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Robert Downey Jr Slams 'Bottom-Feeding Muckraker' Krishnan Guru-Murthy

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The beef between Robert Downey Jr and Krishnan Guru-Murthy is far from over, it seems, after the actor branded him a ‘bottom-feeding muckraker’ and a 'syphilitic parasite’.

Downey Jr walked out of an interview last week with the Channel 4 News anchor, after he dared to ask him questions about his politics and his 'dark past’ using drugs and alcohol.

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But in an interview with Howard Stern, in which Stern brought up the walk-out, Downey Jr really let loose on the newsman, saying ‘I just wish I’d left sooner’.

“Here’s the thing, I’m one of those guys who I’m always assuming the social, kind of decorum is in play and that we’re promoting a super hero movie,” he said.

“A lot of kids are going to see it, and this has nothing to do with your creepy dark agenda that I’m feeling all of a sudden like, ashamed and obligated to accommodate your weirdo s**t.

“I just realised too I’m a 50-year-old guy… I’m completely unevolved when it comes down to simple boundaries, like, 'You know what? You’re weirding me out, you are a bottom-feeding muckraker’.”

It emerges that it was Downey Jr’s first interview of the day, so it’s likely he wasn’t expecting probing questions so early on.

“The assumption is that there’s a button, that because you’ve sat down there you’re going to be scrutinized like you’re a kiddie fiddler who’s running for mayor,” he added.

“What I have to do in the future is I have to give myself permission to say, ‘That is more than likely a syphilitic parasite, and I need to distance myself from this clown’.

“Otherwise, I’m probably going to put hands on somebody, and then there’s a real story.”

Downey Jr accused Guru-Murthy of getting 'a little Diane Sawyer’ during the exchange, referring to the broadcaster who conducts such personal interviews on US TV.

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Guru-Murthy has defended his line of questioning robustly.

“We don’t do promotional interviews on Channel 4 News,” he said.

“We agree with PR people that as well as talking about a new movie for a while we want to ask wider ranging questions on relatively serious topics, and we don’t guarantee to run any answers in particular.

“When Robert Downey Jr’s PR man rang up asking what we wanted to talk about, we said we had no particular agenda but would ask about the new Avengers superhero movie and his recovery from jail and drug abuse to Hollywood stardom.”

Guru-Murthy also upset Quentin Tarantino back in 2013, while grilling him about the violence in his movies.

“I’m not your slave and you’re not my master. You can’t make me dance to your tune. I’m not your monkey,” said the director.

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Image credits: Channel 4/Disney