Video: The stupid yet compelling Billy Bob Thornton train wreck interview
posted at 5:32 pm on April 9, 2009 by Allahpundit
To cleanse the palate, America’s newest viral phenomenon: In 24 hours, it’s pulled 400,000 views and already been spoofed by professionals. Not laugh-out-loud funny — except for when he starts rambling about “Famous Monsters of Filmland” — but useful as fodder for a spirited game of “What’s His Damage?” in the comments. At first I thought drugs, then I thought nuts, then I thought Joaquin-Phoenix-esque publicity stunt, and now I’m back to drugs. Bear in mind as you watch that this is the same guy whose social skills were supreme enough to land Angelina Jolie.
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Awesome.
NOTE: The best parts… at the :30 mark, 1:12, 2:36 and pretty much everything between 5:00 – 10:00.
He is on drugs.
carbon_footprint on April 9, 2009 at 5:35 PM
It was just his lower darkside companion monkey talking.
jdkchem on April 9, 2009 at 5:37 PM
when isn’t he?
upinak on April 9, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Willie and druggies.
Johan Klaus on April 9, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Drugs – What I would need to deal with 13 minutes of Billy Bob talking.
jdkchem on April 9, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Hilarious. Best palate-cleanser of the week so far. :]
bluelightbrigade on April 9, 2009 at 5:38 PM
I thought that was how all celebrities acted?
offroadaz on April 9, 2009 at 5:40 PM
So it’s Billy, Roy Orbison 1 and Roy Orbison 2. Man, this cloning is getting out of hand.
Vashta.Nerada on April 9, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Slightly off topic, but…
They could have stolen anything from Buddy Holly and they picked his glasses?
trubble on April 9, 2009 at 5:42 PM
The smirks and the camera shots lead me to believe this is staged and prearranged.
Nessuno on April 9, 2009 at 5:43 PM
publicity stunt.
therightwinger on April 9, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Yea — but not to keep her.
Sure, she was intrigued by his strange artsy weirdness, but I’m sure she realized something was up when he started calling her “Vishnu” in bed.
Totally unsubstantiated; most likely true. BlatantBlue stands by his allegations.
blatantblue on April 9, 2009 at 5:45 PM
I think it’s a gag.
AUINSC on April 9, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Just the kind of freak one would cross the street to avoid. But he’s famous, so people tolerate him.
myrenovations on April 9, 2009 at 5:46 PM
he’s acting
JohnBissell on April 9, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Me thinks his brain is pickled! At least Gary Busey has an excuse, he suffered a brain injury, for Billy it’s obviously too much drugs and booze!
Hollweird really is fantasy land, no one ever has to grow up!
Liberty or Death on April 9, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Taking awkward to a whole new level.
LSD is my guess.
MadisonConservative on April 9, 2009 at 5:49 PM
Huhmmhhmm…mescaline biscuits…
Bugler on April 9, 2009 at 5:49 PM
I don’t know why he’s acting like he is still married to Angelina Jolie. All that attitude is misplaced, he’s just another washed up old cow…
zembla on April 9, 2009 at 5:49 PM
Would you say that to Tom Petty?
carbon_footprint on April 9, 2009 at 5:50 PM
You’d do drugs too if you were nailing Angelina Jolie and messed up that gig…
Wyznowski on April 9, 2009 at 5:50 PM
Yes, but Angelina’s big, weird lips are sealed!
JAM on April 9, 2009 at 5:50 PM
No. It’s Billy,Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison 1 and Roby Orbison 2.
and your right about the cloning.
portlandon on April 9, 2009 at 5:51 PM
Okay, this is how you can be and be a multi-millionaire?
right2bright on April 9, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Looked like the other hillbillies were annoyed with him too. I think he just got pissed because of them mentioning the “career”. Thats just the normal, everyday, egotistical, moronic, Billy Bob.
Vigilante on April 9, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Ooo wee ooo, I look just like Buddy Holly…
carbon_footprint on April 9, 2009 at 5:54 PM
who’s billy bob thornton?
kirkill on April 9, 2009 at 5:54 PM
So there is hope yet, young Padiwan learner…
juanito on April 9, 2009 at 5:54 PM
He’s yanking your chain.
jcheney on April 9, 2009 at 5:56 PM
Bad Santa was a great movie.
lorien1973 on April 9, 2009 at 5:57 PM
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
hillbillyjim on April 9, 2009 at 5:58 PM
I skipped drugs and went straight to insanity. I feel sorry for the interviewer. They are probably all Obama voters so what can you expect? Intelligence?
petunia on April 9, 2009 at 5:59 PM
nah. this is just him being waaay too touchy over the ol’ “did you ever hear of the famous painter named tony bennett?” thing.
people get this way when they move from one thing into music especially, where “cred” and authenticity are granted and withheld by fans and critics with all the fickleness of a twelve-year-old girl’s crush.
eh on April 9, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Meh…….
