Allegedly Fake Drew Barrymore Interview with Egypt Air Is Truly Strange

The airline and Barrymore's representatives say conflicting things about the legitimacy of the Q+A.

Drew Barrymore attends the 2017 Glamour Women of The Year Awards at Kings Theatre on November 13, 2017 in New York City. A recent possibly-fake interview Barrymore was quoted in as part of a profile in EgyptAir's magazine has caused a stir. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)
Drew Barrymore attends the 2017 Glamour Women of The Year Awards at Kings Theatre on November 13, 2017 in New York City. A recent possibly-fake interview Barrymore was quoted in as part of a profile in EgyptAir's magazine has caused a stir. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)
WireImage

A bizarre and allegedly fake interview with Drew Barrymore in EgyptAir’s in-flight magazine has made waves online, leading to a dispute between the airline and Barrymore’s representatives. The interview has been called “surreal,” with a seemingly offensive introduction followed by hard-to-believe answers from Barrymore in the Q+A.

After political analyst Adam Baron tweeted out the article, a debate about its authenticity ensued. The author, Aida Takla O’Reilly, is a member and former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which regularly organizes press conference Q+As with stars, whose answers are often published in foreign publications. As Barrymore’s representatives told Metro, “So technically Drew did not sit down with EgyptAir for an interview but a journalist who is a member of the HFPA sometimes supplies articles to EgyptAir.”

There’s also the fact that interview appears to have been published in a separate Arabic language magazine, which could be evidence that some of Barrymore’s answers and strange phrasing could be an issue of translation.

Much of the controversy comes from the tone of the introduction which focuses on Barrymore’s “unsuccessful marriages” and the strange anecdote, which notes that “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.”

In the interview’s Q+A section, there is an exchange about Barrymore’s post-pregnancy body that alarmed many users online. The article talks about “her previous graceful body,” and in response to question, the interview quotes Barrymore as saying, “I feel overwhelmed when someone tells me that I have regained my image and managed to lose that extra weight… However, I find this a great opportunity to encourage every woman who is overweight to work on regaining her beauty and body …,” according to the BBC.

Both Takla O’Reilly and AirEgypt have defended the interview’s legitimacy, and the story is still unfolding.

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