For years talk show hosts have been getting away with being high-key creepy to their female guests in the name of ‘entertainment.’ At the time, it would have been the end of your career as a woman to call out this shitty behaviour. Thankfully, a lot of this behaviour would not fly today, but it’s interesting to look back at these train-wreck interviews and really reflect on how much women (particularly celebs) have had to put up with over the years.
The interviews featured are honestly just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, you probably forgot about them because of how normalised they were at the time.
David Letterman sucking on Jenifer Aniston’s hair – 1998
Ahh this interview sucks so much (literally). In the interview, David Letterman asked if Jenifer Aniston was “naked” in a steam room and no shit, Sherlock. And at the 2.00 minute mark, Letterman randomly got up and sucked on a strand of Aniston’s hair. Yeah, it’s disgusting.
Drew Barrymore on Late Night with David Letterman – 1995
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFKeFlSP_W8&ab_channel=KimCasey
For some reason at the beginning of the interview there is a really prolonged zoom on Drew Barrymore‘s back and it just gets worse from there. Barrymore, clearly coked up, is only asked about how she did a nude performance at a dance bar and about a PlayBoy shoot she did. Oh yeah and halfway through she flashed her chest to Letterman. It’s wild.
Angelina Jolie on Late Night with David Letterman – 1998
Throughout this entire interview Angelina Jolie appeared uncomfortable and like she wanted to high-tail it out of there. During the interview David Letterman commented on how nice she smelled, her tattoos and martial status. YIKES. He also forgot the name of the movie she was even there to promote.
Margaret Qualley talks about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on Jimmy Kimmel – 2019
The interview is already off to a gross, condescending start when Jimmy Kimmel asked if Margaret Qualley is too young to appreciate Quentin Tarantino. Qualley is 26, so of course she knows Tarantino. I saw Reservoir Dogs when I when I was like 13. It’s not weird for a young woman to know who he is.
Kimmel also asked Qualley about her feet, because we all know Tarantinto loves his feet (which is a whole thing in itself). This is then followed by ten minutes of Kimmel asking about her Dad (not her) and then finally ending on the really thought-provoking issue of armpit hair *sighs*.
Uma Thurman gets hit on my David Letterman – 1995
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwpG-eSTHaU&ab_channel=MyTalkShowHeroes
In yet another uncomfortable interview with David Letterman, Letterman asked Uma Thurman a bunch of invasive and creepy questions, like how her divorce was going and whether she’d date an older man. Which is code for, ‘will you fuck an old man like me?’
Thurman doesn’t even get to talk about her upcoming film for five seconds before Lettermen said: “I’m not talking about the film now, I’m talking about you.”
Conan O’Brien stares at Nicole Scherzinger’s boobs – 2011
Whatever you do don’t read the comments for this one, it will make you explode with rage over people’s victim blaming mentality. During the entire interview Conan O’Brien stared at Nicole Scherzinger‘s boobs and eventually she called him out and said: “Focus, Conan.” Conan then defended himself by suggesting that it’s her fault for dressing so provocatively and nah that’s not it, chief.
Jay Leno interview with Gordon Ramsay and Sophia Vergara – 2010
This time it wasn’t the host that was creepy to his guest, it was actually one of the other guests who was gross. In a Jay Leno interview with Gordon Ramsay and Sofia Vergara, the angry chef repeatedly touched Vergara and made her uncomfortable. Thankfully, Vergara is a queen and handled the situation super well.
Leno also intrusively asked the Modern Family star about how much weight she gained on her holiday, and um WTF??? Not only that but both Leno and Ramsay mocked her accent as well as her son’s name. The entire interview is wrong on so many levels.
