Joan Collins has labelled Michael Buerk “Buerk by name, Buerk by nature” in a scathing attack on a recent interview he did with her.
The Dynasty star had spoken to journalist Michael, 71, for an interview published in the Radio Times about her new film, The Time Of Their Lives, but was so offended by his comments about her age and wealth that she penned her own take-down of the article for The Daily Mail.
Michael had riled Joan, 83, by asking her what drove her to continue working given that she was “rich” and described her as “still considered glamorous after a quarter of a century as a pensioner”.
He began his write-up with: “Joan Collins is not in the best of moods,” and went on to say that, “She has to tolerate whippersnappers like me asking questions she thinks are either inane or unacceptable”.
But Joan did not let the interview, which Michael said that he had to cut short 20 minutes into the allotted 40, pass without comment.
She wrote: “It’s true, I do not suffer fools gladly. And sometimes it gets me into trouble – especially when some man patronises me with that, ‘Haven’t you done well, little woman,’ attitude and immediately asks why I’m not retired or ‘putting my feet up’ or some such archaic nonsense.
“You will have deduced that I’m referring to 71-year-old Michael Buerk – Buerk by name, Buerk by nature – who stitched me up royally this week in an interview for the Radio Times.”
The pair disagreed on whether Joan should be classed as rich or not – she insisted that she was only “property rich” with four homes in London, New York, Los Angeles and St Tropez.
In the Radio Times interview, she said: “I’m not exactly rich, no. Rich, as Robert Wagner said to me, is having f***-you money. I don’t have that and I’ve a lifestyle to support.”
But in her own article, she objected to the way in which Michael had presented her wealth, claiming that the 30 million dollar (£24 million) figure he cited for her personal fortune was nonsense.
She said: “Property costs money to maintain so I’ve worked to support bricks and mortar.
“Have I been lucky? Yes. Have I worked hard? Yes. Should I be scorned and ridiculed for doing well? I would say that here, the country is split, just like Brexit.
“It’s frankly embarrassing to have to divulge my finances publicly like this, but given the whopper of the lie, I’d better before Chancellor Philip Hammond comes knocking on my door.”
Joan also wrote that it was “downright unacceptable” to have to defend her choice to still work.
She said: “It’s as if being old is as bad as having an infectious disease and I’m simply not going to accept that.
“Yet I am asked that question every single time I give an interview, and I think it conceals an insidious undercurrent of ageism and misogyny.”
“I can smell a chauvinist a mile away.
“Despite being a 71-year-old himself, Mr Buerk feels the need to demean a woman for being vital and happy in later life because what’s good for the gander is not to be touched by the goose.”
Her new film, The Time Of Their Lives, is about a woman who escapes from a retirement home to attend the funeral of a former lover.