Sir Sean's rude replies leave crowd shaken

So an interview with Scottish Television should have been a doddle for the greatest living Scot.

But Sir Sean stunned Americans by being insufferably rude to Nicola Kane, a Scottish reporter, when she asked him about his involvement in the annual Tartan Day celebrations in New York.

Kane collared the actor as he was going into Monday’s Dressed to Kilt fashion show. She asked a simple question, the staple of these kind of PR events: Why was he lending his support to the event and the promotion of Scotland?

He rounded on her and said: "Why am I?"

As she repeated her question, he asked: "What’s it called?"

The reporter answered: "Dressed to Kilt."

The star countered: "Thank you very much. What is it about?"

As Kane tried to answer, he repeated: "What is it about?"

"It’s about promoting Scotland," she said.

Sir Sean replied sarcastically; "You’ve got it in one. Give this woman 5,000."

Kane suffered the provocation, but she maintained her professionalism.

She pressed on, and asked the actor to assess how important it was to promote Scotland’s image in the United States.

He replied: "How important? I think that is not a very smart question."

Later, off-camera, when the reporter asked Sir Sean how it felt to take part in the New York parade, he explained that it felt like "getting a sore throat from talking to people like you".

Media-savvy Americans, huddled around the Hollywood actor, were astonished at his rudeness.

"I know his reputation for being forthright, but there’s a world between that and handing out crap," said one onlooker.

In New York yesterday, Kane revealed the two had previously clashed, although it wasn’t clear if Sir Sean remembered her.

"To be honest, I wasn’t surprised. I’ve been in this position before with him," she said.

"If he didn’t want to speak, he could have moved on. Instead, he chose to stop and became antagonistic and offensive."

The reporter revealed that at the event two years ago, the film star behaved in exactly the same manner.

"I had a run-in with him at the same event, so I was approaching him this time wearing kid gloves."

She added: "I just thought it strange that he couldn’t say two civil words in support of the event that he is so obviously committed to.

"What made it even stranger is that I had already interviewed the Scottish actor Dougray Scott and Kyle MacLachlan, the American movie star, who was in Sex and the City. They could not have been nicer or more polite to me.

"As part of my job, I’ve interviewed some really huge stars, such as Michael Douglas and Ewan McGregor. They couldn’t have been more pleasant."

A spokesman for the Scottish Television newsroom, which showed a few seconds of the interview as part of a bigger piece, said: "He was ‘door-stepped’ at the function and he was really downright rude.

"We used some of what he said to us as he walking past, but he was evasive about the whole thing."

Kane added: "I don’t know why he was rude to me in particular, but later, others suggested it perhaps was because I was a woman.

"Or rather, they said to me I wouldn’t have got such a hard time had I been a man.

"But I honestly don’t know. I just took it to be a reaction to a journalist. I would rather he had just told me to go away, not antagonise me.

"Those around us after it happened were saying they couldn’t believe his rudeness and it spread like Chinese whispers. It was really disappointing," she said.

An American businessman, who witnessed the incident and is involved in the Tartan Day celebrations, said: "I was shocked.

"American celebrities usually play the game, no matter how they’re feeling.

"Sir Sean is very charismatic, and some might say he is intimidating, but his behaviour was rude and indefensible.

"I could see the reporter was raging at his behaviour, but, in her favour, she retained her professionalism and stuck to the task.

"I would have been very tempted to tear his head off - James Bond or not."

One Scottish insider, who is involved in organising the event, added: "Sir Sean’s presence is huge and he has made a massive impact this week.

"The Yanks think he’s the best thing since sliced bread. He is the biggest icon that we have here.

"But, clearly, he thinks he can get away with this sort of thing."

The insider added: "After the incident, the television reporter was very angry.

"It was a pity, because otherwise the Dressed to Kilt thing was a major-league success, a show that was very ‘New York’.

"Sir Sean was appearing to have a great time. It was nonsense that he was at loggerheads with the First Minister, Jack McConnell.

"They were laughing and joking and they had met earlier at a Friends of Scotland meeting.

No comment was available from Sir Sean’s management team in Los Angeles last night.