Billy Bob Thornton v. Jian Ghomeshi

[sam stone]

"NEVER ask the drummer anything. Waste of time."

i hear that...

but ricky, seriously bring my banjo tommorow..

[jayr]

I've never heard of these guys (other than BBT obviously) before today but I'm taking a leap and concluding that if he wasn't in the band they wouldn't have the connections to be opening for Willie and therefore wouldn't have been interviewed on CBC. Seems hypocritical to use his celebrity to further the bands career and then lash out at anyone that mentions anything about it.

[AD]

... which is what Gomeshi pointed out at one point in the interview.

[Booche]

The thing I am finding hilariously ironic in all of this is that people are thinking he is the drummer in this band, which is not the case.

He got behind the kit for all of 2-3 minutes during the start of the second last number for a pedestrian take on what drummers actually do for a living.

[Hartamophone]

If BBT honestly thinks that he can do major national interviews with his band and not have people even mention his acting/screenwriting career then he does not deserve that kind of media play. If he really wants to be treated just like any other musician, then he can damn well cut his teeth playing dive bars and being written up in campus papers and weekly alternatives just like everyone else (if he's lucky).

As far as I'm concerned, he has no right to land an interview based on who he is and then act like a fucking six-year-old when the interviewer tells the audience who he is talking to.

[FunkyBeats]

The band sucks shit and Billy Bob is a horrible drummer, what a fucking joke!

FB.

[bouche]

I haven't had a chance to read all of the responses in hear, but DAMN! I couldn't turn away from that trainwreck.

that was pure gold. I loved the way JIAN introduced the song at the end... "Billy Bob doesn't have his drums with him".

that came out so well.

[ollie]

I'm not defending Thornton' date=' I just don't see Ghomeshi as some sort of hero for pushing the envelope. Just another media douchebag really.

[/quote']

Media douchebag? I don't listen to him every day, but whenever I can, I generally think he is a well-spoken likeable personality. Unless you are just speaking about this specific case. In which case I should just shut up.

Ollie is speaking about a case that he admittedly did not bother getting the full story on. That, in and of itself, invalidates ANY "insight" he has, in my not-so-humble opinion.

I'll watch the whole thing later tonight Mr. Poopypants.

And... I still stand behind everything I said. Ghomesi totally belaboured the point, making it more of an issue, and I thought it was pretty clear that Thornton was having a laugh about the whole thing. He's an eccentric fuck. Ghomesi couldn't spar with him so he pussied out and broke the 4th wall, so to speak.

Great video though.

[DevO]

And... I still stand behind everything I said. Ghomesi totally belaboured the point, making it more of an issue, and I thought it was pretty clear that Thornton was having a laugh about the whole thing. He's an eccentric fuck. Ghomesi couldn't spar with him so he pussied out and broke the 4th wall, so to speak.

Wow I see it completely differently. To me it seems Ghomeshi has no idea why BBT is being a baby until the Tom Petty thing; and BBT is pissed and not laughing at all; and Ghomeshi doesn't pussy out but confronts him head-on.

[zero]

watched it twice and until he was directly confronted, Jian never asked a single question that wasn't directly about music, he asked no questions about acting, and (until BBT became the obvious focus) he interviewed the whole band fairly equally. Good luck getting treated like that on Letterman. I think BBT deserved to be challenged for for his stance if his stance is important enough to crybaby through a 15 minute interview.

I totally concur. What a priss ass.

*I can just imagine the Letterman interview and how Billy Bob would still fawn like a sycophant cause his acting career depends on it while apparently writhing inside

Edited April 9, 2009 by Guest

[Velvet]

And... I still stand behind everything I said. Ghomesi totally belaboured the point' date=' making it more of an issue, and I thought it was pretty clear that Thornton was having a laugh about the whole thing. He's an eccentric fuck. Ghomesi couldn't spar with him so he pussied out and broke the 4th wall, so to speak.

[/quote']

Wow I see it completely differently. To me it seems Ghomeshi has no idea why BBT is being a baby until the Tom Petty thing; and BBT is pissed and not laughing at all; and Ghomeshi doesn't pussy out but confronts him head-on.

I think pretty much everyone sees it differently than ollie does.

[hamilton]

Billy Bob apparently tried to explain himself during last night's show, and was booed by the audience:

Link

Doesn't sound like too many people bought it.

