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A reporter says Bruce Willis once made her wait 9 days for a 'nightmare' interview and then didn't tip the waiter at the restaurant he forced shut
Bruce Willis. CG/VCG via Getty Images
In a new podcast, a journalist says Bruce Willis once made her wait nine days for an interview.
Martha Frankel said on "Haileywood" that the actor made a restaurant shut down and then didn't tip.
She also called the overall experience of speaking to him "a nightmare."
A journalist reflected on interviewing Bruce Willis in 1996, calling it "a nightmare."
iHeartRadio's new original podcast, "Haileywood," tells the story of how Willis moved into the small town of Hailey, Idaho, in the '90s, bought and developed property, and then seemingly abandoned the town, as The Independent reported.
On the first episode, "His Own Private Idaho," host Dana Schwartz spoke with a journalist who said she had a negative experience with the "Die Hard" star.
In 1996, journalist Martha Frankel got an assignment to interview Willis for Movieline in London. It's an assignment that she described to Schwartz on the podcast as "a nightmare."
Frankel said she waited nine days for Willis to agree to speak with her. Instead, spending her time at a spa in Windsor, a town about 30 miles west of London.
The journalist said she tried to ease the actor's trepidation about the interview with stories of mutual friends they have in common or the promise of conducting the interview over a poker game with his team. Willis wanted "no part of" any of the tactics Frankel used to try and make him feel secure, she said.
Bruce Willis during Celebrity Sightings at Lakers Basketball Game – June 15, 1987. Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
"He didn't really want to talk about anything," said Frankel, recalling their interview. "It was just a drag and he wasn't fun and he wasn't funny. And I know he's all of those things. I had seen him in action. I know he can be that."
Frankel described Willis as "very serious" and adamant about going off the record to talk about his failed 1991 musical, "Hudson Hawk."
But Frankel said she was bothered by more than Willis' steely behavior toward her. The actor made the restaurant they ate at shut down to the public during dinner service "so that nobody would come over for his autograph," she said, adding that Willis didn't tip at the end of the meal.
"And then he didn't throw $300 bucks on the table for the waiter," she said. "So I did."
"I want rich people to be more generous than not rich people," Frankel told Schwartz. "But you know what was the best thing? He walked in and out of that hotel and nobody said a word to him, nobody recognized him."
Bruce Willis and Demi Moore in 1990. Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images
Insider reached out to a rep for Willis to confirm Frankel's recollection, but didn't immediately hear back.
This is not the first time Willis has been labeled as difficult by journalists. In 2013, he apologized for a "boring" interview on BBC's "The One Show," blaming jetlag, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.
That same year, Willis was called "rude," "painful," and "completely uncooperative" by Britain's Magic 105.4 reporter Jamie Edwards while promoting his movie, "Red 2," with Mary Louise Parker, reported Page Six.
As recently as last July, "Celebrity Karaoke Club" host AJ Odudu called an interview with Willis a "big disappointment." She described Willis as "absolutely appalling."
New episodes of iHeartRadio's podcast, "Hailywood," are available on Wednesdays.
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