Tom Hardy believes everyone is entitled to a semblance of privacy, even celebrities.
The actor explained during a new interview Thursday why he shut down a reporter who asked about his sexuality during a press conference earlier this week.
“I think everybody is entitled to the right to privacy,” the British-born actor told The Daily Beast. “I’m under no obligation to share anything to do with my family, my children, my sexuality — that’s nobody’s business but my own. And I don’t see how that can have anything to do with what I do as an actor, and it’s my own business.”
Hardy became a social media trending topic Sunday, when he shut down a reporter from LGBT news outlet Daily Xtra. The journalist was left red-faced during a press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival after asking if it’s “hard for celebrities to talk to the media about their sexuality.”
Hardy made it clear he was there to talk about his movie “Legend,” not his personal life.
“Are you asking me about my sexuality?” Hardy asked the reporter.
The awkward exchange came to a head when the journalist answered “sure,” and the actor shot back, “Why?” before ending it with a swift, “Thank you.”
Now, four days later, Hardy admits he felt put on the spot by the question.
“It’s important destigmatizing sexuality and gender inequality in the workplace, but to put a man on the spot in a room full of people designed purely for a salacious reaction?” Hardy told The Daily Beast. “To be quite frank, it’s rude.”
While the father of one believes the topic of sexuality itself would have been interesting to discuss, he said the way the reporter asked the question was “counterproductive to what he stands for.”