Former HFPA president confirms she wrote 'fake' Drew Barrymore interview
The supposedly ‘fake’ Drew Barrymore interview from an Egyptian in-flight magazine that went viral is not fake after all.
The feature, in EgyptAir magazine Horus, began doing the rounds on social media this week, with claims that the strange quotes attributed to Barrymore could not reasonably be her’s.
This interview with Drew Barrymore in the Egypt Air in flight magazine is, umm, surreal. pic.twitter.com/fN3lNHXbL0
— Adam Baron (@adammbaron) October 2, 2018
Barrymore’s reps then appeared to confirm that it was indeed fake, telling the Huffington Post that she ‘did not participate’ in the interview, and that they were ‘working with the airline PR team’, presumably to resolve the situation.
However, EgyptAir stood by the piece, calling it ‘a professional interview’.
And now its author has weighed in too.
Aida Takla O’Reilly, the Egyptian-born former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the body which runs the Golden Globes, tweeted that they interview is ‘far from fake’ and ‘took place in New York’.
As a member of the HFPA since 1956, I have been a correspondent for many publications for decades
I interviewed celebrities published in Egypt Air's official magazine; Horus, as well as Nisfdunia magazine, which is one of the publications of Al Ahram.(continued)@EGYPTAIR— Aida (@Aidatakla1) October 3, 2018
She added that the interview was later edited by the magazine – who also misspelled her name as Aida ‘Tekla’ – and had not happened in a one-to-one setting, rather a press conference where Barrymore was promoting her Netflix series The Santa Clarita Diet.
It’s also thought that the article was translated from Arabic, adding more confusion.
It is noted that the previously mentioned publications are authorized to edit the final version of the interviews, according to adjustments required by the magazines in regards to size of the article without altering the core of the content… (continued) @EGYPTAIR
— Aida (@Aidatakla1) October 3, 2018
This doesn't negate the fact that the interview with Drew Barrimoor which took place in New York is genuine &far from fake.
As far as Drew we interviewed her several times I saw her grow up before my eyes she is charming and talented.@EGYPTAIR— Aida (@Aidatakla1) October 3, 2018
As well as grammatical errors, the feature begins with some pretty withering presumptions about Barrymore.
“Despite being unstable in her relationships most of her life, despite the several unsuccessful marriages and despite the busy life of stardom that dominated her life for several years; the beautiful American Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore has recently decided to temporary [sic] take an unlimited vacation to play her most crucial role as a mother,” wrote Takla-O’Reily.
It goes on: “It is known that Barrymore has had almost 17 relationships, engagements and marriages; psychologists believe that her behavior is only natural since she lacked the male role model in her life after her parents’ divorce when she was only 9 years.
“Ever since that time, she has been subconsciously seeking attention and care from a male figure; but unfortunately things do not always go as planned and she has not yet succeeded in any relationship for various reasons.”
The piece also quoted that actress saying she was stepping out of the limelight and ‘will only resume my career when I feel that my daughters can depend on themselves’, despite her having appeared in several TV and movie projects in recent years.
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