‘We were in that first wave of creative diarrhoea’: Chris O'Dowd says backlash to celebrity 'Imagine' video was ‘justified’
Star cover of John Lennon classic was met with ridicule earlier this year
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chris O’Dowd has called the celebrity cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” that emerged at the beginning of lockdown a form of “creative diarrhoea”.
A video of stars including O’Dowd, Gal Gadot and Natalie Portman, who sang the famous song in an attempt lift spirits amid the coronavirus outbreak, went viral in March.
It was labelled “cringe” and “out of touch” by many social media users, and Nick Cave even called it “the most panic-inducing version ever recorded”.
O’Dowd has now admitted the backlash to the cover was “justified”.
Speaking on the latest episode of Louis Theroux’s podcast Grounded, O’Dowd said: “In terms of my interpretation of it, I think the backlash was justified."
O'Dowd was asked to be in the video by his friend and Bridesmaids co-star Kristen Wiig, who appeared alongside Gadot in Wonder Woman.
"I'll do anything Kristen asks me to do so of course we just did it," he said. "It took five minutes, didn't think about it. I presumed it was for kids.”
He added: “We were in that first wave of creative diarrhoea that seemed to encase the entire world.”
O’Dowd can next be seen in drama The Starling alongside Melissa McCarthy.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments