Austrian Publication That Ran ‘Phony' Clint Eastwood Interview Cuts Ties with HFPA Member Author
Kurier, the Austrian newspaper that last week published an interview with Clint Eastwood that the director and actor on Monday called 'entirely phony,' has retracted the article and said it will no longer work with the author of the piece.
The author, Elisabeth Sereda, is a freelance entertainment journalist for Kurier and was a member of the now-dissolved Hollywood Foreign Press Association. She is also currently a voter for the Golden Globes (the Golden Globes are co-owned by PMC, which is the parent company of IndieWire), though she is not a Golden Globes employee. In written remarks to IndieWire, Sereda explained that the quotes from Eastwood, while factual, were all compiled as part of a 'Best Of' story for the occasion of his 95th birthday.
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Sereda said the quotes were drawn from 14 different interviews Eastwood gave to the HFPA as part of various panel discussions with HFPA members, and for which Sereda has spoken to Eastwood several times over the years. Transcripts of those interviews historically have been free to be used by HFPA members in articles, and Sereda said that while Eastwood may not have heard of Kurier, 'he is certainly familiar with the HFPA — having given more than 20 interviews to the group dating back to 1976.'
However, the original article was presented as though it were a fresh conversation given for his 95th birthday. Kurier on Tuesday replaced the link to the original article with a statement from the editor, explaining that it had no reason to doubt Sereda had spoken with Eastwood and that the article was formatted 'as an interview, not a portrait,' ultimately agreeing that the article didn't meet Kurier's standards.
'According to Sereda, she wrote the current article based on these conversations. This means that all of Eastwood's statements were made exactly as they were, and this is documented. Using multiple interviews for a birthday portrait is common practice,' the Kurier statement reads (translated via Google). 'The article was formatted as an interview, not a portrait. This was intended to create the impression that it was a new interview. The fact that this wasn't the case is not in keeping with the quality standards the Kurier maintains.'
The original Kurier article written by Sereda quoted Eastwood as saying 'I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like 'Casablanca' in small bungalows on the studio lot,' and that 'we live in an era of remakes and franchises.' The article also suggested that Eastwood told the publication he was in pre-production on another movie. Sereda told IndieWire the mention of him directing another movie is based on her research via IMDB Pro, which lists an upcoming project of his as 'in development,' and 'the project is never mentioned in a direct quote, only in the intro to the article.'
Kurier's statement concludes saying it will no longer work with Sereda 'because transparency and our strict editorial standards are paramount to us.'
Sereda disputed the publication's explanation slightly, saying she 'was asked' by Kurier to write a 'Best of' compilation with prior quotes she had done. She also added that she was a freelance contributor, not an employee of Kurier, and over the past six months has 'phased out her contributions' following the publication of her recent historical fiction novel.
A rep for the Golden Globes said that Sereda is not an employee of the awards body and clarifies that the HFPA has not been affiliated with the Globes since 2023 when it was dissolved after being acquired by Penske Media and Dick Clark Productions.
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