Bode Miller may have been pushed too far in an interview about his dead brother with NBC’s Christin Cooper, but the Olympian defends the reporter as he thinks “it wasn’t her fault” and that “she wasn’t trying to cause pain.”
Bode Miller was left shedding several tears at the Sochi Winter Olympics when an NBC reporter asked about the death of his brother, Chelone.
Miller was still processing his impressive bronze medal performance at the men’s super-G event on Sunday (Feb 16th) when reporter Christin Cooper began an intrusive interview.
The Olympic skier’s brother died of an apparent seizure in April of 2013 and he has previously stated that these games are a chance for him to reconnect with Chelone, so it didn’t seem like the topic of his death was off-limits.
But did Cooper take it too far?
According to the transcript from USA TODAY, Cooper asked, “Bode, you’re showing so much emotion down here. What’s going through your mind?”
“A lot, obviously,” he replied. “A long struggle coming in here. And, uh, just a tough year.”
Cooper then said, “I know you wanted to be here with Chilly experiencing these games. How much does it meant to you to come up with a great performance for him? And was it for him?”
While wiping away tears, Miller replied, “I mean, I don’t know if it’s really for him. But I wanted to come here and, uh, I don’t know, I guess, make myself proud.”
It was Cooper’s next question that proved too much for the Olympian, “When you’re looking up in the sky at the start, we see you there and it just looks like you’re talking to somebody. What’s going on there?” she asked.
Miller dropped to his knees, began to cry and not long after, walked away from the interview.
What followed was an internet onslaught against the NBC reporter with people accusing her of taking the pushing the topic too hard.
However, Miller has taken to twitter to defend Cooper’s quesitioning and also thanked everyone for their support.
“I appreciate everyone sticking up for me. Please be gentle w/ Christin Cooper, it was crazy emotional and not all her fault,” he tweeted on Sunday. “My emotions were very raw, she asked the questions that every interviewer would have. Pushing is part of it, she wasn’t trying to cause pain.”
Bode has since been interviewed by Matt Lauer on Today the following Monday (Feb 17th) and continued to defend cooper.
“I have known Christin a long time, and she’s a sweetheart of a person. I know she didn’t mean to push. I don’t think she really anticipated what my reaction was going to be, and I think by the time she realized it, it was too late. I don’t blame her at all,” he said.
“I feel terrible that she’s taking the heat for that because it really was just a heat of the moment kind of circumstance. I don’t think there was any harm intended. It was just a lot of emotion for me…You sometimes don’t realize how much you can contain that stuff until the dam breaks, and then it’s just a real outpouring.”
Miller won a bronze medal on Sunday (Feb 16th)
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