There are several examples of Matt Lauer hurting his image, both on and off the air. Throughout his time on the Today show, the host wasn't afraid to ask just about anything. That held true during his interview alongside Katie Holmes, bringing up his past with Tom Cruise despite the fact that they got divorced.
This particular interview was viewed as the worst from his career. Lauer asked Anne Hathaway a bunch of inappropriate questions. In the following, we're going to take a look back at the moment, and how Anne handled it with so much class.
We'll also reveal what Anne said at the start of interview, and how she gained so many fans from the moment, including one of her peers in the industry, Mindy Kaling.
Mindy Kaling Praised Anne Hathaway For The Way She Handled Her Today Show Interview With Matt Lauer
Anne Hathaway's interview with Matt Lauer caused a major stir in Hollywood, given how inappropriate the questions were that she was forced to answer.
Despite the difficult moment, Hathaway gained new fans from it, and one of them was a fellow peer in the business, Mindy Kaling.
Looking back at the moment, Kaling praised Hathaway for her composure.
"On the Today show the next morning, Matt Lauer said to her in this chastising, someone-has-been-naughty way, 'Anne Hathaway I've seen a lot of you lately, Kaling said. "First of all, gross. Are you like a lame uncle at Thanksgiving?"
"And then he asked her what's the lesson learned from something like that, referring to paparazzi ambushing her — as if she was the one who had done something wrong," she continued.
"Annie simply responded, 'It kind of made me sad on two accounts. 'One that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of someone in a vulnerable moment and rather than delete it and do the decent thing, sells it. And I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality of unwilling participants."
Years after the incident, Kaling and Hathaway would also join forces in the film, Ocean's 8. Without a doubt, the moment created a bond between the two. In all likelihood, it lessened the bond between Lauer and Hathaway...
Anne Hathaway Revealed At The Start Of Her NBC Interview With Matt Lauer That She Would've Rather Had Been At Home, But had To promote Les Misérables
Right from the start, the interview gets going on such an awkward note. Not even easing into it, Lauer says, "Nice to see you. Seen a lot of you lately."
Lauer was referring to a terrible candid photo that was taken of Hathaway just prior to the interview. Anne had the perfect response, stating that she would've rather been at home, but had a film to promote.
“I’d be happy to stay home, but the film.”
Despite the response, Lauer kept at the topic. "Let’s just get it out of the way. You had a little wardrobe malfunction the other night. What’s the lesson learned from something like that? Other than that you keep smiling, which you always do.”
An awkward question to ask, can there truly be a lesson learned? Nonetheless, Hathaway once again had a graceful answer for it.
“It was obviously an unfortunate incident,” she says.
“It kind of made me sad on two accounts. One was that I was very sad that when we live in an age where someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment, and rather than delete it and do the decent thing, sells it. And I’m sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies the sexuality of unwilling participants. Which brings us back to Les Mis.”
A perfect answer for Hathaway and one that also received lots of love from the fans.
Despite Her Rocky Relationship With The Fans, Anne Hathaway Received Lots Of Praise For The Today Show Interview
Anne Hathaway had one mission entering the interview, and it was to promote her film at the time, Les Misérables. It was all worth it for the star, as she took home an Oscar for the memorable performance.
In addition to the Oscar win, Anne received so much love from the fans online. Via YouTube, thousands of comments came in, praising the actress.
One fan writes, "She shut him down and circled back to the subject at hand in the most elegant and professional way possible. QUEEN!!!!"
The most liked comment writes, "That was one of the most graceful conversation transitions that I have ever heard. I'm not even that much of and Anne Fan, but that elegantly, politely, and diplomatically put an end to his crap whilst returning to the purpose of the interview. Well done, Mrs. Hathaway."
Even those that weren't fans of Hathaway took note of how well she handled such a moment.
