As the daughter of late broadcaster/politician Sir Clement Freud, great-granddaughter of world-renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, and niece of celebrated artist Lucian Freud, TV presenter and cultural commentator Emma Freud OBE comes from a well-connected, privileged background. But when the broadcaster invited Motörhead frontman Lemmy onto her late night chat show Pillow Talk in 1987, only one of the pair emerged from the encounter with class and dignity intact.
The tone of the interview, broadcast on Pillow Talk, a segment on London Weekend Television's Night Network, on September 12, 1987, is set early on when Freud pokes fun at the musician's nickname, suggests that he's "really rich" and mocks his appearance, stating that he's "certainly not fashionable".
The interviewer then goes on to state that Motörhead's music is "incredibly popular" and asks, "Why do you think you're so popular when the music itself is so awful?"
"That depends on what you think of as awful," Lemmy responds graciously. "I mean, how many of our albums have you actually heard?"
"I've heard about... most of them, I should think," splutters Freud, going on to suggest that the band's popularity can't be down to "the amazing technical achievement in the music."
Not content with insulting Lemmy's musicianship, appearance, status and nickname, Freud's penetrating interview continues with questions such as "You're 41, aren't you getting a bit old for this?"
In the face of such calculated rudeness, Lemmy remains calm and chilled at all times, at one point presenting Freud with a red rose, charmer that he always was.
Watch the awkward and frequently obnoxious tête-à-tête play out below, in a VHS recording of the encounter kindly uploaded to YouTube by user ScottishTeeVee.
