Legendary filmmaker Oliver Stone didn't mince words when it came to his review of Megyn Kelly's recent NBC interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "She didn't know a lot of things," said Stone to the Associated Press on Wednesday, after Kelly's prime-time debut with NBC News attracted over 6 million viewers.
Stone, whose own interview with Putin will air on Showtime next week, slammed the former Fox News host for being uninformed and boasted that he knew more about the subject matter covered by Megyn Kelly than she did.
"I think she was attractive and she asked hardball questions," said Stone, "but she wasn't in position to debate or counter him."
President of NBC News takes cheap shot at Stone
Naturally, Stone's scathing critique didn't sit well with the president of NBC News, Noah Oppenheim.
Oppenheim jumped to the defense of his network's newest star by declaring that no one is interested in the filmmaker's thoughts or his "ill-informed" opinion of Kelly's interview style and concluded his remarks by taking a personal shot at the Oscar-winning director of "Platoon" and "Born on the 4th of July."
"So long as we're offering each other professional feedback, please let him know I don't think he's made a decent movie since the early '90s," Oppenheimer quipped.
Stone is no slouch when it comes to interviewing world leaders
While NBC executives might disagree, Stone's lengthy history with Vladimir Putin suggests that the Hollywood icon's criticisms might actually have merit. Since 2015, Stone has met with the Russian leader more than a dozen times. According to the UK's Daily Mail, reviewers who have seen previews for Stone's upcoming interview note that Putin appears more relaxed and at ease with Oliver Stone than he did with Megyn Kelly.
Although Stone may best be known for his war flicks and his trilogy of films based on three American presidents (JFK, Nixon, and W.), he also possesses an impressive resume when it comes to sitting down with world leaders. He has interviewed the likes of Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro, Benjamin Netanyahu, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat.
His Showtime interview with Putin also promises to cover topics that Megyn Kelly left untouched, such as gay rights, political assassination, and the Cold War.
Stone admits that his questions for Putin were designed to make for compelling television, rather than hard-hitting journalism. "I'm not a journalist," Stone stated to the Associated Press, "I'm a filmmaker, and I was taking a different approach."
