13 Times Celebs Held Nothing Back And Called Out Their Worst Experiences With Talk Show Hosts And Interviewers

This post contains mentions of suicide.

There are plenty of reasons a famous person might appear on a talk show, from promoting a new project to sharing their side of a viral story. They'd reasonably expect professionalism, empathy, or basic respect from the host — but they unfortunately don't always get it.

Here are 13 times celebrities opened up about their terrible experiences with talk show hosts:

1. On a 2024 episode of The Pit Stop , Trixie Mattel recalled a terrible interview experience, appearing to reference her recent appearance on The Zach Sang Show .

Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 7:05 mark:

This is the interview Trixie seemed to be referencing:

Here's the full video, with this part starting at the 7:49 mark:

2. On a 2024 episode of the Cancelled with Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield podcast, Brooke Schofield called out Zach Sang for discussing her breakup with Clinton Kane (whom she later called out as an alleged liar in a series of TikToks) on his show before she was ready for the situation to be public.

Brooke said that, at the time, her biggest fear was the story about her situation with Clinton coming out. After Zach spoke about it on his show with Tana, Brooke reached out to ask him to delete it from the episode because she wasn't ready. She said that he ghosted her, kept it in the episode, and never apologized — but instead invited her on The Zach Sang Show.

She explained that she felt "cornered" during the interview because there were seven cameras on her and said that Zach never texted her separately. So, when she saw him post about sending Finneas flowers for no reason, she felt hurt.

Here's the full episode, with this part starting at the 1:17:17 mark:

3. In 1999, TFI Friday presenter Chris Evans made Victoria Beckham, who was two months postpartum, get on a scale to prove she'd "bounced back" to her pre-pregnancy weight.

In 2022, she told Vogue Australia , "I'd just had Brooklyn and lost a lot of weight after. It happened to my mum after her pregnancies. It doesn't mean you have an eating disorder. And he made me stand on scales and be weighed. Can you imagine doing that nowadays?"

Here's the interview clip, with this part starting at the 3:23 mark:

4. When Mariah Carey appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2008, she wasn't ready to share the news of her pregnancy with the public. Ellen, however, pressured her to drink champagne to "toast to [Mariah] not being pregnant" – coercing her into announcing her pregnancy.

In 2020, Mariah told Vulture , "I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say. And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath."

Here's the interview clip:

5. On a 2020 episode of the Dutch talkshow De Wereld Draait Door , YouTuber Nikkie de Jager (aka Nikkie Tutorials) reflected on her The Ellen DeGeneres Show appearance a few weeks prior. Translated to English, she reportedly told host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk, "It's really nice that you came over and said hello to me...She didn't."

A few months later, Nikkie told the Dutch magazine &C , "Call me naive, but I kind of expected to be welcomed with confetti cannons: 'Welcome to The Ellen DeGeneres Show !' Instead, I was greeted by an angry intern who was a bit overworked. I was expecting a Disney show but got Teletubbies After Dark ."

6. When Mel B appeared on The Big Narstie Show in 2022, she name-dropped a few "dickhead" celebrities — including The Late Late Show host James Corden.

Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the mark:

7. In 2020, Erica Durance told the Inside of You podcast about her experience in 2006 during her appearance on The Howard Stern Show , which left her in tears.

Then, she brought up the "worst experience" she had on the show.

Watch the full clip of Erica discussing her experience below:

8. When Liam Neeson appeared on The View in 2023, co-host Joy Behar kept derailing the conversation to bring up her crush on him.

Later, he told Rolling Stone , "I was in the dressing room drinking a cup of tea, turned the TV up, and I thought, oh, this will be great. They're talking about gun violence in America, and I agree that it's an American problem. I go onstage and join the ladies during the break, and I was congratulating them on this discussion. And then our segment starts, and it's just all this BS with Joy [Behar] and Liam Neeson and having a crush, and I've known Whoopi for years and Joy a little bit, but I just wasn't impressed. I'm uncomfortable in those situations, you know?"

9. When Maya Rudolph made her debut appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2009, he said her name wrong.

In 2022, she told the Wall Street Journal , "I did not have a good time. He said my name wrong, and I just sat there, like, I grew up my whole life in love with you. And now my heart is broken. And I'm sitting here embarrassed and humiliated. I didn't know how to handle it. I didn't know how to come up with something funny to say. My public persona muscle wasn't strong yet."

Here's the interview clip:

10. In 1981, when then-15-year-old Brooke Shields was under fire for her "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing" ad campaign, she sat down with Barbara Walters for an interview special. Barbara asked her invasive questions about her body and her sexual history.

In 2021, Brooke told the Armchair Expert podcast, "It's practically criminal. It's not journalism."

Here's a clip from the Barbara Walters interview:

11. In 2000, Barbara Walters pressured Ricky Martin to address rumors about his sexuality.

In 2021, he told People , "When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out. I was very afraid. There’s a little PTSD with that."

Here's a clip from the interview:

12. When then-20-year-old Cindy Crawford appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside Elite Model Management founder John Casablancas in 1986, Oprah told her to stand up and show the audience her body.

On the Apple TV+ series The Super Models in 2023, Cindy said, "I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard. When you look at it through today's eyes, Oprah's like, 'Stand up and show me your body. Show us why you're worthy of being here.'"

Here's the full interview clip, with this part starting at the 0:53 mark:

13. And finally, in a 1996 joint interview with The Birdcage costars Nathan Lane and Robin Williams, Oprah Winfrey brought up speculation about Nathan's sexuality. Knowing Nathan wasn't ready to come out publicly yet, Robin diverted the conversation with a joke.

In 2020, Nathan told Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist , "I don't think Oprah was trying to out me, but I said to Robin beforehand: 'I'm not prepared. I'm so scared of going out there and talking to Oprah. I'm not prepared to discuss that I'm gay on national television, I'm not ready.' And [Robin] said, 'Oh, it's alright, don't worry about it, we don't have to talk about it, we won't talk about it.'"