Matthew McConuaghey on his friend Lance Armstrong’s lies: ‘I was pissed off’

Here are some new photos of Matthew McConuaghey at Sundance over the weekend. He cut his hair recently and this was the big public debut – I think it looks good! Matthew has good hair, but his long-haired hippie look was kind of tired, and it’s nice to see a more “adult” look on him. While Matthew was at Sundance, he got some questions about Lance Armstrong – remember, they were once friends. They’re both Texans, and they used to work out together. I was kind of surprised by Matthew’s thoughtful answers:

Matthew McConuaghey who is a Texas boy… just like Armstrong, admitted he was ‘p***** off’ after hearing his friend admit to using performance enhancing drugs, according to MTV.

‘My first reaction was I was p***** off,’ he said, after saying he wanted to be ‘delicate’ in discussing the matter.

He added: ‘I was mad. I then got kind of sad for him. First off, I had a part of me that took it kind of personally, which I think a lot of people have.’

‘For him, it was impersonal because he was living a lie,’ McConaughey continued. ‘It was a whole unanimous facade he had to carry around.’

The pair have been friends for years and have enjoyed holidays together, trained together and even worked together… especially on Armstrong’s charity, Livestrong.

‘What I realized is that those of us that took that personally, like, “Oh, he lied to me,’ it’s not true,” McConaughey added ‘What I mean by this is, what was he supposed to do? Call me to the side and go, “Hey man, I did it but don’t tell anybody.” Then I would have really had a reason to be p***** off at him, going, “You want me to walk around holding this?’ “

[From The Mail]

I kind of like the way Matthew explains his feelings – like, he’s pissed off that Lance never told him but he’s also grateful that he didn’t know ahead of time. It feels like a betrayal for him and for so many other people – and for Lance, it’s nothing. He laughed about all of the people he sued and all of the lies he told and all of the lives he’s ruined. Speaking of Lance’s lies, if you’re interested, the investigators at USADA say that Lance was still lying his ass off during his Oprah interview. Surprise, surprise! Go here to read ABC News’ report.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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56 Responses to “Matthew McConuaghey on his friend Lance Armstrong’s lies: ‘I was pissed off’”

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  1. Esmom says:

    I’m curious abut why their friendship ended, they seemed so tight. Seems that Lance has a talent for alienating every single person he comes into contact with.

    No surprise that Lance isn’t telling the whole truth. He’s only interested redeeming his image/hanging on to his money and the facts have never mattered to him. Why should that be different now? Ugh, I didn’t think it was possible to dislike him more…but each day seems to reveal more to dislike about the guy.

    • Meh says:

      I agree that Lance seems to have had a talent for alienating everyone in his life. The first reason I come up with is that he could never allow anyone to get too close for fear that his lies would be exposed.

      Secondly, the man lived a life that consisted of little more than cheating, bullying, denial and being an egotistical, vindictive a-hole; who wouldn’t want to hang on to a friend like that? /sarc

  2. Riana says:

    Good answers. The Lance Armstrong thing sucks for a lot of people.

    At the end of the day Lance cared about one person, and its a hard pill to swallow for those who followed him. I’ve always felt it was dangerous to make heroes of men and he seems to be a prime example of why.

    He did many things because he understood how the public goodwill can be manipulated and how people will brush things under the rug if they believe in/like a person. He admitted as such during Oprah. In the end it was one big lie for him and the various lengths he went to maintain it.

    Matthew is right in that, he couldn’t pull anyone to the side and let them in. He couldn’t let any accusation slide. He’s a bastard through and through, but he was smart enough about that. Or else the whole ’empire’ would have crumbled years and years ago.

    • Becky says:

      Not too long ago, Sheryl Crow also released a public statement defending Lance and she was adamant that he never took drugs. Now she should be pissed.

      • Esmom says:

        Then she was lying, too. At least one USADA witness said that there were drugs openly in Lance’s fridge when he was with Sheryl. Why she should cover for him is beyond me.

      • stinky says:

        ive said this before, but she dodged a nasty bullet regardless. he really couldnt be more smug or pretentious. hes got a true narcissism disorder, and no i am not qualified in any way to diagnose – he just fits the bill. grandoise!!

      • BestJes says:

        This is a response to stinky (still can’t work out why only some posts can be replied to so apologies if this is annoying)

        I usually dislike psychiatric diagnosis via distance but as someone who actually is qualified to judge (in general although obviously not without actually spending therapeutic time with the person) I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he was determined to have NPD. He wasnt just a fantasist because he never believed his own bullshit, it wasn’t just a case of wanting sporting glory or riches, he could have had them both without suing other people for telling the truth. So yeah, while I wouldn’t diagnose myself I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else does.

