Italian Reporter Federica Polidoro Claps Back After Excluding Ayo Edebiri From Interview Question

Italian journalist Federica Polidoro is defending herself amid backlash over a viral interview moment with Ayo Edebiri. Ayo, Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield were at the Venice Film Festival to promote their new movie “After The Hunt.” While doing press for the film as a group, the reporter asked how the actors believe the “politically correct era” of Black Lives Matter and the MeToo Movement — which she called “done” — affected Hollywood. She specified that the question was only for Julia and Andrew, not Ayo, which prompted “The Bear” star to speak up anyway. On Sept. 7, the journalist took to Instagram with a lengthy post responding to her critics. “To date, I am not aware of any protocol that dictates the order in which questions must be asked in an interview. Censoring or delegitimizing questions considered “uncomfortable” does not fall within the practice of democracy. Only the Journalists’ Association is authorized to evaluate the work of professionals in the field, not social media tribunals.” At the time publication, neither Ayo, Julia, nor Andrew have publicly commented on the encounter.