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A top entertainment reporter revealed who he thinks was the rudest — or perhaps least considerate of journalists’ time — in a newly released podcast.
Longtime reporter Nelson Aspen dished the details about an awful interaction with “Fast and Furious” superstar Vin Diesel during an interview on “Flaawsome Talk” Tuesday hosted by fellow entertainment reporter Kjersti Flaa — saying Diesel made him wait for hours before they could chat.
“I was talking to you last time [on the podcast] about lateness – chronic lateness, which was a problem with Vin Diesel,” Aspen told Flaa on the YouTube talk show.
Flaa immediately reacted saying Diesel’s name was the first one that “popped” in her head too when thinking about celebrities who have a reputation for making reporters wait.
“It was ridiculous. I mean, it wasn’t just being kept waiting ten minutes or even an hour but it would be like, two hours, five hours, seven hours, I mean ridiculous,” Aspen said.
The actor “pulled the kid card” for why he was tardy but Aspen questioned the authenticity of the action star’s claims.
“Why didn’t you just call us then instead of keeping all of the crews waiting, all the journalists waiting, and that’s money,” Aspen complained. “That’s money that Vin Diesel wasn’t paying. That’s money that the studio was paying.”
The tardiness caused reporters to miss their flights and have to rebook everything just to get back home.
Flaa even shared her own story about Diesel not showing up on time for a press event to promote “F9: The Fast Sage” at Universal Studios during the COVID-19 pandemic — when reporters had to wait for him in masks.
“He was about six hours late and then we were told, like, you know what he did? He took his kids to all the rides,” Flaa said.
Diesel isn’t the only celebrity that’s often late for meetings with the press. The veteran reporter claimed “SexyBack” singer Justin Timberlake doesn’t follow the clock either.
“We went to [Las] Vegas and it was another one of those things. Late, late, late, late. Finally we had to choose: we could either leave because we had flights to catch or we’d have to make the arrangements to stay for another day,” Aspen said.
Timberlake was recently slammed by fans on Oct. 8 for postponing his show in Newark, New Jersey minutes before doors opened because he had an “injury” that prevented him from performing.
“Weeds” actress Mary Louise Parker once kept the journalist waiting too but she was so apologetic that Aspen “believed” she was being honest about the delay.
Even “The Hunger Games” actor Woody Harrelson kept reporters waiting for half an hour because he ate lunch and didn’t want to be on camera with an unwashed mouth, Aspen snitched.
“He didn’t want to start the interviews after lunch until he’d brushed his teeth. It was like half an hour. Somebody had to go out and get him an organic toothbrush because they only had, you know, the plastic ones. But hey, he’s a man of his convictions. I respected that,” Aspen added.
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