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Richard Gere shocked the host of an American morning show by making an obscene gesture unexpectedly live on air.
The actor, 75, was on the Today Show to promote his role in The Agency, an upcoming espionage political thriller series for Paramount+ with Showtime.
Speaking to host Savannah Guthrie, the actor suddenly flipped her the bird after a clip from the show played.
Guthrie was shocked.
‘You just did an obscene gesture on this family morning show,’ she said, her eyes wide.
She then tried to cover his hand with her notes, saying: ‘I’m bleeping you.’
The move originally seemed inexplicable, especially for the famously demure Gere.
He quickly explained that his character raises his middle finger at the end of the clip from The Agency.
‘You didn’t show but that’s what I did in the piece,’ he said. ‘That’s what the clip was.’
Gere will be a series regular on The Agency (Picture: Annalisa Ranzoni/Getty Images)
‘That’s what the clip was, but we cut that part out,’ Guthrie responded. ‘But then you did it live.’
‘I could see that, but it didn’t make any sense without that,’ Gere said, trying to defend himself.
The pair went on with the interview, though it was clear Guthrie wasn’t pleased with the unexpected move.
Guthrie was visibly shocked by the moment (Picture: NBC/TODAY)
The host attempted to censor Gere’s hand (Picture: NBC/TODAY)
Gere is set to star opposite Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright in the new series, a remake of the French series Le Bureau des Legendes.
The series follows Martian (Fassbender), an undercover CIA agent, who is ordered to leave behind his secret double life and return to London Station.
But his fake life comes back to haunt him, and he’s forced to choose between love and the good of the country he serves.
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