Don't Ask....Don't Ask

MSNBC's Ronan Farrow has been on the air just a few days and he has already picked up the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Exploration and Journalism. Proving that most Journalism awards are a bunch of crap. 

Farrow is also learning how to spin the press in his first week. 

As FTVLive told you two days ago, Reporters were ordered to sign a form pledging they will not ask Farrow, the son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen (or possibly Frank Sinatra), personal questions if they want to attend a benefit where he will be honored Wednesday night.

Farrow says he did not make that demand. 

Page Six says they were informed by Reach the World Director Heather Halstead that the order came “direct” from Ronan’s team.

The form required all press to “stay strictly on message.” It reads, “Any press who ask guests or Mr. Farrow about off-message topics will be immediately escorted out of the event.”

Halstead told us in writing, “We would like you to sign the form or indicate by return email that you understand our goals to stay completely on message given the surrounding circumstances. We will not tolerate press questions about personal or family affairs related to Mr. Farrow in any circumstance at this event.”

We then asked who the directives were coming from, and Halstead responded via email, “His team direct to you, but we would do it anyway any time there were circumstances such as these that required it.”

Following our report, Ronan’s team went into full spin mode, with his rep insisting he was not aware of the restrictions and had not asked for them. Under pressure from Ronan’s team, Reach the World issued a press release with Halstead saying, “Ronan and his team did not request any restrictions whatsoever on reporters’ questions. Communication between Reach the World and members of the press have been the sole responsibility of RTW. We apologize to Ronan for the error.”

Despite the fact that we dealt with her directly, Halstead then falsely told The Wrap, “There was a misinterpretation between the Page Six reporter and our event planners.”

We’ve re-read Halstead’s emails, and the misinterpretation was not ours.

Farrow himself tweeted: “Oh, you so crazy, rumor of the day – I’d never demand anyone not ask me anything, obviously. (Doesn’t mean I have to answer though.)” And, “Maybe I can earn a Cronkite award by investigating how long it’ll take me to actually live up to a Cronkite award?”

A spokesperson for Ronan Farrow tells us, “Ronan and his team did not request any restrictions on reporters’ questions.”