Journalist explains quotes labelled “entirely phoney” by Clint Eastwood

Posted On June 4, 2025June 4, 2025

Last week, an Austrian publication claimed to publish an interview with legendary director Clint Eastwood on his 95th birthday, which Eastwood later claimed to be fabricated. Now, the journalist behind the story has explained what exactly happened.

Eastwood turned 95 on May 31st, coinciding with a piece in Kurier that created headlines worldwide. In the piece, the director is quoted as saying: “We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I’ve shot sequels three times, but I haven’t been interested in that for a long while. My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home.”

The Kurier article also alleged that Eastwood is making another film that is now in the pre-production stage, which is not true.

However, Eastwood then issued the following statement to Deadline: “A couple of items about me have recently shown up in the news. I thought I would set the record straight.”

The Oscar-winner continued: “I can confirm I’ve turned 95. I can also confirm that I never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phoney.”

Elisabeth Sereda, who wrote the article and is also a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, claims she used quotes from Eastwood to the HFPA, which date back to 1976. Sereda told Variety: “Quotes from Mr. Eastwood cited in the story are culled from several of those 14 press conferences I attended and covered.”

Sereda also explained that she was asked to create a tribute article to celebrate Eastwood’s 95th birthday, suggesting it was never intended to read as an interview.

Following the backlash from Eastwood, Kurier have since removed the piece and stated that “the article fell short of its standards”.

Eastwood’s last movie, Juror #2, arrived last year, and there has since been no official word that he is working on another project.

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