Hard Copy (TV program)

Overview

Hard Copy covered celebrities and everyday people, airing footage and interviews with newsmakers. In 1990, it became the first program to report the shooting of Dag Drollet. The Drollet family learned of Dag's death through Hard Copy's broadcast in Tahiti, which rushed to beat other outlets, despite Marlon Brando's wish to inform Jacques Drollet gently. In 1992, Elton John threatened to sue the show, alleging a reporter tried to blackmail him into an interview by falsely claiming he had HIV/AIDS and had moved to Atlanta for AIDS treatment. John claimed extortion, defamation, invasion of privacy, and endangerment. The day after the lawsuit was filed, Hard Copy aired a segment praising John's AIDS-related work instead of accusing him. John's attorney told the National Enquirer he assumed the segment was changed due to the suit. In 1996, George Clooney boycotted Hard Copy and Entertainment Tonight after Hard Copy broke a six-month agreement by airing footage of Clooney and Celine Balitran on the set of Batman & Robin. Other celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg, Madonna, and Steven Spielberg supported the boycott. Paramount later agreed to modify information-gathering practices and to avoid airing unauthorized or illegally obtained footage.