Clint Eastwood Calls Out ‘Entirely Phony’ Article About Him; Writer Responds

A German-language daily newspaper that caught heat for publishing a birthday tribute to Clint Eastwood that included decades-old quotes has issued a statement after it was accused of being fake news. 

The controversy kicked off earlier this week when Eastwood, 95, referred to the article in Kurier as false. The actor released a statement to Deadline to “set the record straight” and asserted that he “never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phony.”

In the statement, the outlet noted that the writer they contracted for the piece, Elisabeth Sereda, used old quotes from Eastwood that created the perception that she had just interviewed the iconic film legend. In reality, Sereda used a mashup of quotes from Eastwood lifted from different interviews dating back to 1976.  

“There was no immediate reason to doubt that she had interviewed Eastwood,” a translated version of the Kurier statement said. Outlet reps noted how Sereda had a long history of interviewing celebrities and was a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The statement went on to note that Sereda had spoken to Eastwood 18 times during roundtable discussions and that none of the quotes were altered. However, the outlet admitted that framing the article as an interview rather than a tribute did mislead audiences. 

“Even though no quote is fabricated, the interviews are documented, and the allegation of falsification can be refuted, we will no longer work with the author in the future because transparency and our strict editorial standards are paramount to us,” the statement concluded.

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The outlet has since removed the interview from its website. 

Sereda defended her actions in a statement to Variety, again claiming it was enough that only real quotes were used.

“Quotes from Mr. Eastwood cited in the story are culled from several of those 14 press conferences I attended and covered,” Sereda told the outlet.

The original birthday tribute, which appeared on Kurier, got the most attention for being critical of remakes and franchises. 

“I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like ‘Casablanca’ in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea,” Eastwood is quoted as saying. “We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I’ve shot sequels three times, but I haven’t been interested in that for a long while. My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home.”

Variety noted that this particular quote might have come from the mid-1980s. 

Eastwood is also quoted as saying he didn’t plan on retiring “for a long time,” despite being five years shy of triple digits.

Eastwood has established a reputation in Hollywood as a conservative and supporter of GOP politicians, including presidential candidates Mitt Romney and the late John McCain. In 2012, he made an appearance at the Republican National Convention, where he made headlines for addressing an empty chair that represented then-President Barack Obama.