Pink sees red over TVNZ blue

Reuters

GOING RED: An interview gone wrong between pop star Pink and TVNZ reporter Hannah Hodson may end up costing the journalist her job.

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A TVNZ investigation into an incident between One News' Australian correspondent Hannah Hodson and pop sensation Pink's management may cost the reporter her job, the journalist's colleagues fear.

Sunday News has been told the interview, at Sydney's swanky InterContinental Hotel on Thursday, was "so bad" Pink walked out, and that afterwards her management tried to forcefully remove the interview tape from TVNZ's camera, sparking an ugly confrontation.

"(Cameraman) Jason (Hull) left the camera rolling at the end of the interview and you can hear Hannah going, 'F**k off, this is TVNZ's property. You can't have the tape ... I'll call the cops'," a source told Sunday News.

The source said the interview which was to appear on current affairs show Close Up as a New Zealand exclusive and was meant to kick-start Sony BMG's advertising campaign for Pink's fifth album Funhouse was a "train wreck" that will never be aired.

"If this video gets out it would end up on YouTube," the source said. "It's an absolute nightmare, it's an absolute train wreck ... it's hilarious.

"It started out okay. Pink was really trying and was coming across really well, but she was looking over at her manager the whole time as if to say, `What the hell'. You should have seen the look on her face."

The interview ended abruptly after Hodson started asking about her sister's working relationship with Pink.

The reporter's sister is a former assistant to the pop star.

This is the second time Hodson has had an A-list star walk out on her.

Last year, Hodson angered Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman during a brief red-carpet interview in Sydney, where the actress was trying to promote her new movie, The Golden Compass.

Hodson, the 2004 Qantas Media Awards Journalist of the Year, asked: "What about some of the reviews, I mean, one person called it an embarrassing, colossal piece of crap. How do you take that kind of criticism?"

Kidman replied: "That's a charming thing. I didn't know that. You're a sweet woman, aren't you," before walking off.

Sunday News has been told Sony BMG had a closed-doors meeting with TVNZ on Friday and were reassured the interview would not be used.

TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards confirmed an investigation was under way and Hodson would fly back to Auckland this weekend to give her account of what happened.

Richards refused to comment further, saying it was now an "employment matter".

Sunday News failed to reach Hodson for comment and Sony BMG refused to speak to the newspaper.

Hodson was asked to resign from her reporting job at TV3 in 2004 over an incident the station's news boss Mark Jennings said was "against every journalistic principle known".

Following the disappearances of Auckland model Iraena Asher in October 2004, Hodson faxed a transcript of Asher's 111 call to police, identifying the whistleblower who leaked it to the network.