In this week's interview with Matt Lauer on "TODAY," actress Anne Hathaway skillfully shifted the conversation from her recent wardrobe malfunction to her character Fantine in her upcoming film "Les Miserables."

Lauer's interview with Hathaway on Dec. 10 immediately began with him addressing Hathaway's accidental exposure when she stepped out of a SUV at the New York City red carpet premiere of "Les Miserables."

"We've seen a lot of you lately," Lauer said. He then asked the actress, "Let's just get it out of the way. You had a little wardrobe malfunction. What is the lesson learned from something like that?"

"It was obviously an unfortunate incident," Hathaway answered. "It kind of made me sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment and, rather than delete it, sells it. I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality upon unwilling participants."

Hathaway's next comment garnered praise for how she smoothly transitioned from the uncomfortable topic to the film:

"Which brings us back to 'Les Mis' because that's who my character is. She is someone who is forced to sell sex to benefit her child because she has nothing. So let's get back to 'Les Mis.' "

Instead of saying the traditional response, "no comment," she artfully segued the topic to her movie. The trick impressed Lauer, who said, "That's the most creative turn of a question that I've ever heard and I'm going to take that, so that's fine."

Though Hathaway appeared poised and unaffected by Lauer's questioning, her Twitter fans defended and blasted the anchor for what they considered inappropriate questioning.

Here is a lift of tweets from critics:

VANITY FAIR ‏@VanityFair: "While We're Handing Out Award Nominations, How About One for Anne Hathaway's Response to This Awkward Question? Is there an Emmy category 4 "Best Smackdown of An Idiot Morning Show Host?" If so, I nominate Anne Hathaway. // ! wrote @patonoswalt"

A is For ‏@AIsForOrg: "Matt Lauer should apologize for his creepy, misogynistic comments to Anne Hathaway."

Janie Haddad ‏@janiehaddad: "Who treats Anne Hathaway like that??? She's a lady. She shoulda slapped Matt Lauer's filthy, perverted, sass mouth. And the photogs? Dogs."

Allessia G. ‏@aemeliag: "Matt Lauer is a total di*k for talking about Anne Hathaway's wardrobe malfunction before asking anything about her iconic role in Les Mis!"

Blake Hall ‏@blakehalltexas: "Matt Lauer is a dirt-bag for his remark to Anne Hathaway about her wardrobe malfunction."

Meanwhile, Hathaway's professional diversion, the way she "bridged" the wardrobe malfunction and connected it to her character in her film, was praised in several reports. Forbes called it "smooth, poised, and professional."

Tags
Anne Hathaway, Matt Lauer, Today, Celebrity interview, Les miserables, Twitter