Internet slams Bradley Cooper's tearful interview on Leonard Bernstein as 'Oscar-baiting' for 'Maestro'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Fans of Bradley Cooper are not impressed by him shedding tears while talking about composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein during an episode of ‘CBS Sunday Morning'.

Fans are complaining about “second-hand embarrassment” after the 49-year-old actor became emotional while talking about the legendary musician he portrays in his Oscar-nominated film ‘Maestro.’ 

The fans are also accusing him of “Oscar-baiting” for ‘Maestro’, for which he has received nods in both the Best Actor and Best Director categories.

Bradley Cooper became emotional while talking about Leonard Bernstein

The ‘Hangover’ actor was present during a ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ in December 2023 with the musical maestro Leonard Bernstein's three adult children. Cooper became emotional and teary-eyed while talking about the legendary music composer who died in 1990.

During the conversation, Bernstein’s daughter Nina Bernstein Simmons asks Cooper whether he misses Bernstein, when he replies, "Oh, yeah. It’s hard to talk about," per BuzzFeed.News.

Bernstein’s son Alexander then asked him further, “What do you miss about him?”

Cooper replied while tearing up, "I don’t know. We shared something very special.”

He continued, "It’s hard to even articulate, but he was with me, certainly, throughout the entire time [filming]. I really do feel like I know him."

As the snippets of the discussion made their way to the Internet in February 2024, social media users are being critical of Cooper’s passionate outburst as they think it was a little too dramatic for him to cry about Bernstein in front of his three adult children. 

Internet calls Bradley Cooper's tears 'Oscar-baiting'

Fans did not take the emotional moment lightly as they termed it as "cringe" and accused the actor of trying to make his way to the Oscar list.

After a fan posted the clipping of the show on Reddit to further discuss Cooper's emotional moment, social media users took up the opportunity to bash the 'Limitless' actor.

One of them said, "His 'I want the Oscar so bad' performance."

"I didn’t know Cooper was like this but now I’m actively rooting for this film to bomb at the award shows, since that seems to be their purpose for making this film. So far so good," said another.

"This man is so cringe," a user declared. Someone else added, "Even on MUTE you can barely watch it without second-hand embarrassment. He's such a THEATER kid."

"No but the audacity to do this in front of Bernstein’s children 💀. There should be a mass study made on how celebrities lose complete grip of reality when they’ve been famous too long," said someone else.

Another exasperated fan added, "The Academy should have a responsibility to step in at some point of these unhinged campaigns and say 'Stop it. Get some help. You’re disqualified for doing too much.'"

Someone else complained, "He's so cringe... why is he still going btw? It's clear he's not winning any awards (barely any left), just let it rest dude."

One user theorized, "He’s down bad for that oscar," while another remarked, "All that Oscar-baiting just for no Oscar."

Bradley Cooper spent Thanksgiving with the Bernsteins

This is, however, not the first time that Cooper has shown his appreciation for the Bernstein family. During an appearance on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' in November, Cooper shared that he was spending Thanksgiving with the Bernsteins. 

He explained, “We are going to go to Jersey and then we're going to go to Fairfield, Connecticut, to spend it with the Bernsteins," per BuzzFeed.News.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.