  3. Amelia says:

    I suppose this is unrelated to the McConuaghey-hey-hey, but I was wondering if I’m the only one who thought Oprah really blew that interview?
    To me, it seemed like she was delicately tiptoeing around the issue and coaxing a PR friendly admission out of him.
    I’d love to see someone really put him on the spot and rip into him.

    • Lucy says:

      Yes that’s what I thought too don’t you think Paxman would have been good? Or heck even Piers Morgan who I can’t stand

      • TG says:

        Piers Morgan let Cheney Mason (Casey Anthony’s attorney) on his show and he all but kissed his a** so I don’t think Piers would be good with Lance. I mean he can’t even ask tough questions to the lawyer of a baby killer how do we expect him to ask tough questions of a drug doper.

      • Amelia says:

        Oh, Paxman would DESTROY him!! He’s such a bitch, it’s hilarious watching University Challenge sometimes.
        And there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

      • Mira says:

        I think Oprah did a good job. She asked all the right questions. She prepared well and asked him pointed questions, several of which Lance dodged. The thing with this case is that LA was part of a mafia. He cannot come clean on so many pointed questions on a TV show because he has to name names. The UCI for example – very clever of him to say he was no fan of the UCI. He was instructed to confess about doping and on questions which did not require him to unravel the empire. He was most definitely instructed to take all family questions. I think Oprah did a good job.

    • MonicaQ says:

      She was going for the soft attack, a guilt “You-can-talk-to-me-I’m-Oprah” zone blocking scheme. Too bad Mr. Armstrong is emotionally constipated because he couldn’t give a sh*t about that.

    • Esmom says:

      I didn’t watch the interviews but I someone, somewhere commented that she seemed like she didn’t have control of the interview. That Lance was easily able to keep doing his manipulative thing with her.

      Makes sense, since he obviously thought very carefully about how and where he would tell (his version of) the truth. His whole saga has been about controlling everyone around him.

      • Gia says:

        Lainey said that. I read it too and agree. She started off in control, asking very staright forward questions and repeating them until he answered her straight, but he eventually took over. By the end, he was holding back tears and she seemed sympathetic..which is NOT how anyone should feel.

    • Jag says:

      That’s why he went to Oprah. She’s known for soft-balling celebrities who are trying to apologize for something. He knew she wouldn’t ask the hard questions because she needed him for ratings. Funny that it didn’t work out for either of them.

    • Mitch Buchanan Rocks! says:

      I wonder if Oprah is on Lances payroll as well – they seem pretty friendly in the interview and she is very soft on him. I’d like to see him interviewed by Anderson Cooper or Jian Ghomeshi.

    • Annie says:

      They probably had an agreement. This was a big deal and Oprah scored really high ratings. So, you get the interview Oprah but don’t go in on him. Oprah agreed because her channel is struggling.

    • Chicagogurl17 says:

      I was yelling at the tv. Most of the time shed ask the question and then interrupt or spoon feed the answer. Like she knew which sound bytes she wanted going into it, and I would have preferred she didn’t speak for him. This is why his team chose Oprah over brokaw though.

    • tabasco says:

      Lance and Lance’s Ego would never agree to an interview with someone who’d really kick his ass.

  4. JudyK says:

    Would never have guessed this pic was Matthew McConaughey. He’s so thin he looks effeminate.

  5. lisa2 says:

    I didn’t watch the interview. Didn’t see the point when it was leaked that he had in fact lied. I guess I can see it on the loop. I’m sure it will repeat several times. I was curious what Matthew and Jake and a few others were going to say. I find it funny too how some celebs make it a big point of showing us how they are friends, then all of a sudden you don’t see them together anymore. It seemed to me that Matthew and Lance stopped hanging together a lot when Matthew had his child. Which was weird because they both have kids.

    This is such a mess and sad for the people that supported him and the people he attacked because they told the truth.

    Matthew obviously looks better because of the weight, but his hair looks so damaged to me. Lifeless and dull.

    • Esmom says:

      I didn’t realize Matthew’s having kids coincided with his “split” with Lance. But if that’s the case I don’t think it’s weird because Lance seems very hands off/uninvolved with his kids (see video where he completely blows off his daughter trying to congratulate him after a race) and Matthew is a fairly hands on dad.

      • lisa2 says:

        My point was that Matthew is hands on. And since he became a father we don’t see him out exercising all the time. That he spent the time with his family.

