Thornton surprised by interview furor

LOS ANGELES, April 23 (UPI) -- Actor-musician Billy Bob Thornton said he is surprised by the extensive media attention his recent awkward interview on Canadian radio has been receiving.

Thornton earlier this month declined to answer most questions, gave rambling, inappropriate replies to others, was rude to his interviewer and refused to perform with his Boxmasters band members live on a CBC radio show. He was booked on the show, along with his bandmates, to promote the group's music, but said he was annoyed that the disc jockey had mentioned his acting career on-air.

"The fact that that was news was astounding to me. We're focused on very important things nowadays, but it gave hump-back geeks all over the world something to do for a couple days days ... I do that all the time," Thornton said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Tuesday night. "It's not the first time ... I was doing a show in Germany one time, we were touring over there about 10 years ago with my first solo record, and this woman was told, 'Don't say this, don't say that,' which you have the right to do if you're going to do the show ... . Well, this woman said something that she wasn't supposed to say, and I told her that I received signals from Venus through a metal plate in my head and then, of course, you get calls from all your friends, saying, 'Are you OK?' And I was like: 'Yeah, I'm OK. What are you talking about? I told a DJ to kiss my ass, that's all that happened."