14 DAY TRIAL // Last year, American alpine skier Bode Miller lost his brother after a seizure so, naturally, his passing is still a touchy subject for him. After winning his sixth Olympic medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics on Sunday, he was reduced to tears by NBC correspondent Christin Cooper.
Video of the interview that outraged viewers at home is available at this link.
It’s clear that Cooper really wanted to push this touchy subject upon Miller even after tears started streaming down his face. She was probably thinking it would make for great television, and chances are she was counting on Miller’s being able to answer them all.
But he didn’t. As you can see in the video, at one point, Miller is so overcome with grief that he simply gives up, and crouches to hide his face and cry unhindered. This is the moment when Cooper finally decides to show some compassion but, judging by what people are saying online, her kind gesture came minutes too late.
On his part, Miller took to Twitter to defend her, saying she probably meant nothing bad by bringing his late brother up over and over again. He also admits he was very emotional and stresses that this was the main reason he was crying so much.
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