As PEDESTRIAN.TV’s resident astrology expert, I’ve been known to be rather psychic, both in my everyday life and in my reporting (throwback to that time when I accurately predicted The Bachelorette winner based solely on astrology). Two weeks back, I was laying about on annual leave when I suddenly remembered that trainwreck Sunrise interview where Samantha Armytage and co forced poor Kristin Davis to act out a Sex & The City scene.
Upon returning from my break, I asked my editor if I could write a throwback yarn to that interview as our readers need to be reminded of the absolute monstrosity of a segment that once plagued our screens. A week after pitching the article, Samantha has now announced that she’s leaving Sunrise, so I figured that now’s as good a time as ever to revisit the infamous moment.
Back in 2016, Kristin Davis was in town to speak about her work with refugees as an UNHCR Ambassador.
The Sunrise interview began with Kristin talking about her incredible activism before being interrupted by Kochie who said, “Yep, alright, get on to Sex & The City,” which was met with laughter.
As he proceeded to ask her about the racy topics that were discussed on Sex & The City, she said: “I’m begging you not to bring them up. Please don’t bring them up.” Literally BEGGING them to stop. So what does Koshie do? He asks her which of the four ladies is the oldest. What. The. Fuck.
Then they practically drag her over to a make-shift Sex & The City set where Samantha Armytage dons a Reject Shop Carrie wig and they force her to act out the iconic post-it scene.
Kristin is visibly uncomfortable the whole time and even says, “I don’t know that this is a great idea, frankly.” Right you are, Kristin. It was a fucken’ shocking idea.
The interview copped major backlash online at the time and was subsequently scrubbed from the internet. If only there were a way to scrub it from my memory as well.
You can watch it here, via The Weekly.
Shortly after the interview went live, Sunrise issued an apology to Kristin who was “offended” by the gross display. Samantha Armytage also revealed that she had been dumped as MC and speaker at an event being held by the UNHCR and was also disinvited, despite Sunrise partnering with the organisation.
Harsh but fair as fuck.
Kristin later expressed her disappointment over the segment on Twitter by responding to an opinion piece that took aim at Samantha Armytage and Sunrise.
She also told Lisa Wilkinson that she’d gladly visit her show next time she’s in town:
@Virginia_Hauss Thank you for your piece in @smh . I’m trying to tell these women’s story – @Refugees #DRC #UNHCR pic.twitter.com/gh9mRg8qJ9
— Kristin Davis (@KristinDavis) February 14, 2016
@Lisa_Wilkinson @UNrefugees @TheTodayShow Thank you! I would love to join you next time 😉
— Kristin Davis (@KristinDavis) February 11, 2016
Look, I’ve been interviewing celebrities since the start of my career and I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with scores of A-listers – Bradley Cooper, Zendaya, Keanu Reeves, Jamie-Lee Curtis, Zac Efron, Jason Momoa and Emma Roberts, to name a few – so I know what it takes to produce a solid and entertaining celebrity interview.
I’ve pretty much seen it all, from one celeb who insisted on stuffing their face with sushi and talking with their mouth full during the interview to a rapper who was most definitely high as a kite to a certain A-lister who told me to “get back to the film, brother” when I asked him about his upcoming projects (hey, at least I didn’t wear a shitty wig and force him to recreate a scene from one of his films!). Legit though, I don’t hold it against them. When celebrities are having to endure long haul flights, crazy working hours, plus the stress of being a star, they’re entitled to be a little cranky now and then, right?
As an interviewer, it’s your job to make the celebrity feel comfortable so that they’ll open up and share all the spicy intel with your audience. If they really wanted to get Sex & The City tea from Kristin Davis, they could’ve casually and politely (I’ll say it again, CASUALLY and POLITELY) slotted in a question or two at the end. But to shrug off her incredible work and force her to re-enact a scene without clearing it with her PR team beforehand is, frankly, sloppy journalism.
Anyway, vale Samantha Armytage. Thank you for reminding me that no interview I ever conduct will be as godawful as that one.
