Diane Sawyer is being called a “misogynist” after her 2003 interview with Britney Spears resurfaced in the New York Times documentary, “Framing Britney Spears.”
“I think it’s time to have a conversation about Diane Sawyer being one of the media’s greatest tools of misogyny in the aughts,” one person tweeted. “Her interviews w #BritneySpears #WhitneyHouston are truly some of the most vile from an era particularly vile to women in the limelight.”
Another wrote, “Every Britney interviewer from the old clips in #FramingBritneySpears that is still alive, owes Britney a public apology. You can go first @DianeSawyer.”
In the resurfaced “Primetime” interview, Sawyer was seen showing Spears, who was 22 years old at the time, a clip of Kendel Ehrlich, wife of then-Maryland Gov. Robert Erlich, saying she would “shoot” the pop star because she believed her to not be a good role model.
“I truly believe that @DianeSawyer owes Britney an honest apology for justifying to a young woman why someone had a point in wanting to kill her bc of what she wore,” one fan tweeted in response to the clip.
Several others also called out the veteran journalist for her remarks about Spears’ split with Justin Timberlake, which negatively portrayed the “…Baby One More Time” singer despite Timberlake’s comments about the former couple’s private sex lives.
“You broke his heart, you did something that caused him so much pain, so much suffering,” the ABC reporter said, adding, “What did you do?” Spears later broke down in tears.
“I just can’t imagine a Diane Sawyer (or equivalent) interview today where she’d ask Selena Gomez what she DID to Justin Bieber, nor can I imagine a routine question about someone’s virginity,” one viewer tweeted.
Meanwhile, viewers of “Framing Britney Spears” also turned on Timberlake, 40, for how he handled the breakup, and fueled the narrative of her cheating in the video for “Cry Me a River.”
“Justin Timberlake needs to get his apology ready…” one person wrote online.
Since the airing of the documentary, many have also called for Sawyer to issue a public apology.
Reps for the journalist did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.