        I didn’t know much about Lance and his kids. I thought he spent a lot of time with them, which I thought he and Matt would have in common.

        But I didn’t know about him being like that with his children. Sad for them. I just recall him being with them a lot when he was with Sheryl. But you learn something new everyday

      • Becky says:

        I never followed Lance in the media, just what shows up on tabloids since I always skip the sports section, but let me see if this is right:
        He cheated on his women, lied about drugs and is absent father? Is he really such a dick?

      • Esmom says:

        @Becky. Yes it seems he really is such a dick.

    • Masque says:

      When Matthew started having a family he no longer devoted large amounts of time to his friendship with Lance. Lance NEEDS attention (he’s the athletic version of Lohan) so he dropped Matthew to find someone who would pay attention to HIM.

    • Moore says:

      It happens a fair amount in my life and the people I know that I meet people, hang around a lot, and then she or I drifts away with nothing really dramatic causing it.

  6. Mrs. Ari Gold says:

    It’s interesting how Oprah has been tainted by this interview as well as Lance. Because she was so soft on him she made herself into a joke and everyone has been groaning over this idea of celebrities goin on Oprah to confess.
    How did sheanage to blow things for herself so badly?

  7. Quinn says:

    I seriously thought that was Kevin Spacey in the first picture…yikes.

  8. T.C. says:

    Lance fooled us too but at least I wasn’t a personal friend. That would hurt more because you know his friends were out there defending him.

    • Esmom says:

      Yes. MMc was used like so many others to help elevate Lance’s profile and/or keep him in the spotlight. That has to hurt. Good for him for being so gracious about it.

  9. Ms Kay says:

    I had a crap friendship with a guy I lied to. I was feeling soooo bad about my lies when he caught me and told me how much he was disgusted that we even were close and he couldn’t trust me anymore that I totally became submissive and the guy abused of the situation, treating me like crap and I had the stupidity to give him the key of my house and the guy was bringing women in there, doing the nasty and even leaving semen on the carpet so that I see it as a sign of humiliation. I took it upon thinking I deserved it, all in a bid to keep his friendship. One day I found out by accident on a social network he left messages to his brother telling him how much he was using me and enjoying it that I was afraid to lose him so he’d play me around, and I also discovered the lies he told his brother about how I ruined some business he had planned (never knew about the business thing) and many lies on how he hid that he had a kid by accident. I wanted to confront him on the on the matter but he sent me an email telling me how he gave me too much time and chances to be friends but I always lied etc. I saw red and emailed back by exposing all the things he did and told him that as much as was sorry that I deceived and disappointed him, I won’t take the downfall for two, I’d assume my responsibility of my bad actions, and he should take responsibility of his… Which he never did and threw me under the bus by lying to people we knew in common saying that I was a pathological liar and crazy and should be locked up etc. and he disappeared. I was hurt and pissed off as I thought I was the bad whereas he was just as worse and I had to carry not only my but his bad deeds for a while… It really shook me up but lesson learned, lies won’t take you anywhere, as much there is an underlying issue or else.

    Felt like I had to share it. Point is, Lance doesn’t feel a bit sorry about what he’s done. If he did he certainly wouldn’t go on any TV in a bid to gain sympathy, he’d go under the radar and think about the consequences and may be quietly pay back all those he duped.

    • I Choose Me says:

      Wow, that guy sounds like a real piece of work. You know when it comes to forgiveness, I think the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. That’s probably why you put up with his ill-treatment and disrespect. I’m sorry you had to go through all that and it sounds as if you’re stronger, happier person now. *hug*

  10. TG says:

    I found the interview with Oprah fascinating. I think she did okay. You could see the incredulity and disgust on her face at various points. I think she let him take over because the more he said the more he sunk himself. Since many of us on here are always wondering if certain celebs are narcissist or sociopaths, etc., I thought this interview was a nice window into what an actual sociopath and narcissist is like. This man has zero empathy for others. He has been made aware by someone that his actions were dishonorable and have hurt many people but he has no comprehension of it. I don’t think he can ever really be made to feel bad or guilty or even humbled by his crimes because that would require an awareness of the value of others, empathy, etc., and he only values himself. So in that way this interview was amazing. I bet this will be mandatory viewing for every psychology student. I feel bad when I say something mean to a stanger, even on here at times so it is interesting to see that there are people out there who are just wired differently and really do not care about others. Kind of scary too.

