Richard Gere got a stern talking to after flipping off Savannah Guthrie at the start of his interview on the Today show.
Just one day after legendary singer Cher dropped an F-bomb on the NBC program, chaos ensued on the network once again – this time with the Pretty Woman actor, 75, wreaking havoc with an ‘obscene’ gesture.
The program quickly derailed when the show aired a clip of Richard starring in his new political thriller, The Agency.
Producers, however, cut the scene before the A-lister’s character Bosko gave the middle finger, so Richard took matters into his own hands and acted out the moment live in Studio 1A.
As Savannah introduced him to viewers, Richard proudly flipped her off leaving her completely shocked.
Defending the move, Richard said: ‘Sorry, but that’s what I did in the piece.’
A stunned Savannah instantly attempted to hide Richard’s hand with her script, while declaring that she was ‘bleeping’ him.
‘You just did an obscene gesture on this family morning show,’ she said.
Richard Gere flipped off Savannah Guthrie at the start of his interview on the Today show
The A-lister’s interview quickly derailed when the a clip of him starring in his new political thriller, The Agency, aired
‘You know Cher was on here doing an F- bomb yesterday, so I don’t know what’s happening.’
‘No, no, no, no, no,’ Richard interjected, clarifying that his gesture was merely a re-enactment of the clip that the show had previewed.
‘That’s what the clip was, but we cut that part out,’ Savannah snapped.
‘I could see that, but it didn’t make any sense without that,’ Richard continued.
At this point, Savannah began to salvage the chat and get the interview back on track.
‘So that was the first time you’ve seen that, though?’ she asked, referring to the clip.
‘I haven’t seen anything, no,’ her guest responded. ‘This is the first that I’m seeing it.’
Savannah probed: ‘Why is that?
Savannah was not amused and scolded Richard’s ‘obscene gesture’
‘You know Cher was on here doing an F- bomb yesterday, so I don’t know what’s happening,’ she said
Savannah desperately attempted to cover Richard’s hand with her script to prevent him from doing the move again
‘Because you’re going to go to the premiere tomorrow night, but do you not like to watch your work?’
Richard replied: ‘I don’t like looking in the mirror, to tell you the truth.
‘I don’t like seeing myself very much.’
Richard stars alongside Michael Fassbender and Jodie Turner-Smith in the new Paramount Plus thriller, which has been produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov.
Set for release on November 29, the show is set within the department responsible for training and handling deep-cover agents on long-term missions who live under false identities for years, aiming to identify and recruit intelligence sources.
‘It’s terrific,’ Richard said of the series. ‘We shot it like a movie.’