Most of the headlines you read today about Gisele Bundchen’s interview with Charlie Rose will have to do with how she almost broke up with Tom Brady when she found out that Bridget Moynahan was pregnant with his baby. First of all, that part of the interview is all of 10 seconds. Maybe 15. Second, you’re saying like no one else would “almost break up with” their boyfriend if he told them that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant. This is what she said, exactly:
“It was a challenging thing because here I am, you know, thinking I’m dating this guy, you know, we met, we started dating, everything is great, and then this happens so I felt I didn’t know what to do. It was one of those moments of ‘do I just run away?’ And now I think, eight years later, I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter bonus child.”
I don’t know if this is all that scandalous. Especially when you actually watch her say the words, with a smile, with happy and not pissy eyes. So if it’s OK with you, I’d rather focus on other parts of the interview that are notable.
Including the way Charlie Rose mansplains to her the entire time. And it’s not like I don’t enjoy a Charlie Rose interview. But, God, he keeps interrupting her to tell her how she thinks, how she feels. It’s super annoying. It’s also really surprising. You might expect this from Billy Bush. Definitely not from Charlie Rose.
Anyway, in spite of how annoying Charlie is, Gisele is terrific here. We don’t hear from Gisele very often. And certainly not at length. We’ve been told she’s passionate. Now we actually get to see that passion, see her energy, how engaged she is, how alert and present. And confident. This is my primary takeaway from the interview. Charlie opens by calling her a big f-cking deal, one of the greatest, if not the greatest model of all time. She smiles. She nods. She doesn’t protest. She doesn’t fake modesty.
Why would she? Those stats are facts. The most covers. The most money. And for a very, very long time. This has not been a short career. She’s stayed on top for a whle.
Speaking of money though, when it comes up, her $25 million Victoria’s Secret contract, once again she doesn’t hide from the question. She’s not shy to talk about money. She’s not sheepish about the money. She set a record with that money. Shouldn’t she be? Wouldn’t you want to see more of this? Other women speaking like this?
PS. Gisele was being interviewed about her photo book. The one for $700. And it’s now sold out.
