Liev Schreiber Apologizes on Seth Meyers for Red-Carpet Tirade: 'I Had a Moment'
Liev Schreiber, 59, apologized on Late Night with Seth Meyers on 27 October for scolding a reporter on the Nocturne red carpet, saying a request to describe the Apple TV+ series in three words to a best friend quickly left him stumped and led to what he called a terrible tirade about monkeys and profanity.
The apology on Late Night
Liev Schreiber is sorry. During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday, the 59-year-old actor apologized for a heated exchange he recently had with a reporter on the red carpet for his new Apple TV+ show Nocturne, USA TODAY reported. “Mea culpa,” he said. “I had a moment.”
Schreiber told Meyers that his mother had called him that morning. She follows his career online, he said, and her first words when he answered the phone were: “So what did you do?”
What happened on the red carpet
The incident took place on the press line at the New York premiere of Nocturne, USA TODAY reported, after a video of the exchange published by TMZ on 21 October spread online. In the video, Schreiber was seen scolding a reporter over her question, telling her to “talk to people like they’re humans” instead of trying to get a soundbite, according to USA TODAY.
On Late Night, Schreiber explained that the reporter, whom he called a “lovely, charming” person, had asked him to describe the show “in three words to a best friend quickly.” The wording threw him, he said. “I’m at that age now where I don’t do things terribly quickly anyways, but also the redundancy of ‘three words’ and ‘quickly’ completely stumped me,” he said, as quoted by USA TODAY. “And I went off on some terrible tirade about monkeys and profanity, and I apologize.”
He added, according to USA TODAY: “I said something about, ‘What kind of question is that?’ And then I started swearing about monkeys and stuff.”
How the conversation recovered
Schreiber stressed that the encounter did not end there. He said he and the reporter “got through it” and ended up having a good conversation after he asked her what about the show interested her, USA TODAY reported. She told him she loved the genre, he said, and the pair then talked properly about the series.
In the original footage, the reporter maintained a smile throughout and appeared to take his criticism in stride, USA TODAY reported. The reporter appeared to be working with Apple, the company behind Schreiber’s show, according to USA TODAY, which noted that in the footage the actor referred to the interview as being “in-house.”
The show at the centre of it
Nocturne premieres on 30 October on Apple TV+, Entertainment Weekly reported. Schreiber stars as a homicide detective who relocates to a small Pennsylvania town, until a serial killer played by Stephen Graham begins threatening his family.
Sources: USA TODAY, 27 October 2026; Entertainment Weekly, 27 October 2026.