Seven Percent Solution on April 9, 2009 at 6:01 PM
He was angry that he got asked a question that he probably told his agent to tell his publicist to tell the reporter not to ask, so to express his anger–because the World revolves around him–he was striking out at the reporter in the only way that felt natural to him–he turned himself into a complete lunatic…or rather, an even greater lunatic than is typical for him.
RBMN on April 9, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Sorry, as much as I want to agree with you, he’s not acting. Billy Bob is ssscchnockered, just as Obama’s stooping is a really a bow.
epb on April 9, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Typical hollyweird. Let em all fry their brains. Who cares?
ErinF on April 9, 2009 at 6:02 PM
That’s the word.
petunia on April 9, 2009 at 6:03 PM
Acting pure and simple. In the beginning, when asked about how long the band was together, his response was ” I don’t know what you mean”, “I don’t understand”, and so on. But at 9:05 he interjects when the interview says they are a new band, to retort that “We are not really new.”
Clearly he messed up the shtick at that point.
Remember, acting is what these people do. And they are paid handsomely for it. The money he makes off of having a band nobody has heard of is insignificant next to what he has earned, and will earn, in his acting career. A video like this, posted on youtube to go viral, gets him attention by highlighting his acting prowess and showing casting directors what he is capable of.
keep the change on April 9, 2009 at 6:03 PM
I could always see through his acting. Craptacular stunt.
Free Constitution on April 9, 2009 at 6:04 PM
Hey Allah that Larry Summers thing… better than this.
petunia on April 9, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Psychedelic drugs of some sort.
He mentions that the interview was taking place a 6:00 am.
My guess is he was still high from the night before.
DeathB4Tyranny on April 9, 2009 at 6:08 PM
No way he’s not on drugs. His eyes are too clear and he’s looking the interviewer in the eye. I don’t think he’s bat sh%t crazy either. My bet is he’s faking it for publicity.
SuzySanDiego on April 9, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Yawn… What the crap boring garbage was that? I tried to watch this clip but after about 10 seconds I slipped into a coma and started drooling. and from the comments above it may be that Billy Bob might have been in the same boat as me. Started out listening and rapidly lost consciousness.
Hmmm… It seems that after I was slapped a few times and listened to the sweet sweet stuff in the second half of the clip that I have an actual comment now.
“Man what an ass.” So this total jerk wants to torpedo an interview with his band to avoid having to hear about his success as an actor.
P.S. Sadly my guess is that this type of publicity will only help sales of their music.
bigskinny on April 9, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Wow, that was something. I am inclined to think drugs, he is exceptionally paranoid which could be indicative of mental health issues but I would be inclined to think drugs first. He would be likely to have mental health problems too but you would need to see him clean before you went into diagnosing that. He also looks haggard which is another reason I am inclined to think drugs. Can you imagine what the Buddy Hollies were thinking?
msmveritas on April 9, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Karl “Swing Blade” Childers has a better personality and disposition than Billy Bob.
Fletch54 on April 9, 2009 at 6:11 PM
Joaquin was trying to hawk his own garage band too.
Lame.
logis on April 9, 2009 at 6:11 PM
While he is in fact a loon he does have at least one truly classic line for the ages. It came from The Alamo.
Dire Straits on April 9, 2009 at 6:12 PM
(A hillbilly neurosurgeon trepanning Billy Bob’s echoing skull) “There’s yer problem. His haid ain’t got no brains in it! He oughtta check hisself into the Nervous Hospital. Nurse, hand me that that Kaiser scalpel. Some folk like to call it a Sling Scalpel but I calls it a Kaiser Scalpel. Umm-hmm…”
My heart went out to the fellow doing the interview. He had to put up with an incoherent, foul-mouthed slackwit just because Thornton is a Hollywood celebutard.
CatchAll on April 9, 2009 at 6:12 PM
Man, this interview is like watching a train wreck…you see it coming and can’t help but watch it!
