[Russell Crowe walks out]

By Sean O'Neal | May 14, 2010 | 4:23pm

Aux Features Film

Unfairly asked to fraternize with the humans who rousted him from his natural woodland habitat and forced him to put on a bowler hat and ride a unicycle for their amusement, Russell Crowe continues to have run-ins with the prying, sniveling media pests who want to help him promote his new swordfightin’ movie, all because man’s law has decreed that he cannot simply smash them against a rock like the squirming, pea-brained salmon that they are. His latest involves a British radio host who dared to suggest that he heard traces of an Irish accent in Crowe’s Robin Hood, to which Crowe replied, “You’ve got dead ears, mate. You’ve seriously got dead ears if you think that’s an Irish accent.” After the host tried explaining that he only heard “hints of Irish,” Crowe responded, “Bollocks,” then talked about Robin's origins for a bit before finishing up by grumbling, “I'm a little dumbfounded you could possibly find any Irish in that character. That's kind of ridiculous. It's your show. Whatever.” The host meekly asked if Crowe was going for a “northern English,” to which Crowe sarcastically replied, “No, I was going for an Italian, yeah. Missed it?”

Having thus narrowly escaped being introduced to the business ends of Crowe’s back molars, the host went for broke and changed the subject to the recent rumors that Crowe had refused to say a few of the most famous lines from Gladiator, at which point Crowe simply stood and walked out of the radio booth, muttering, “I don’t get the Irish thing, brother, I don’t get it at all.” It’s not quite as catchy as “Would you say that to Tom Petty?” but as memes go, “You’ve got dead ears, mate” isn’t half bad. Check out the audio of the interview below—and judge for yourself whether Crowe’s Robin Hood has a touch of the Irish in the scene below that, and whether you yourself are kind of ridiculous.