Richard Gere‘s interview on theToday Show on Wednesday (November 20) got off to a rough start.
The Pretty Woman star appeared on the talk show to promote his new thriller series, The Agency for Paramount+.
After showing a trailer for the drama, cameras cut back to the studio where Gere then stuck his middle finger up at presenter Savannah Guthrie.
A panicked Guthrie quickly covered up Gere’s finger with her stack of notes, telling him: “You just did an obscene gesture on this family morning show!”
“I’m bleeping you!” She added, before referencing the fact that Cher had sworn on the show just yesterday.
“You know, Cher was on here doing an F-bomb yesterday so I don’t know what’s happening!” she laughed.
The Runaway Bride actor explained that he’d made gesture was because he was finishing the scene from The Agency before it got cut off in Today’s introductory clip.
“You didn’t show but that’s what I did in the piece!” Gere clarified. “That’s what the clip was!”
“That’s what the clip was but we cut that part out. But then you did it live!” Guthrie replied.
“I could see that but it didn’t make any sense without that!” he said, adding that he was not trying to offend anyone. “My hand did that, I have no control!”
The Agency is based on a French television series called The Bureau. It follows the story of a covert CIA agent who is forced to abandon his undercover life and return to the London office and face the loose ends he left behind. The series features various notable actors including Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston, Jodie Turner-Smith, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, and Michael Fassbender.
Prior to signing on for the television series, Gere had watched The Bureau with his wife Alejandra Silva, which made him excited to be talked to about appearing in the American version of the hit show.
“It’s very well-written... it’s terrific,” the actor said. “I mean, they’re all wonderful. and we shot it like a movie. We do it the same way. Movie directors, movie actors, the schedule is like a movie schedule. It feels the same to me.”
Recently, the actor decided to sell his home in New Canaan, Connecticut, for $10.75m after saying he would like to move to Spain in order for Silva to be closer to her family along with their two children Alexander, five, and James, four.
The home was first purchased in 2022 for $10.8m and features 11 bathrooms, a three-bedroom guest cottage, a pool, and several gardens spread throughout the 32-acre property.
“For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends, and her culture,” Gere told Vanity Fair Spain back in April. “She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”
