Showbiz reporter Nelson Aspen names Hollywood’s rudest star

Nelson Aspen has named and shamed a Hollywood A-lister who once rocked up more than five hours late for an interview.

Showbiz reporter Nelson Aspen has named one of Hollywood’s rudest stars, saying the actor once rocked up to an interview seven hours late.

Aspen, who appeared on Channel 7’s Sunrise for almost 20 years, dished the dirt during an interview with fellow showbiz reporter Kjersti Flaa on her YouTube channel.

The two journalists began by venting about Vin Diesel, who they claim is famous for his “chronic lateness”.

“It wasn’t just being kept waiting 10 minutes or even an hour, it would be like two hours, five hours, seven hours,” Aspen said about his experience with the action star. “It was ridiculous!”

You can sense the tension.

One on occasion Diesel blamed his tardiness on his kids, but the excuse didn’t fly with Aspen.

“Well why didn’t you just call us then instead of keeping all the crews waiting?” Aspen pondered to Flaa, adding that the lengthy delay wasn’t only annoying but also costly.

“We would miss our flights and we’d have to have rejigged flights or hotel rooms and things like that,” he said. “That’s money that Vin Diesel wasn’t paying. That’s money that the studio was paying.”

Flaa claimed that Diesel once kept her waiting for six hours for a scheduled interview at Universal Studios, adding that she was shocked when she found out the real reason for the delay.

“He took his kids to all the rides,” Flaa said. “So we were waiting while he took his kids on all the rides at Universal. Unbelievable!”

Other stars who’ve kept Aspen waiting

The Fast and Furious star isn’t the only person who’s kept Aspen waiting during his long showbiz career.

He told Flaa that Woody Harrelson once made him wait for 30 minutes for a hygiene issue.

“He didn’t want to start the interviews after lunch until he had brushed his teeth,” Aspen recalled.

“But he’s very … environmentally conscientious and he only will use an organic toothbrush. Somebody had to go out and get him an organic toothbrush because they only had the plastic ones.

“I respected that,” Aspen said. “I can wait a half an hour so you can brush your teeth.”

Nelson Aspen appeared on Sunrise for almost 20 years.

Queen Latifah was another star who was late to an interview, but Aspen quickly forgave her due to a touching gesture.

“We were all flying back on the same flight together (after the interviews),” Aspen said. “She was at the front of the plane, the journalists in the back of the plane.

“She was late getting there and they held the flight for her, and when she got on the plane, she came back from the front of the plane to apologise to all of us and buy us rounds of drinks.”

Best stars to interview

In the YouTube chat, the two showbiz reporters also revealed which stars were their favourites to interview, with Aspen praising Julianne Moore.

“As great as she consistently is on screen, she is consistently great off screen,” he said about the Crazy, Stupid, Love star.

Flaa singled out Michael Fassbender, saying she’d had both a great and an unpleasant experience with the actor.

“(On one occasion) he was just so charming and flirtatious in our interview,” she said. “Next time I met him … he was so mean. It was awful. He was just in a terrible mood.”

After hearing the story, Aspen responded, “This is the general rule in life that we should all remember … You just don’t know what kind of a day someone else is having.”

Nelson Aspen with Jennifer Aniston.

During the interview, Flaa asked Aspen which stars made him swoon during his encounters with them.

The ex-Channel Seven presenter named three Hollywood hunks that had left him all hot and bothered.

“Henry Golding has this little magic chemistry thing that is really powerful,” he said. “And Guy Ritchie is a man’s man, but he is really hot in person.”

But the hottest of all was Viggo Mortensen.

“I could barely phrase my questions,” Aspen laughed. “He’s a gentleman, he’s smart, and he’s just got a charisma.”

What is Aspen up to now

Since leaving Sunrise in 2022, Aspen has penned several books including Dancing Between the Raindrops: The Hollywood Years.

He also currently hosts a podcast about the Titanic called Titanic Talk.

Originally published as Showbiz reporter Nelson Aspen names Hollywood’s rudest star