Liberty or Death on April 9, 2009 at 6:15 PM
Sigh… It pains me to admit it but that is correct. I like his acting, havent heard his music. After this little self centered fit I’m not inclined to purchase any music he is a part of. I may not even be too interested in his film exploits either.
bigskinny on April 9, 2009 at 6:16 PM
Vial of blood says it all.
fred5678 on April 9, 2009 at 6:17 PM
So who is this clown ?
redrock on April 9, 2009 at 6:21 PM
he either spent a lot of time with Carlos Castenada or he’s pulling a Phoenix.
DrW on April 9, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Angelina Jolie is no great catch – lets face it. After all, Brad Pitt is as dumb as a fence post. Yuck. She does less than nothing for me.
Charles Martel on April 9, 2009 at 6:28 PM
At first I thought he was coked out of his head. I was waiting for him to get up and peek out the window and ask if anybody else heard the helicopters and sirens. As it went on though he looked as if he was enjoying himself. I think he was trying to get some media attention for the band.
coldshot on April 9, 2009 at 6:32 PM
As a Burnt Centurion, Veteran of the Psychic Wars, i would have to concur with that guess MadCon.
JohnGalt23 on April 9, 2009 at 6:35 PM
Ugh. I guess it’s cool 2 be a complete jerk in Hollyweird. This completely an act. I’ve seen Billy Bob being interviewed on other shows and he is never this “socially awkward.” Robert DeNiro does the same thing and I think it is extremely rude.
terryannonline on April 9, 2009 at 6:35 PM
who fricken cares?
MNDavenotPC on April 9, 2009 at 6:39 PM
They’re all baked out of their gourds. BB is just baked beyond lucidity.
spmat on April 9, 2009 at 6:44 PM
zzzz Most boring interview ever! Id say dementia, drugs or both.
becki51758 on April 9, 2009 at 6:44 PM
If you watch the beginning, when the guy introduces him as an actor you can see billy bob get angry. The whole thing was him being a jerk to the disk jockey because he perceives that he was slighted in some way. The guys in the band are obviously very uncomfortable because they know what he can be like. No craziness, just a tempermental “star” thinking he is more clever than he really is.
peacenprosperity on April 9, 2009 at 6:48 PM
Billy Bob, don’t eat acid at night if you have an interview to do the next morning. It take a while to come down, as this is clearly evidence of.
JohnGalt23 on April 9, 2009 at 6:50 PM
It may have been staged on Billy Bob’s part, but if it was, the host wasn’t in on the joke. You should have heard he and his next guest making sarcastic remarks about Thornton.
Drugs or not, this guy is so full of himself I’m surprised his head doesn’t explode.
ProfessorMiao on April 9, 2009 at 6:57 PM
Cool! You can watch the breakdown in HD!
Caper29 on April 9, 2009 at 7:06 PM
There is still hope for all of us then. Good lord! I’ll be as high as a kite by then.
kahall on April 9, 2009 at 7:11 PM
The minute he asked the interviewer about Tom Petty, I was 100% certain he was faking it.
V-rod on April 9, 2009 at 7:16 PM
He’s not high – what you see here is Hollywood narcissim in action.
He expects, that since he’s a big star, he should be treated as a serious musician in the mold of Tom Petty. That’s the way these guys are – they think they can change their entire life and immediately become someone else with all the stature.
Next we’ll see him pretending to be a political figure.
This happens often with these guys.
HondaV65 on April 9, 2009 at 7:16 PM
I thought Jimmy Fallon was doing Late Night not Radio?
rockdog63 on April 9, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Either BBT is fuming mad about something or this is a publicity stunt. Once he started clearing it all off his chest he and talked about music he was lucid, but chippy. I think he just didn’t want to be there at 6 AM. Not a morning person.
Hawthorne on April 9, 2009 at 7:22 PM
Staged.
I’m counting 7 to 10 differant camera angles. It’s a production, including the interviewer. All of it.
Tuning Spork on April 9, 2009 at 7:24 PM
It’s quite clear he was just ticked off that the interviewer mentioned his acting career instead of only declaing his as a musician. It’s quite ironic that he reverted to acting to get back at the interviewer.
MrX on April 9, 2009 at 7:27 PM
My daughter and her college roomie met him and Laura Dern at a restaurant in Little Rock some years back….she said that he was very friendly and chatted easily, even gave them autographs.
