12 Interviewers Who Tried To Embarrass A Female Celeb, But Just Ended Up Embarrassing Themselves
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We, as a society, love exploiting and embarrassing women for content. And unfortunately, talk show hosts and interviewers are, like, experts at this.
Paramount
But a lot of the time, thankfully, it backfires. And they're the ones who end up looking like absolute fools.
So here are 12 times when an interviewer tried their hardest to embarrass a female celeb and ended up coming off as ignorant, rude, entitled, or just low-key desperate:
1.Back in 2008, during an appearance on a radio station, a teenage Taylor Swift was forced to play Twister with the adult male hosts.
After a SUPER awkward intro where the main DJ continually commented on how grown up Taylor looked, and literally said, "our little girl's no longer a little girl," he asked her if she had ever heard of the game Twister since she's "kinda young."
Taylor attempted to combat the inane questions and comments with jokes.
She even tried telling him she wasn't exactly game-ready, but he kept pushing her.
Taylor then asked the hosts, rightfully so, if they had been making other musicians play Twister all day. They replied that they made Cowboy Crush do it (which, of course, is an all-girl band). She then asked if they had refused, to which one of them said, "of course not."
2.During the 1999 Academy Awards pre-show, Joan Rivers told Mariah Carey that people said she gained weight.
Mariah was minutes away from performing her and Whitney Houston's Oscar-nominated song "When You Believe" in front of millions of people. So this interview wasn't just embarrassing. It was honestly cruel.
Mariah handled it like a champ though, and fired right back at Joan.
3.In 2017, Graham Norton kept asking Cara Delevingne inappropriate questions while her dad was in the audience.
Graham brought up a time when she was having sex on a plane — something they had been talking about backstage. And even though Cara was visibly uncomfortable — clearing her throat, scratching her neck, and stammering — he wouldn't let up.
She even straight-up said she was embarrassed, but Graham continued pushing.
Seeing just how uncomfortable Cara was, actors Jessica Hynes and Martine McCutcheon tried to shift focus by declaring they were the ones on the plane with her.
Women supporting women. We love to see it.
4.In 2007, while she was promoting her movie, Why Did I Get Married?, Janet Jackson was very rudely asked about the completely unrelated (and four years old at the time) Super Bowl incident when Justin Timberlake exposed her breast.
Tyler Perry, who was also being interviewed about the film, quickly stepped in and deflected the question, saying that he hoped the Jets would make it to the Super Bowl that year.
The anchor didn't take the hint and kept asking questions, blaming her, and only her, for what happened.
At this point, Tyler became visibly upset, shifting in his seat. He, again, deflected, this time complimenting Janet on her acting abilities.
Then, in THE MOST disgusting part of the interview, that same anchor jokingly asked if Janet was wearing "iron suspenders."
When Tyler once again attempted to shift focus back to the movie, the anchor asked if there were any wardrobe malfunctions in the film.
5.In a 2012 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen badgered Taylor Swift to reveal her dating history.
During the interview, Ellen insisted several times, like to an annoying degree, that Taylor and Zac Efron were dating.
Then, when Taylor refused to tell Ellen who her song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was about, Ellen handed her a bell and instructed her to ring it when the person's picture appeared on screen.
When Taylor protested, Ellen took the bell and rang it for her, which made Taylor super uncomfortable. She told Ellen, "This makes me feel so bad about myself." Ellen finally eased up when Taylor literally yelled at her to stop.
6.While promoting Jennifer's Body on ET in Canada, Megan Fox had to sit through ridiculously misogynistic comments and questions.
After the interviewer posited that every man alive was in love with her, Megan tried to laugh it off with a joke.
But, the guy kept going, insisting that every conversation she had with a man must end with that man flirting with her.
Megan responded that she didn't socialize with a lot of people and called herself a "recluse."
She then squinted for a split second, and the interviewer replied, "See, now I think you're flirting with me."
7.While promoting The Avengers in Russia, Scarlett Johansson was scrutinized for wanting to...eat.
When Scarlett told the interviewer that she was excited to "tour the cuisine" in Russia, she automatically assumed that Scarlett was on some sort of diet.
Scarlett quickly clapped back and made it clear that there was no rumored "diet" preventing her from eating.
8.In her 2000 appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Mariah Carey was forced to defend a wardrobe choice.
At the start of the interview, Rosie showed a picture of Mariah at the American Music Awards and called her dress "trampy."
Before she let the conversation get any further, Mariah rolled her eyes and interrupted Rosie, declaring, "I have something to say!" Mariah went on to explain that she could wear whatever she wanted.
Rosie then attacked Britney Spears' outfit at the AMAs, calling it "trampy" as well, to which Mariah responded, "She's a nice girl."
9.At a press conference promoting her movie Battleship, Rihanna was asked about her personal life.
Before the interviewer even finished, Rihanna commented on the ridiculous question.
10.While appearing on a Denver morning show to promote her movie Skeleton Twins, Kristen Wiig was asked for nudity advice.
The host thought that Kristen appeared nude in Skeleton Twins when, in reality, he was thinking of an entirely different Kristen Wiig-led movie. So he not only asked her an extremely inappropriate question but he was also just flat-out wrong.
11.During a 2004 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah asked Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen their clothing size.
Right around the time of the twins' appearance on the show, there were rumors that Mary-Kate had an eating disorder, and the media was anything but kind about it.
Oprah asked the twins about the rumor, but as Ashley was explaining how rumors just "come with the territory," Oprah interrupted her to ask what size they were.
Ashley was clearly shocked by the incredibly rude and insensitive question.
When both Mary-Kate and Ashley said they didn't know their exact size since they're very petite (they're both just over five feet tall) and had to get their clothes taken in most of the time, Oprah condescendingly made fun of them.
12.And finally, while Sandra Bullock was promoting her movie The Proposal on The Today Show, Matt Lauer couldn't stop talking about her "nude" scene.
Matt literally started the interview by telling Sandra how excited he was that she appeared nude in the film. He repeated it multiple times and even joked it was his screen saver.
(I have to note that it's only implied that Sandra Bullock's character is naked. She doesn't actually show anything).
Sandra held her composure and made jokes until he moved on. But his last question brought her nakedness right back into the conversation.
Then when the interview was over, Sandra joked that she was never coming back.
She was completely deadpan when she said it, so I'd like to think she wasn't actually joking.
The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text “NEDA” to 741741.
