It was a sad day for fans of film when we all learned of David Lynch’s passing. Some of our favorite moments in film and television were thanks to his vision. So why did Andy Cohen spring this news on the cast of Severance!?
The cast was promoting season 2 of the Apple TV+ series on the Sirius XM Town Hall for the show, hosted by Cohen when he said that he got a note from his producer about Lynch’s passing. Instead of double checking whether or not any of the actors and creatives before him personally knew Lynch, Cohen just sprung the news on the cast and asked “I wonder if any of you worked with him or have any memories?” In response, Adam Scott gave a shocked “What?” reaction.
First, this move is beyond my understanding. Why would you live, on air, tell people someone they may know has died and put them on the spot like that? And second, why did that producer not quickly google to see if ANYONE of these actors worked with him? Because, if they did, they’d find that Patricia Arquette did.
Arquette was in Lost Highway and gave an emotional response to the news. One that very clearly came from her shock because she talked about how she had been wanting to go and see Lynch.
andy cohen being the one to break the news of david lynch’s passing to patricia arquette (or at least the first person to speak with her about it publicly) and saying “i was wondering if any of you worked with him…” don’t piss me off pic.twitter.com/A6x9lbaiKM
— coleman spilde (@colemanjspilde) January 17, 2025
It is, honestly, one of the things I hate most about the news circuit. You hear news, want a response, and want to get clicks for it. But to not pause and do a bit of research or to even have the decency to tell them off air is beyond my realm of understanding. That’s a lack of humanity I refuse to have as a journalist.
If you take out the news for clicks of it all, why did no one at Sirius or on Cohen’s team stop to think about the pain someone might feel at losing a friend? This was done live in studio, meaning that if he just found out, chances are the cast did not know Lynch had passed away. So why spring this one people who might know him? Especially when your question is about knowing him?!
As Arquette is talking, you can see both Christopher Walken and Adam Scott move to comfort her. Scott eventually reaches over to softly touch her arm and you can hear the emotion in her voice. That’s someone who just learned that their friend and collaborator passed away and they’re being questioned about it at the same time.
It is beyond messed up. And while yes, we’re talking about it, we should be shaming this kind of thinking in media. Why was Cohen’s gut reaction to tell the cast of Severance about it? Lynch didn’t work on the show and even so, you didn’t even do your due diligence to make sure that someone there wasn’t going to be upset.
The entire situation is just very upsetting and to know that no one at Sirius XM or on Cohen’s side of things thought this was a bad idea is horrifying. Arquette did not deserve to be put on the spot like that, even if everyone praised Lynch’s brilliance. We know how amazing he was. And his friends and coworker deserved to learn of his passing and grieve on their own, not live on a radio show.
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