The actor was labeled “offensive” after a clip from an interview with Romina Puga went viral.
Jesse Eisenberg has addressed the backlash to journalist Romina Puga’s interview accused of being an ‘idiot’.
The Social Her Network star spoke with Puga when she was promoting her 2013 movie Now You See Me. Puga, among other things, asked her magic card to perform her tricks and say her name on camera just like all her guests.
During the conversation, Eisenberg repeatedly appears to attack Puga’s interviewing style, jokingly accusing him of basic questions written on her hand and telling her to rush to him. She accused him of being “on his time” when he asked.
A clip of the interview went viral, and Eisenberg was called “rude” and “offensive.” Puga later wrote her own account of what happened, saying she was “humiliated” by the actor.
However, Eisenberg spoke with NME in his new interview, giving his own take and revealing he was somewhat surprised by the ensuing commotion.
“I remember she was laughing,” Eisenberg says. “Even after she left, I said to the people in the room, ‘what a relief’. Like, that was the most funny, interesting interview I’d had all day.”
He said he received a call from his publicist, who said a number of news networks wanted a statement from him about an interview.
“And I said, ‘what interview?!’” Eisenberg recalled. “I watched the thing and she had written an editorial [saying] I had made her upset.
“It was, like, the exact opposite of what my experience was, and I didn’t know the appropriate way to handle something that’s completely mischaracterised.
He concluded: “Everyone that’s seen it tells me they thought it was a funny thing. Listen, I would never wanna upset somebody, and if I did upset her, obviously I would have acknowledged that.”
Eisenberg claimed he had attempted to contact Puga to apologise after learning she had been upset, but was unable to reach her.
Now You See Me star Jesse Eisenberg is being labeled a “jerk” after a very uncomfortable, and kind of rude, interview with Univision reporter Romina Puga.
“So Freeman plays a magic debunker,” Puga begins, starting the awkwardness almost immediately.
“Freeman? Who are you? What are you, on a baseball team with him?” Eisenberg interrupts.
Puga then goes on to say she’s going to perform a trick, and Eisenberg has to reveal the secret. She pretends to be removing part of her index finger, but Eisenberg notes that “the thumbs don’t look like the end of a finger.”
He then asks her what she has written on her hand and she says nothing, but he continues to prod her and ask if she’s “secretly hiding questions.”
Eisenberg asks Puga if she’s heard of Carrot Top, to which she responds, “Yeah, horrible.”
“Well, you’re like the Carrot Top of interviewers,” Eisenberg retorts.
Puga says she’s “going to go cry now” and Eisenberg says to wait until after the interview because then he’ll look responsible — Puga says he is.
Visibly flustered, Puga asks Eisenberg to show her a magic trick so they can wrap the interview up.
“You’re on my time,” he replies.
Both Eisenberg and Puga have been criticized for the interview. Some said that it was Puga’s fault for not being prepared and not playing along with Eisenberg, but others felt the 29-year-old actor was being rude and mean.
