Billy Bob Thornton being kind of a jerk

 Posted by on 8 April 2009  Modern Life, Music
Apr 082009
 

Billy Bob and his band The Box Masters were on CBC’s Q today. After host Jian Ghomeshi mentioned Billy Bob’s acting career in his pre-amble, even though he was supposedly told explicitly by the producers (acting on Thornton’s wishes) not to, Thornton got a little testy. He resorted to brief  “I don’t know’s” to questions posed by Jian, and told a rambling story about magazine models — all because Jian mentioned his acting career in his opening.

I’m sorry, but just because you want to ignore the fact that you were an actor for many years (and only famous because of your short-lived marriage to Angelina Jolie, ahem) doesn’t mean that everyone else in the world will ignore that.

And I realize 6 a.m is early, I mean, it shouldn’t even exist as a time, but it doesn’t give you license to act like a jerk. Good for Jian for sticking to his guns and not succumbing to Thornton’s diva behaviour (or should I say, cunty behaviour).

Video below. It’s long. The real jerkiness come at around 6:50.

Amy Breen

  • MPot

    Yeah, he was being an asshole.

    But he’s not famous just because of a brief marriage to Jolie. He’s famous because he’s one of the greatest living actors, and the brilliant writer/director behind Sling Blade (which makes his demeanor in that interview even weirder). In other words: the man’s got talent. Jolie’s famous because people find large-lipped people attractive, I suppose.

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Amy Breen

    Oh, I know he’s talented. The Jolie comment was meant to say he’s famous for even less than his acting, which was meant to be a joking insult.

  • StumpyRant

    This interview made me curious about BillyBob, so I did some googling and downloaded some albums, which I deleted after 10 minutes because they made my ears bleed. This musician project-type deal is terrible! Everything from the hokey suits to the matching bandmate glasses, the music which is over-produced and unspectacular, and BillyBob’s absence of vocal skill. Really, it’s like he thinks that if he can talk, then singing is just an extension of his ability to form syllables with his mouth and grunt simultaneously. His “formula” website has news, but instead of the usual musician talk about the crowds and scenery, his bandmates complain about not having a long enough soundcheck, and assume that their music is a lot of entertainment for Canadians (who just don’t know what music is). There is no redeeming quality in all of this for me, not even a likable personality who is gracious that people are giving him a chance in the music industry. Jian tried to give BillyBob chances to talk about the music, what inspires him, where he wants to take his music, but he torched it with his combativeness. He wouldn’t even sing for the listeners! It’s confusing – he’s incredible in the film industry, but he’s sorta becoming the Jerry Springer of the music world. The only attention he is getting for his music is people who are angered by him, and I hope that either he a)sells his soul for some talent or b)quickly fades as a failed actor-turned-musician experiment or c)starts obeying a competent publicist who tries to turn this train wreck around immediately. OK, neurotic ranting over for now.

  • Colin Corneau

    This story made me think of the excruciatingly awful Seth Rogan film out now, “Observe and Report.” They’re similar because sometimes, when a celebrity gets really, really full of themselves they embark on ridiculous vanity projects.
    Think of John Travolta’s “Battlefield Earth” movie. I advise you have a bucket nearby, though, if you do.

    Seth Rogan’s film blows, because it’s based on ego not an actual sound idea. When there’s enough fart-catchers around a celeb, they get lost in their own little world and crazy stuff like that (and this) happens.

    I thought for a while that the ugly hobo actually did this little act on purpose, just to pump up publicity for his otherwise-ignorable band. But since he cancelled his Canuck gigs, it seems Okkam’s Razor applies — BB’s an asshole.

  • Alawna

    Of course being in a band with a name such as “the Box Masters” implies that Billy Bob Thornton is good at being a “cunt”(get it box-cunt-masters). Forgive my pun…but as soon as I say you lay down they c-word Ames…I made the connection to the band name.

    I must agree with M Pot, Billy Bob is a talented actor whom starred in some pretty great movies. This being said, I don’t know why he gets so touchy when people acknowledge that he is a talented actor. Sure he might have a stronger affinity to music and creating art in this medium, but commenting on his talents wasn’t an intentional attempt to insult the man, I saw it more as a respectful acknowledgment. What a dick!

    I’m not familiar with Thornton’s musical endeavors, and from the comment Stumpy Rant has left, I get the impression I am not missing out. I think the only song I’ve heard from him is one called “Angelina”, and that whole relationship was creepy and intense from the get go. I also agree with his comment about the fact that Thornton neither has a decent voice, nor a glowing personality for a fan base to latch on too. I can’t see many Canadians rushing out to buy his album after hearing the interview with Jian, although the other members seemed held up well through the interview.

    Kudos for Jian for his restraint and composure despite Billy Bob’s Diva-er-I mean cunty behavior, and Kudos to Amy for this post!

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