Leo Makes News

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/05/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Leonardo DiCaprio isn't exactly Barbara Walters -- and ABC wants to make that clear. The "Titanic" and "The Beach" star interviewed President Clinton last Friday about the environment, for a proposed TV special that ABC plans to mark this year's Earth Day (April 22). This reportedly has ticked off journalists at ABC, who thought their jobs were being usurped by a movie actor. In response, ABC News boss David Westin said that DiCaprio was filmed touring the White House -- and that it was Clinton who suggested the Q&A. In an e-mail to ABC News staffers, Westin said, "We did not send (DiCaprio) to interview the President. No one is that stupid." White House deputy press secretary Jake Siewert, however, said that ABC made the interview request in February and stated it was "Leonardo DiCaprio that would ask the questions." A DiCaprio spokesman told the New York Post that Leo "did exactly what people at ABC told him to do."