    • Daahling says:

      You are absolutely right. I was truly shocked at his apathy and his complete lack of ethics. It was bizarre, and I assume that is what a sociopath or narcissist is in full show. Yeesh!

    • Poink says:

      Yes!!!

    • MonicaQ says:

      That’s some of her MO–stand there and either pick yourself up by laying your head on her bossum, “There, there, it’s ok,” or shoot yourself in the foot, “I’m awesome, I’m only doing this for money/damage control.”

    • Esmom says:

      Very good points. How sad that he still thinks he can manipulate and control people…and Oprah and the viewers can see right through him.

      Someone here last week said they did watch the interview for one of her college classes. He is a textbook case, for a variety of subjects.

  11. Daahling says:

    ^ oh ma goodness, child. That is not quuuuuite the same thing as the scandal. Your story could have been summed up in that last paragraph. Uh, good luck with your situation.

    Lance is a douche! *drops mike walks away

  12. Cathy says:

    Lance Armstrong is a piece of crap. He’s useless in my book. He could of had it all, but he had to be a liar and a cheat. I have no use for people like that.

  13. Babette says:

    I didn’t see it, but I remember reading that Oprah ripped into the guy who wrote a book that she endorsed…supposedly, it was his memoir (was it “A Million Little Pieces”?), and Armstrong’s lies were on a totally different level, so I’m sad and surprised that she wasn’t more hardball.

    This doesn’t excuse Armstrong’s lies, but the Livestrong foundation has done a LOT of good, so at least there’s that.

    • lisa2 says:

      I love how people can be on the same train of thought. I was coming back to post the exact same thing regarding the author of that book. She tore him up in a million pieces. Ruined his writing career. Because he embarrassed her. Nothing more or nothing less. He embarrassed her.

      If he had done that to someone else that interview would have been totally different. I lost a lot of respect for her when she did that. And when she takes sides in situations that are none of her business.

      • Esmom says:

        Yes I really felt sorry for James Frey when Oprah ripped him to shreds. What he did, exaggerating and fabricating in his memoir, doesn’t even come close to what Lance did yet Oprah would not give him a break.

        She can be pretty selective with her wrath and self-righteousness, depending on how it does or does not benefit her.

    • DoloresChurch says:

      Oprah also embraced the Jenny McCarthy anti vaccination movement. Before her show went off the air, the Lancet reported that those studies were a fraud and the doctor was stripped of his medical license. But Oprah never did a follow up show. She let the Jenny have the final word on not vaccinating your children. There is no scientific evidence that vaccinations lead to autism. It was all manipulated and made up.

      • BestJes says:

        Didn’t she also get sued for a mint because of wildly exaggerated and outright nonsense things she said about mad cow disease or am I mixing memories?

        Not sure that Oprah is the best source of information on anything. She made her career by switching a Jerry Springer lite show into something more about her and her latest weight loss/self improvement fad, which the audience loved because far too many people are fond of pseudo-science and bunkum.

  14. Lem says:

    These pictures make me sad. He looks like a closeted Jr senator on an Earth Day photo Op.
    Sigh. hurry back Matty

  15. banarang says:

    Matthew looks a little like Sheldon Cooper in the 1st pic

  16. bonnie says:

    Lance has it coming. Karma will get him, one way or another.

  17. CL says:

    I would also love to hear Owen Wilson’s thoughts on this. Another Texas-born workout buddy, only Lance dated TWO of Owen’s exes (Sheryl and Kate). I bet OW has some interesting observations!

  18. c'est la vie says:

    I’m surprised that all these people are so gullible.

    I always thought Lance was a juicer and a liar.
    I wonder why he bothered to admit to it now.

    • BestJes says:

      I’ve always assumed a majority of athletes at the elite level are, especially cycling. We should just accept that no matter good the detection regime gets there will always be new ways to hide and newer drugs which, for a while, will evade urine testing. We should also accept that someone’s ability to run fast, jump high, throw a ball or ride a bike fast has no bearing on their personality and should not confer role model status. Accepting those two things, we could open up competitive sport as a free for all. If you want to shorten your lifespan in order to shave .00001 of a second off some meaningless record then have at it. Take as many drugs as you like, hell sleep with nuclear rods and go for a hulk transformation if you’re game. Then we can all sit back with popcorn and perhaps start routing billions of dollars from professional sports into luxury items like health care and housing.

  19. Jaded says:

    Matthew doesn’t say they’re no longer friends. In fact he implies Lance did him a favour not telling him the truth so he wouldn’t have the burden of knowing. Wouldn’t surprise me if they still hung out occasionally.