The Austrian newspaper Kurier is under fire for publishing an interview with Clint Eastwood. The 95-year-old actor states that he never gave that interview. The newspaper has acknowledged that the writer of the article had no recent contact with Eastwood.
Kurier published an interview with Eastwood on Friday in which the American says that the film industry needs to be more innovative. The article was posted in honor of the actor’s 95th birthday.
Several American media outlets shared quotes from the piece. But Eastwood denies speaking with the newspaper.
“I want to set the record straight,” he tells Deadline. “I can confirm that I turned 95. I can also confirm that I have never given an interview to an Austrian newspaper called Kurier or any other journalist in recent weeks and that the interview is completely fake.”
The Austrian newspaper states in a statement that the quotes in the article are a combination of several previous interviews of the author with Eastwood. “That is common for a birthday portrait,” Kurier reports. According to the newspaper, author Elisabeth Sereda was present eighteen times at press moments where a group of journalists spoke with Eastwood. The transcripts of those conversations would be freely available to journalists.
“But the article was formatted as an interview, not as a portrait,” the newspaper continues. “That was intended to give the impression that it was a new interview. This is not in line with the quality standards we use.” The newspaper has decided not to work with Sereda anymore.