That was then
Now, he’s apparently a spoiled rotten little creep.
surrounded on April 9, 2009 at 7:33 PM
I like at 00:45 in how he kind of looks around. If that was some guy on the street id say drugs. But a lot of actors are on the “eccentric” side.
Greed on April 9, 2009 at 7:59 PM
Im sure thats what they will claim anyway. For every person who thinks that 20 will think drugs, 10 will think mental prob. i dont see this as a career improver.
Greed on April 9, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Man hands.
Greed on April 9, 2009 at 8:11 PM
Pulling the guy’s leg. Just a publicity stunt to get a youtube video and press….and it succeeded.
But I still won’t buy the music.
albill on April 9, 2009 at 8:14 PM
No wonder American society assigns so much significance to the political opinions of actors, singers, etc. Those people have a real strangle hold on reality the rest of us don’t.
Pffffft.
Crusty on April 9, 2009 at 8:21 PM
I am familiar with this host Gian Gomeshi, who is a host of the Canadian TV program “Q” which is on both the radio and television by the CBC (ah, government owned and operated TV/radio). This is real.
It is impossible to find any TV programming from back home here, unless it’s hockey.
caygeon on April 9, 2009 at 8:21 PM
After painfully watching this twice, it’s straight up BBT being a prick. He was trying to derail the interview after being introduced as an actor, apparently against his wishes.
When his playing dumb game was not working, he chews out the DJ and comes out of his acted stupor.
Basically, BBT was acting like a spoiled Hollywood fxckknuckle. :-)
Daft Punk on April 9, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Staged for publicity stakes.
changer1701 on April 9, 2009 at 8:44 PM
He has turned into Willie from Bad Santa.
RobertInLexington on April 9, 2009 at 8:52 PM
QTF
Sounds like he’s trying to sell himself simply as a musician, “Buy my album because you like the music, not because I’m that guy from Chopper Chicks in Zombietown.”
The interviewer mentioned his acting career, lessening his musical efforts (in Thornton’s mind), bringing the interview to a screeching hault.
Rusty Shackleford on April 9, 2009 at 8:58 PM
Heh, Billy Bob got all “Geico Caveman” offended.
geckomon on April 9, 2009 at 9:12 PM
That’s exactly what it was, he was just being a dick. As if his music was so important that a peion like the DJ couldn’t possibly understand.
lowandslow on April 9, 2009 at 9:14 PM
I say it’s legit. It looks as though Billy Bob was pissed when the guy was referring it as a hobby and made it seem like Billy Bob was trying to be like a lot of other actors who go into music.
DethMetalCookieMonst on April 9, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Dude, I take it you don’t realise that Angelina Jolie was basically the town bicycle in Hollywood. It’s already been said that whether male or female, if you were friends with her chances are you were f***ing her.
DethMetalCookieMonst on April 9, 2009 at 9:29 PM
Still crazy after all these years and still eight miles high. He could have covered Paul Simon and The Byrds right there in the studio. The guy is nucking futs!
College Prof on April 9, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Gossip Journalism
The Race Card on April 9, 2009 at 10:05 PM
He has turned into Willie from Bad Santa.
RobertInLexington on April 9, 2009 at 8:52 PM
I liked Willie from Bad Santa.
FlyoverJ-HawkFan on April 9, 2009 at 10:26 PM
the guy is totally steady. note the smirks. he is totally acting. and as for angelina jolie, she’s blown most of hollywood, so getting her was no great feat.
anna on April 9, 2009 at 10:31 PM
I thought he was faking it, until I noticed some very real irritation with questions regarding his acting career.
iamse7en on April 9, 2009 at 10:55 PM
He’s a narcissist who’s totally faking it. A true actor.
Travis Bickle on April 9, 2009 at 11:58 PM
That DJ really tried hard to keep it cool.
MarkT on April 10, 2009 at 12:10 AM
This is actually how he picked her up.
Jim Treacher on April 10, 2009 at 12:13 AM
LOL! Bravo!
pleaseandthankyou on April 10, 2009 at 12:14 AM
Looks like Bad News Bears for Billy Bob
TheRiddler on April 10, 2009 at 12:27 AM
I’m sure he is on drugs, but this was a spoiled Hollywood brat having a temper tantrum because he didn’t get his way.
conservativemama on April 10, 2009 at 1:16 AM
With his obvious grasp on reality, why isn’t he working in the White House?
Hell, he could do a better job of running the country into the ground that Precedent Uhhhbama.
darwin-t on April 10, 2009 at 6:15 AM
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