To be honest, I actually think that Jesse Eisenberg was in the right. She was a pretty bad reporter, and like he said, she was relying on props and gimmicks (like the card trick) to try and make the interview substantial. Jesse Eisenberg is known to have a dry sense of humor, and this girl was pretty easy to make fun of - she displayed bad journalism skills and wasn't at all prepared for the interview, and he just let her know it. I think people are missing the big picture by claiming that Eisenberg is "mean" and "a bully." Ultimately, he was simply calling her out on her bad reporting skills, and if she were a mature adult, she would just shrug it off. Had she been prepared with good questions and acted more professional during the interview, Eisenberg probably wouldn't have made those comments in the first place.
I think it's important to remember that stars are real people too, and if he's having an off day, that's just sort of the way it goes. I think the reporter handled it as best she could, and I don't think I would have handled the situation any differently, because if the interviewer isn't working with the questions, or appears to be trying to hurt her feelings as he was in this case, there's not really anything to do about it while it's happening. I think it was a stressful situation for both parties and the reporter handled it as gracefully as she could have been expected to given the circumstances.
What would you have done if you were the reporter in this situation? (If you watch the video embedded in the story - do you think she was trying hard enough and got defensive too early? Why or why not?)
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