EgyptAir dismisses ‘surreal’ Drew Barrymore claims
Barrymore at an event in the United States. Photo: Getty
It’s not uncommon to see celebrities hit back at publications claiming something written about them was fabricated.
Usually, the disputed article appears in a major glossy magazine or on TMZ — the kind of places that drive the Hollywood gossip machine — and not the inflight magazine of a national carrier.
Horus, found on EgyptAir flights, is the venue for the latest such dispute, which revolves around the legitimacy of an article about actor Drew Barrymore that explores a choice she supposedly made to step away from her career to raise her children.
Representatives for Barrymore, who has appeared in Never Been Kissed and Charlie’s Angels among other films, told HuffPost the actor “did not participate” in the Q&A, which includes bold references to Barrymore’s mental health, failed relationships and weight.
Barrymore’s people said they were, “working with the airline PR team”.
Barrymore has appeared consistently in films and TV series since the birth of her first child in 2012.
“It is known that Barrymore has had almost 17 relationships, engagements and marriages,” the article, which labels Barrymore “unstable” and includes many grammatical errors, says.
“Psychologists believe that her behaviour is only natural since she lacked the male role model in her life after her parents’ divorce when she was only nine years old.
“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 article in question. Photo: Twitter/@adammbaron
The interview received a lot of attention on social media after a Twitter user photographed it aboard a flight and shared the images.
Barrymore’s quotes appear stilted and unnatural, particularly in a section in which she is quoted talking about women’s rights.
“I cannot deny that women made a great achievement over the past century; there is a significant progress recorded by people who study women status throughout history.”
A Twitter account appearing to belong to the author of the piece, Aida Takla-O’Reilly, a former head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, declared in a post on Thursday the interview had taken place in New York.
Takla-O’Reilly — whose name is misspelt in the article — wrote she had contributed to Horus and other inflight magazines as a member of the HFPA since 1956.
“It is noted that the previously mentioned publications are authorised to edit the final version of the interviews, according to adjustments required by the magazines in regards to [the] size of the article without altering the core of the content,” she wrote.
The ABC has reached out EgyptAir and Takla-O’Reilly for comment.
Chris Miller, the president of Barrymore’s production company Flower Films, told Buzzfeed News it appeared Takla-O’Reilly had written the piece based off a HFPA press conference, but did not sit down for an interview with Barrymore, as stated by the writer.
Other images shared online show an Arabic-language version of the same interview, suggesting mistranslation may have played a part in some of the confusing language.