Interviews are a necessary part of being famous, and occasionally such interviews include some very hurtful questions that you have to avoid. Celebrities occasionally give snotty reporters a taste of their own medicine by being snotty back. But occasionally, celebrities behave rudely towards interviewers without any provocation.
These 15 instances of celebrities acting impolitely or inappropriately towards interviewers:
- 1. At the beginning of 2023, Tony Danza was featured in a video that TikToker Rye Myers posted, calling him the “rudest celebrity [he] ever interviewed”.
Rye responded in a follow-up TikTok, saying, “[Tony] contacted me to squash the dispute and apologise. His message was really welcomed and it was wonderful to hear from him.”
2. During a recent episode of Love Island USA, contestant Kay Kay Gray decided to leave with her partner, Keenan Anunay, who was voted off. When host Sarah Hyland checked in with her about her decision, another contestant, Mike Stark, suddenly called Sarah out. The other Islanders were so shocked by his outburst that one even apologized to Sarah on his behalf.
3. When Ashley Graham interviewed celebs for ABC’s 2023 Oscars pre-show, Hugh Grant gave short, sarcastic answers then rolled his eyes when their conversation ended.
A few months later, Ashley reflected on the incident and told the Sunday Times, “It was evident that he didn’t want to be there.” We had been conversing before, and he was really nice. After we got going, he said, “I don’t want to be here,” and I said, “Okay, let’s work together!” I understand. But, uh, cooperate with me?”
“I was trying my hardest to be my nice, upbeat self, and he gave me what he had,” she continued.
4. In an older interview, Hugh Grant roasted Ellen DeGeneres completely unprompted.
5. And following a 2009 interview, Jon Stewart banned Hugh Grant from returning to The Daily Show because “he’s giving everyone shit the whole time, and he’s a big pain in the ass.”
Hugh was Jon’s least favourite guest, he added in a 2012 Q&A with Stephen Colbert, “And we’ve had dictators on the show.”
6. In 2016, Vin Diesel derailed his interview with YouTuber Carol Moreira by trying to flirt with her and insisting she was too “beautiful” and “sexy” for him to continue, making her visibly uncomfortable.
“He started to hit on me in the middle of the interview, say that I was pretty, and he interrupted the interview three times to talk about it,” Carol said in the video’s opening. I was giggling, feeling really awkward. It did not sit well with me. You will see that I was uncomfortable—it wasn’t good of him to interrupt me when I was working, and at the moment I wasn’t sure how to respond.”
7. In 2013, Jesse Eisenberg did an interview with Univision host Romina Puga, which she later called “self-esteem butchering.”
Romina posted on her blog, saying, “So, Jesse Eisenberg just made me feel humiliated…After the ‘interview’, which was really more like a five-minute self-esteem-butchering session, I went behind a curtain to wait for the memory cards. Jesse exclaims, “You’re still here?” as soon as I peek over the curtain to enquire about his New York neighbourhood (he lives a few blocks from where I used to reside).
8. When Madonna appeared on the Italian version of Top of the Pops, she teased the nervous interviewer.
9. When Jennifer Garner appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 2003, she paused the interview to correct his grammar.
But he disproved her during the commercial break by pulling out a dictionary.
10. On the Women On Top podcast, former E! News reporter Ali Fedotowsky said, “Jake Gyllenhaal shows up for the red carpet…My first red carpet for E! News…He walks up, I’m shaking in my heels. I say to him, ‘Hi, Jake who’d you bring tonight?’ Like, for a date, like, who’s your date tonight? …He goes, ‘Bye bye,’ and walked away from me.” She then started to cry in fear of losing her job.
She didn’t like Jake’s harshness even after he repeated the same thing to the following interviewer. She stated, “I’ve walked so many red carpets because of [my season of] The Bachelorette and done countless interviews, and I know how easy it is to be nice.”
11. After the 2016 Golden Globes, Jennifer Lawrence was widely criticized for cutting off an international journalist and scolding him for reading a question from his phone.
12. When Jack Whitehall guest hosted The Graham Norton Show in 2019, a returning audience member called him out for being rude to her the last time both of them appeared on the show, even though he had apologized.
13. In 2015, Graham Norton told This Morning that interviewing David Cassidy was “one of the worst experiences of [his] life.”
14. Former panelist Sherrie Hewson called Ringo Starr her worst Loose Women guest. During a live event in Llandudno, Wales, she said, “He just sat down, said, ‘OK then, girls, what are we doing here? Shall we just get Paul McCartney out of the way?’ This was live, by the way. Anyway, he carries on, ‘Let’s get Paul McCartney out the way. You want to talk about Paul McCartney?’ I said, ‘Well, no, you’re here.’ And he said, ‘No, you don’t. You want to talk about Paul McCartney.'”
“He was so angry,” she went on. Why was it so strange, I wondered? Why is it that way? It was just a very strange occurrence. ‘Can I tell you everyone, if somebody wants an autograph, you can’t have one, because I don’t do stuff like that,’ he then added to the crowd. Towards the conclusion, one of the producers approached him holding one of her little children, who was only four years old. She informed him that, although she was aware he didn’t sign autographs, her daughter was only four and she genuinely loved the Beatles. All he replied was, “Really?” “Did you not hear what I just said?” he then asked. I refuse to sign autographs.
15. And finally, when comedian Bobcat Goldthwait appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno in 1994, he pulled a lighter out of his pocket and his chair on fire.
It was not a contrived or orchestrated incident. Bobcat later entered a plea of not guilty to intentionally starting the fire. After that, he had to record a PSA for a nearby burn centre and pay a $3,888 fine. He also received three years of unofficial probation.
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