Interviews with celebrities are a cornerstone of pop culture. While these interviews generally go off without a hitch, they occasionally go off the rails a bit.
Whether the celeb is a little too prickly about a question, or an interviewer goes too far in a line of questioning, these moments are bound to happen from time to time. Let’s relive some of the more memorable examples.
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Rashida Jones was asked how she got so “tan.”
A red carpet interview with the movie star went off the rails a bit when interviewer Danielle Demski told Jones she looked “tan.”
Jones replied, “Yeah, I’m ethnic.”
T-Swift was asked about those songs about her exes.
The singer was asked about this in an interview with Sophie Monk and Merrick Watts. She responded by accurately pointing out that nobody asks Bruno Mars those questions.
Hasan Minhaj didn’t like Ellen mispronouncing his name.
When Ellen butchered the pronunciation of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s name, he responded.
“If you can pronounce Ansel Elgort,” he said, “You can pronounce Hasan Minhaj.”
Jane Fonda wasn’t down with Megyn Kelly’s questions.
In a 2017 interview on Megyn Kelly Today , the host asked Jane Fonda about plastic surgery.
“You admit you’ve had work done, which I think is to your credit,” said Kelly.
Fonda gave Kelly a withering look, and asked, “We really want to talk about that now?”
Tom Hardy didn’t like a reporter asking about his sexuality.
The movie star was fielding questions when a reporter asked, in a roundabout way, about his sexuality.
Hardy asked directly if the reporter was asking about his sexuality, then went on to leave the interview.
ScarJo shut down a creepy interviewer.
Scarlett Johansson was asked, for some creepy reason, about the underpants she was wearing.
She first confirmed that the interviewer was, in fact, being creepy and inappropriate, before saying, “Was I wearing underwear? Gosh, what kind of interview is this?!”
Laverne Cox put Katie Couric in her place.
In a discussion with trans model Carmen Carrera, interviewer Katie Couric appeared preoccupied with Carrera’s genitalia.
In a later interview, trans actress Laverne Cox stepped in to educate Couric. “The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people,” said Cox. “Then, we don’t get to deal with the real, lived experiences.”
Anne Hathaway turned the tables on an interviewer.
In an interview to promote The Dark Knight Rises , Jerry Penacoli asked Hathaway about weight loss and would…not…let…it…go.
After Hathaway tried politely to deflect the questions, she eventually asked Penacoli, “Are you trying to lose weight? Seriously, we have to talk about this. What do you want? Are you trying to fit in a catsuit? Is that it?”
Ariana Grande is not here for any sexism.
Grande was asked by a radio host about choosing between her phone and makeup.
“Is this men assuming that’s what girls would have to choose between?” she asked. “When I’m at a dinner table, I like to be present and talking, making eye contact.”
The host said, “Ladies, learn!”
Grande shot back, “Boys, learn! Come on, boys and girls, we can all learn!”
Ricky Martin felt ‘violated’ by Barbara Walters.
The pop star is out of the closet now, but he wasn’t when Barbara Walters interviewed him in 2000.
Walters peppered him with questions about his sexuality. He told People that he might have come out during that interview if Walters hadn’t been so invasive.
Robert Downey Jr. walked right out.
In a talk show interview with Robert Downey Jr., the interviewer grilled the actor about his past substance abuse.
“What are we doing?” asked Downey. “Bye.”
He then walked out.
Mariah Carey shut down Carson Daly.
At the peak of the TRL era in 2001, Mariah Carey kind of owned host Carson Daly.
Daly said her “Loverboy” shirts were only for women, to which Carey replied, “A guy can wear this. What’s wrong with a guy wearing this? We love all types of people.”
Mariah Carey, round two.
A year earlier, Carey appeared on Rosie O’Donnell’s show. O’Donnell wasted little time before calling the singer “trampy.”
“If I want to show my body in a dress, I’m gonna show it,” replied Carey.
Dakota Johnson didn’t want to play along with Ellen.
Actress Dakota Johnson appeared on The Ellen Show and wouldn’t play along with host Ellen DeGeneres’ joke.
When Ellen asked Johnson why she wasn’t invited to Johnson’s birthday party, she was met with the all-time classic line, “Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen, you were invited.” She then went on to say that she wasn’t sure if Ellen even liked her.
Simone Biles’ epic clapback.
When world-class gymnast Simone Biles appeared on Dancing With The Stars , host Tom Bergeron told Biles she should smile more.
“Smiling doesn’t win you gold medals,” Biles shot back.
