Robert Downey Jr. Ends Interview After Questions About Prison and His Past

I mean, what I'd really like to... I'd really like to ask you about a quote you gave to The New York Times. Um, and I don't, I don't want to pry, so if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine.

But what you said to The New York Times once was, it was about... It was after your incarceration, and you said, "You can't go from a $2,000 a night hotel suite to a penitentiary and understand it and come out a liberal."

Uh, and I just wondered what you meant by that.

Well, the funny thing is, and, and I appreciate your, your point of view, things that you said five, seven years ago or things you said in an interview that made sense to you at the time, I could pick that, I could pick that apart for two hours and not be clo- be no closer to the truth than I'd be giving

you some half-assed answer right now. Um, I, I couldn't even really tell you what a liberal is.

So therein lies the answer to your question.

The, the statement sort of stands by itself, doesn't it?

I mean, does, does that mean you're, you're not a liberal, or that you came out of prison not being a liberal?

Um, are we promoting a movie? To me, the thing is that it's...

I'm certainly not gonna backpedal on anything I've said.

But I would, I wouldn't say... Actually, I wouldn't say I'm a Republican or a liberal or a Democrat.

I think when... I was talking to the person who was doing the interview that day, and, um, and that just happened to be my opinion.

That's the nice thing is you can have opinions, and they kind of change and flow.

Yeah, well, that's, that, that's life and that's growing older, I suppose, isn't it?

Yeah. I mean, you, you say we're promoting an interview.

I mean, uh, uh, promoting the movie. I mean, obviously you're doing a promotional round of interviews, and that's why we're talking about the movie.

But we also would like to talk a little bit about you, and I don't know how, how comfortable you are, you know, talking, talking about yourself at the moment.

I mean- You have as much time as anyone else will.

Yeah. Well, okay. Well, then let me just ask you a few more questions, and you can answer them if you want to, and not if you don't want to. I mean, um...

So I know you've got this much left anyway.

Well, I think we've got two, three more minutes on our, on our, on our agreement.

I mean- Your foot's starting to jump a little bit. You better get to your next question.

You, um... The reason I'm asking about the past is that you, you've talked in other interviews again about, um, your relationship with your father and the role of all of that in, uh, you know, the dark periods you entered and,

and taking drugs and drinking and all of that, and I just wondered whether, you know, you, you think you're free of all of that or whether that's still something you- I'm sorry. I, I really don't... Uh, what are we doing?

Uh, well, I'm just asking questions. That's all.

I mean- Right. Okay, that's time. Bye. Thank you. Thank you, guys.

Are you... Oh, I'm sorry. I... Your mic.

It's okay. Yeah, you all right? Thank you.

Yeah. Do you- You seem okay. It's just getting a little Diane Sawyer in your- No, no. Look, I don't want to do that.

Thank you.