearly unravelling.
Mr O’Keeffe faced the same question no less than 13 times and completely tied himself in knots as he spoke to a journalist after rank and file officers rejected findings in a report into alcohol testing checkpoints that claimed they falsified results.
Mr O’Keeffe was determined to ensure no blame could be attributed to ordinary gardaí’, but in doing so managed to claim both that they did not falsify the results and that they did so under pressure from senior management, before denying he said they had falsified results.
I hope you are still with me.
Exasperated reporter Paul Reynold told Mr O’Keeffe that his response was ‘ludicrous’ and that ‘it’s like saying black is not black, black is white’.
And when he tried to gain some much-needed clarity for the umpteenth time a frustrated Mr O’Keeffe said ‘I’m just going to say the same thing again’.
The full version: GRA spokesperson John O'Keeffe's interview with RTÉ Crime Correspondent Paul Reynolds over breathalyser data controversy pic.twitter.com/74XKy5157C
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 14, 2017
The interview was widely ridiculed on social media and prompted the GRA to send a complaint to the national broadcaster.
Diane Abbott
You will struggle to find an interview that has been talked about quite as much as the infamous encounter Diane Abbott produced when she appeared on LBC during the 2017 election campaign.
The Shadow Home Secretary was speaking to Nick Ferrari about a pledge to put 10,000 more police officers on the street.
And she came horribly unstuck when the presenter began to probe the figures.
Asked how much the new police officers would cost, Ms Abbott replied: “Well, erm… if we recruit the 10,000 policemen and women over a four-year period, we believe it will be about £300,000’.
Presenter Mr Ferrari replied: “£300,000 for 10,000 police officers? What are you paying them?”
After an awkward gap, where Ms Abbott tried to fill the void by saying ‘they will cost’ repeatedly, she eventually revealed it would cost £80 million.
When Mr Ferrari suggested this would mean the officers would be paid an annual salary of £8,000, listeners could hear some frantic paper turning, before Ms Abbott insisted the policy had been properly thought-through.
Patrick Moore
This is an interview you may not have seen as it happened on French TV, but it is a must-watch.
Patrick Moore appeared on Canal+ to support an American agrochemical company.
Although not a paid lobbyist for Monsanto, Dr Moore was arguing that glyphosate, the main ingredient in its Roundup weed killer, is not particularly dangerous.
“I do not believe that glyphosate in Argentina is causing increases in cancer,” he told the programme Special Investigation. “You can drink a whole quart of it and it won’t hurt you.”
A bold statement and one that the interviewer seemed to regard as a challenge asking: “You want to drink some? We have some here.”
To this Dr Moore replied: “I’d be happy to actually.” But then immediately added: “Not really, but I know it wouldn’t hurt me.” So, let’s get this straight – he’s happy to drink it but he’s not really. When invited again Dr Moore added: “I’m not stupid.”
Perhaps not, but unfortunately many people believed that the good doctor looked rather stupid – especially when he cut the interview short, called the reporter a ‘complete jerk’ and walked out.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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