In the wake of a headline-making interview in which Kurt Russell denounced gun control following the San Bernardino shooting, the “Hateful Eight” star is blaming the media.
When the actor was asked about the interview on the ABC daytime talk show “The View” on Friday, he explained that he was “ambushed” by a reporter during the “dog and pony show” of the movie’s press tour.
“Sometimes you get, what you kind of feel is slightly ambushed by somebody who’s really got an agenda,” Russell said. “And that’s sort of my opinion of what happened to me the other day.”
Russell was referring to a heated interview with Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere, during which he was asked about the “Quentin cult” of violence and gun regulations in the United States.
“If you think gun control is going to change the terrorists’ point of view, I think you’re, like, out of your mind,” Russell said in the interview. “I think it’s absolutely insane … What are you gonna do, outlaw everything? That isn’t the answer.”
He went on to explain that he didn’t think the question was relevant to the movie or the interview, regardless of the film’s content. “The last thing I like to watch is actors or entertainers get political … there’s a big difference between fantasy land and reality,” he said.
Russell clarified his position, this time tempering his response and leaving room for others to disagree.
“In reality when we’re dealing with things like terrorism and what not, we’re all going to have different opinions on how to do it, how to deal with it … I think it’s too bad that the debate can’t remain kind of civil too,” Russell said.
“I just leave it open for interpretation for all different people, and say ‘we’re all in this together,’” he added.