The fact that Paris Hilton chose to do her first post-jail interview with Larry King had many people wondering how and why she would choose Larry - for free none the less. But after Barbara Walter's released a statement to Cindy Adams on why she refused to interview Paris Hilton, everything became clear. Not as many interviewers were vying for the high profile interview as we originally thought. And while many believed that it was Hilton's choice to do Larry King Live as opposed to Barbara Walters, that was simply not the case.
Barbara released a very interesting statement to Cindy Adams, claiming that interviewing Paris was simply not of interest to her and, despite ABC pressing for the position, she simply refused to do the interview. Here's what Barbara had to say about the whole situation:
“Look, I’ve done prison interviews before, but people like the Menendez Brothers were really important news stories. This wasn’t. And even though I’d already written my questions, when all that pay-for-play stuff happened, I suddenly felt this was not up to my standard. It felt sort of tawdry. The whole thing somehow was beneath me. Besides, it was a no-win. If I did a tough piece and her tears started to flow, it would be, ‘Oh, there’s Barbara Walters making people cry again.’ Too soft, and I’d be criticized. [ABC] they wanted it. For them it was ratings. For me it was respect. I’m fortunately at a point in my life where I can choose what I want, and this was solely my decision. But I must tell you how classy ABC was. They didn’t try to force me or say they’d place it on Nightline, or give it to someone else to do or any of the things they could have done. They respected my decision and walked away. Some agreed with my decision, some didn’t. For me it was just a question of respect.”
I guess the interview Barbara had when Paris was in jail was enough. Even Barbara Walters has had enough of this story.