[Thorgnor]

The way that I wish Jian had handled it...

Jian - "So when did you first form?"

BBT - "I don't know what oyu mean by that."

Jian - "When did you guys first start playing music together?"

BBT - "I don't understand the question."

Jian - "Did I fucking stu-studder idiot? You know what? Get the fuck out of my studio, you hack!"

[bouche]

It's quite clear from the interview that Billy Bob was a jerk. Just looking at the video, you can see that he has anger issues but he's managing them in his own way. He was set off right from the start. Look at his eyes, and watch him stare at the ceiling like he's on drugs. When he's really probably just holding in some serious anger and trying to figure out what to do.

From what I heard, he was introduced with the truth. Who he is, what he's done, and what he's doing now. Isn't that just the way you introduce an interview?

to Ollie: don't you think that suggesting that Jian was 'Baiting' BB is way harsh? He was just explaining the point of the interview back to BB, after BB was being an insulting dickhead.

Personally, I think Jian played it very professionally. He could have asked more about his true love...and how it feels to see her adopting every kid in town with Brad Pitt, or maybe just ask the band what it's like to play with a jerk.

I heard some of his music on stern, and BOY DOES IT SUCK. The cover or I Want To Hold Your Hand is an insult to music.

Some MTV promo based on this appearance

[Patchoulia]

Basher and I discussed this and we figured his douchery would result in an anthithetic response, in terms of what BBT thought of Canadian audiences, i.e. that we aren't responsive.

And it did!

[Kanada Kev]

Billy Bob apparently tried to explain himself during last night's show, and was booed by the audience:

Link

Doesn't sound like too many people bought it.

Nice! Thank you gravy crowd in Toronto tonight. You make us proud I would love to have been there for that.

[Kanada Kev]

Will you sign my gravy?

[YearsAlongTheSea]

Haha: "It's my birthday, will you sign my gravy?"

But seriously, while Billy Bob is clearly an arrogant, ignorant dick, the whole mashed potatoes comment is, aside from a minority of movers and shakers, spot on...

[Velvet]

You can tell he wanted to get out of there - he barely started his cigarette.

Though I supppose if he didn't want the attention he probably could have smoked somewhere more private.

[Jaimoe]

There was some hijinks last night at the show. Check out today's Toronto Star article: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/616601

[bouche]

I'm not defending Thornton, I just don't see Ghomeshi as some sort of hero for pushing the envelope. Just another media douchebag really.

I still don't understand Ollie's position. Normally, he's against media control but here, our interviewer was fighting that notion. Come on Ollie. Come back to the light side.

And I think that does raise interesting questions about ideas around how much journalism is to be controlled, especially when it comes to arts and entertainment and culture, and I think that that's a concern.

Did someone call him a hero? I think he's just been given props for handling the situation well.

[jayr]

"It's my birthday, will you sign my gravy?"

That's awesome.

[Hartamophone]

I wish I was a more proficient Photoshopper so that I could make a Billy Bob Thornton t-shirt with "Would you say that to Tom Petty?" somehow incorporated. Or maybe a Petty t-shirt with "Would you say that to Billy Bob Thornton?" on it.

[CyberHippie]

Holy crap, that is one awkward interview!!

The way I see it, during the intro Jian should have seen BBT react to the comment about him being an oscar winning actor/screenwriter. He should have known right off the bat that there was an issue and just avoided it. Seems to me Jian ran with it a bit too long and for whatever reason instigated the conflict. Poking the bear as they say. BBT is clearly hopped up on goof balls or some other high strangeness. Hollywood people aren't real people, so who knows. A total lunatic though by the looks of it. I can't imagine what's going on in the band behind the scenes?

Any chance the whole thing was a stunt and BBT is just playing a character?

Fucking awkward!

[ollie]

Holy crap, that is one awkward interview!!

The way I see it, during the intro Jian should have seen BBT react to the comment about him being an oscar winning actor/screenwriter. He should have known right off the bat that there was an issue and just avoided it. Seems to me Jian ran with it a bit too long and for whatever reason instigated the conflict. Poking the bear as they say. BBT is clearly hopped up on goof balls or some other high strangeness. Hollywood people aren't real people, so who knows. A total lunatic though by the looks of it. I can't imagine what's going on in the band behind the scenes?

Any chance the whole thing was a stunt and BBT is just playing a character?

Fucking awkward!

Thank you!!