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Ricky Martin Says He Felt "Violated" by Barbara Walters During Infamous 2000 Interview

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Ricky Martin is opening up about the lasting effects of a traumatizing interview with Barbara Walters, where the journalist asked him to address his sexuality on national television. 

During the 2000 interview, Walters urged Martin to "stop these rumors" and define his sexuality. "You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not,'" the then-ABC anchor implored. Martin replied, "Barbara, for some reason, I just don't feel like it." 

"When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out. I was very afraid," Martin, 49, told People Wednesday, in an interview published during Pride Month. 

The singer revealed that he suffers from "PTSD," posttraumatic stress disorder, stemming from the infamous interview with Walters. According to Mayo Clinic, PTSD is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event.

Martin came out publicly a decade later in 2010. The same year, Walters expressed regret for her "inappropriate" conduct during their interview.

 

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45 minutes ago, LittleDudeNT5 said:

It's definitely awful, but I don't think interviews/interviewers knew how to tread sensitively back then. The whole point is to get answers to questions. Barbra also felt remorse for it in retrospect.

She did on this one, and I will give her credit for that. That being said, Barbara has crossed a few lines with her journalism that she shouldn't have. These include asking Mike Tyson's wife about Tyson's abuse...with Mike Tyson present and sitting right next to her, probing Ringo Starr for details about John Lennon's death just a few months after the murder, she said the N word on air as she shamed Whoopi Goldberg for having said it on air, and perhaps most horribly she defended Woody Allen (a man who married the adopted daughter of his ex-wife and has been accused a few times of sexual abuse) by saying the Dylan Farrow, his daughter who accused him of sexual abuse, by saying Dylan only came forward because Woody Allen was up for an award. She's not apologized or expressed regret for any of those things. 

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12 hours ago, Mr. Mendes said:

She did on this one, and I will give her credit for that. That being said, Barbara has crossed a few lines with her journalism that she shouldn't have. These include asking Mike Tyson's wife about Tyson's abuse...with Mike Tyson present and sitting right next to her, probing Ringo Starr for details about John Lennon's death just a few months after the murder, she said the N word on air as she shamed Whoopi Goldberg for having said it on air, and perhaps most horribly she defended Woody Allen (a man who married the adopted daughter of his ex-wife and has been accused a few times of sexual abuse) by saying the Dylan Farrow, his daughter who accused him of sexual abuse, by saying Dylan only came forward because Woody Allen was up for an award. She's not apologized or expressed regret for any of those things. 

I'm not sure. A few of those things seem pretty par for the course in terms of how tv interviews go. I would say that most interviewers who get the "big" interviews tend to go for touchy, difficult topics for the subject to answer. Barbara might just be less tactful in how she words her questions at times.

I don't remember her shaming Whoopi for saying the N-word on the air. I remember Barbara saying the N-word while reporting on a hate crime and Sherri Shepherd being uncomfortable that a white person was saying it. But I may not have seen the Whoopi part of that. 

 

But yes she's on the wrong side of a few topics, due to her own age or her own status. The Woody Allen thing, as you mentioned, as well as how she spoke to Corey Feldman. She's very elite and sticks by her elitism. I'm not defending her in general, I guess I'm just not taken aback by how she has done some of her interviews. 

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