Bradley Cooper Faces Backlash For Teary Interview In Which He Cried Over Leonard Bernstein: “If We Give Him An Oscar Will He Stop”

By Radhamely De Leon
Published Feb. 26, 2024, 3:25 p.m. ET

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Maestro director and star Bradley Cooper is facing backlash after a resurfaced clip from an emotional interview with CBS began circulating on social media.

In the interview, Cooper sat down with Leonard Bernstein‘s children to open up about how close they became while working on the biopic. But some viewers thought that Cooper’s emotional behavior in the interview was “embarrassing,” especially after he admitted how much he sometimes misses the late composer – despite the fact that they had never even met prior to Bernstein’s death in 1990.

“It’s hard to talk about,” he said as he became emotional. “I don’t know — we, the four of us, shared something very special; it’s hard to even articulate.”

With tears in his eyes, he added, “He was with me, certainly, throughout the entire time. His energy has somehow found its way to me, and I really do feel like I know him.”

Users on X appeared divided over how they felt about Cooper’s behavior.

“That man died nearly 35 years ago… i am fkn crying at ‘we shared something very special,'” one user wrote on X.

“If we give him an Oscar will he stop doing this kind of thing,” another user asked.

Others came to Cooper’s defense as an artist and actor.

“The hate he’s receiving is mental. All he did was make a film about someone he considers a hero of his. Regardless of how you feel about the film… he tried his best,” one user wrote.

Others felt similarly, writing, “So a talented actor like Bradley Cooper is cringe for crying about a legend who died that he portrayed  & obviously a fan of the person? Stop it.”

Maestro will be facing some heated competition at the Academy Awards, in which the Netflix feature nabbed seven nominations. But it’s up against Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in many categories, including the Best Actor award, for which both Cooper and Cillian Murphy have been nominated.

In fact, Cooper already lost a Golden Globe to Murphy earlier this year.

Despite what the internet has to say, it appears the actor has genuinely become close to the Bernstein family. He even told Stephen Colbert last year that he planned to spend his Thanksgiving with the family in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Maestro is now streaming on Netflix.