The 2008 documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (which I recommend to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the charges facing him now) documents a public perception of Roman Polanski that blamed him not only for the darkness of his films, but even for surviving the Holocaust and for the Manson-led murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, and friends. All of this years before he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and then fled the country before sentencing.
I don't know what was going through Larry King's mind last night on his CNN show, but here's what happened (from the CNN transcript):
KING: Joining Lawrence Silver with us now is Debra Tate, Roman Polanski's former sister in law, the sister of the late Sharon Tate. On a persona note, I knew Sharon Tate. I had interviewed her a couple of months before her tragic murder. What do you want to see happen?
DEBRA TATE, FMR. SISTER IN LAW OF ROMAN POLANSKI: I would like to see this whole thing go away. I think that there has been a lot of time that has passed and we need to bring it to an end.
KING: Have you ever talked to Roman Polanski?
TATE: I have.
KING: How can you have a civil conversation with someone who so brutally murdered your sister?
TATE: Roman didn't murder my sister.
KING: I'm sorry. When the fact that he would have this terrible thing happen to him after the death of your sister, to once again focus you into the public light. That's what I meant.
Bizarre how easily the lines get blurred...
24 Comments
what was going through his mind was he's a thousand years old and a terrible interviewer. that is absolutely inexcusable.
CNN, please put him out to graze, this is getting embarrassing.
Worst interview and mistake ever on TV.
Larry, please retire while you still have a little credibility left.
enough
I don't understand how King could have gotten his wires so horrendously crossed. Is he going senile or insane, or is he just a complete moron?
Maybe King suspects Polanski of hiring Manson to do the Tate murders. I do.
It is quite weird to say, but, bring on Ryan Seacrest.
I wonder if Larry thought he was talking about Charles Manson for a minute and not Roman Polanski. Either way, this is just not acceptable even by Larry's standards.
I don't think he's a terrible interviewer all the time - at least not back when he had all of his faculties. .... However, he intentionally (whether out of philosophy or laziness) refuses to prepare too much for each interview - claiming he'd rather just ask the questions. This leads to some famously horrible interviews .. but he's also done good ones. his radio show, back in the day, is one thing that made me fall in love with radio - and I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when no one in my generation did loved radio.
In this case, I think he's just old.
Oh, Matt Lauer made an even dumber mistake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZYtiKeh2CA
Larry needs to buckle himself into his booth at Nate 'n Al and stay there. It's time for CNN to move on.
This just makes me feel sorry for Polanski even more. King has gone senile.
Larry King made a very unfortunate comment concerning Roman Polanski's involvement in Sharon Tate's murder. What is more unfortunate is the number of times Larry King has made mistakes in his knowledge of the facts or simply addressed someone by the wrong name, i.e called Ringo Starr, George Harrison. CNN, as an excellent example of integrity in journalism, would be wise to begin looking for a replacement of Larry King so that he can go out with some journalistic integrity which he is very much in the position of losing. Please bring on Anderson Cooper to replace Larry King, I beg CNN.
Larry King has always been an idiot and will continue to be till they finally yank his pathetic ass off the air. He admits that he does no prep for shows and quite often shows.How he still has a job after all these years is mind boggling ! This is the same guy who wrote bad checks in Dade county in the 70's. Hollywood will hire anybody.
I'd rather have King with all his foibles and missteps than Ryan Seacrest. What an empty suit. I can't believe a network would even contemplate putting that guy in Larry's chair.
Once again I am forced to wonder "Why does Larry King still have a job?" Allow me to paraphrase a bit of interview I saw between him and Paul Simon.
Larry: Have you ever written songs to be performed by someone other than yourself?
Paul: Yes. Art Garfunkel.
Larry: Who's that?
Whew! That's exactly the kind of mistake that would get King fired from a reputable news organization. Lucky for him he works for CNN... It's time for Larry to hang up his microphone.
And yet Mr. King refuses to ask Glenn Beck whether he raped and killed a young woman in 1990. Why not? Was Mr. King an accomplice in the rape and murder of a young woman in 1990? I'm not saying he is, but his lack of comment on the issue to date is disconcerting.
Larry King raked and mulched a young garden in 1890.
Is it just happenstance that my comment immediately follows Christopher's? Or did you just arrange it that way?
I only ask because I submitted my comment last night. Jim, are you tinkering with the comments for your own personal amusement? I certainly hope so!
No, I didn't tinker. (Not sure I even have the ability to change the order in which comments are received/posted.) This morning I just approved a batch of comments that had come in overnight, as always.
Roman Polanski drugged and forcibly sodomized a 13 year old while she was repeatedly saying "no." Does the documentary present some mitigating circumstances that redeems him for his crime?
No, it doesn't. Why would you expect mitigation or redemption?
Larry King had some good interviews in the old days: Alexander of Macedon, Jesus, Pericles, Ramses the 3rd (this one especialy)
KING: "How can you have a civil conversation with someone who so brutally murdered your sister?"
That is not a slip of the tongue. If he had asked, "How did you feel about Polanski killing your sister?" that would be a slip of the tongue--saying "Polanski" instead of "Manson." But this is different. Does Larry King suspect Polanski of killing Tate and her well known lover an fathert of her child, the devil--er, I mean, Jay Sebring?
maybe its intentional. Gives one something to think deeply about. For the shallow minded who think the artsy fartsy can do no wrong, don't blow a head gasket. Your artsy fartsy hero is safe and sound in a country where he cannot be extradited.
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