Bode Miller is one classy gentleman.
After fans of the American skier became angry with NBC’s Christin Cooper for bringing him to tears during a post-race interview at the Sochi Olympics, they let their feelings be known on Twitter.
The Twitter barrage came after Cooper asked Miller about his younger brother Chelone, who died of an apparent seizure last year, bringing him to tears.
“I know you wanted to be here with Chilly experiencing these games,” Cooper said. “How much does it mean to you to come up with a great performance for him? And was it for him?”
“I mean, I don’t know it’s really for him,” Miller responded, fighting back tears. “But I wanted to come here and, I don’t know, I guess make my self proud.”
Cooper continued to press Miller with further questions until the oldest Alpine skier to ever win a medal was brought to his knees in anguish. His wife had to come to his aid and comfort him.
This didn’t sit too well with viewers watching the interview and they took to Twitter to vent their feelings.
+1 RT @adamjschmidt Hey @NBCOlympics give @MillerBode a little space there instead of exploiting his raw emotion+grief for ratings?
— BreneBrown (@BreneBrown) February 17, 2014
Bode Miller is a class act, but Christin Cooper and NBC owe him and viewers an apology. http://t.co/2pqj3sfZ1Z
— Steve Chapman (@SteveChapman13) February 17, 2014
Journalism students, take heed RT@NYTSports: TV Sports: NBC Pushes Too Far in Bringing Bode Miller to Tears http://t.co/M1cTYCOS4w
— John Branch (@JohnBranchNYT) February 17, 2014
Watching the reporter who HOUNDED Bode Miller w/personal questions after his race, my 11 yo said "She reminds me of Rita Skeeter." #exactly
— Ally Condie (@allycondie) February 17, 2014
The only thing worse than Kristen Cooper's interview with Bode Miller is the fact that NBC had hours to edit/remove it & chose not to do so.
— Coach Allison Beebe (@CoachAllisonB) February 17, 2014
Christin Cooper is currently thanking her lucky stars she doesn't have a twitter account.
#bodemiller #nbcolympics @NBCOlympics
— John Black (@johnblack) February 17, 2014
NBC just won a gold medal in the Super Combined Torture-Bode-Miller-On-Camera-and-then-Invade-His-Privacy event. #tacky #nbcolympics
— Rachel (@GirlDetective) February 17, 2014
Ellie just said to the TV, "please stop asking him questions. please." #bodemiller
— Angie Smith (@angiesmith19) February 17, 2014
Miller responded to the tweets with a few of his own in her defense.
I appreciate everyone sticking up for me. Please be gentle w christin cooper, it was crazy emotional and not all her fault. #heatofthemoment
— Bode Miller (@MillerBode) February 17, 2014
My emotions were very raw, she asked the questions that every interviewer would have, pushing is part of it, she wasnt trying to cause pain.
— Bode Miller (@MillerBode) February 17, 2014
Image via Wikimedia Commons
