Sania Mirza
Back in 2016, tennis star Sania Mirza was pressed by senior anchor Rajdeep Sardesai about settling down. “That’s the question I face all the time as a woman,” she replied. “The first is marriage and then it’s motherhood. Unfortunately, that’s when we’re settled, and no matter how many Wimbledons we win or number ones in the world we become, we don’t become settled.”
Scarlett Johansson
It’s common for female actors starring in comic book movies to face patronising questions about weight and sensuality. During a press junket for The Avengers, Scarlett Johansson was repeatedly asked about her “underwear beneath the Black Widow costume.” Cheesed off, she told the interviewer to ask the film’s director Joss Whedon instead.
Matt Damon
Teachers being allowed tenure? That’s a cause close to Matt Damon’s heart. Back in 2011, a bald Damon put his Hollywood career on pause to argue with a libertarian reporter who challenged his protest and made a false equivalence between actors and teachers. “A teacher wants to teach,” he said. “Why else would you take a sh***y salary and work long hours?”
Vidya Balan
No matter how many great performances Vidya Balan delivers to audiences, lurking around the corner will always be at least one journalist eager to vocalise their interest in her weight. “I’m very happy with the work that I’m doing,” Balan said during a 2023 interview. “It would be great if your perspective changes.”
Taylor Swift
The media love Taylor Swift, and by “love” we mean they are constantly out to catch her off-guard. At the Grammy Awards in 2014, she was asked by ET’s Nancy O’Dell if she was thinking about taking not just a lot of awards home with her, but “lots of men”. “I’m not gonna walk home with any men tonight,” Taylor said after an intense stare. “I’m gonna hang out with my friends and then go home to my cats.”
Rihanna
Remember that Battleship film they made with Rihanna? Probably not. Terrible movie. The only thing anyone remembers from that period was when Riri was asked in a press conference if she would be seeing rumoured beau Ashton Kutcher anytime soon. The singer was visibly irritated and slammed the waste of a question.
Cate Blanchett
The red carpet is an archaic old place that hasn’t changed much in over 100 years. As such, not all those who walk down it are sold on each and every aspect. Take Cate Blanchett, who caught a cameraman panning down the length of her outfit, and body, during a pre-Oscars interview. Annoyed, Blanchett asked if he also did that to male celebrities.
Radhika Apte
Radhika Apte is one of Bollywood’s leading actors and, as a result, has to deal with a lot of press BS – usually about her body. In 2022, she was asked by one reporter if she thought she needed to be bold and controversial to be successful, making a nod to an intimate scene Apte had done. Apte said anyone concerned with other people’s bodies is ashamed of their own. Ouch.
Keira Knightley
At the Hollywood Film Awards in November 2014, actor Keira Knightley was asked how she managed to balance her personal life with her professional life. Translation: tell us about your plans to become a mother. Knightley made it clear she wasn’t happy with the question, asking the reporter if he was going to ask men the same thing.
Daniel Kaluuya
It’s not uncommon for films made by black people starring black people to be undermined by accusations of sycophancy. In 2018, Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya was asked whether he thought the film was nominated for Best Picture because it ticked a lot of boxes. He responded: “They’re not boxes though, articulating a black experience is not a box. We’re articulating our truth. We’re human beings.”
Priyanka Chopra
In response to a sexist question about men and women being different back in 2018, Priyanka Chopra said her idea of equality was, “The ability to get the job, to be the CEO and nobody questions when you’re driven at 50 and have three children, how you’re managing, don’t question me at all. That’s what I am saying. I can be a CEO and a mother.”
Sunny Leone
Grilled by Bhupendra Chaubey in 2016 on whether she was haunted by her past, Sunny Leone replied: “You’re the only person. It’s the press and the media that say holding back or haunt. I’ve never said haunt. I’ve never said held back. I am not held back. Maybe I don’t know yet. At this moment, I don’t know any better so it doesn’t affect my life.”
Joaquin Phoenix
So this one turned out to be fake, but for a few months before Phoenix dropped his mockumentary I’m Not Here, it was very real. Back in 2009, the actor – suddenly sheepish and unkempt – mumbled his way through a painful Letterman interview, at one point sticking chewing gum under his table in contempt.
Quentin Tarantino
Back in 2012, Quentin Tarantino appeared on Channel 4 news to plug Django Unchained and confirm he has no concept of a devil’s advocate. When Krishnan Guru-Murthy raised the subject of movie violence influencing real-life violence, the director flipped a lid and declared, “I’m shutting your butt down!”
Robert Downey Jr.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy has gotten himself in many celeb-related controversies at Channel 4 in the UK – just ask Quentin Tarantino and Richard Ayoade. During an Iron Man promo, he asked Robert Downey Jr. about his father and his relationship with drugs. The actor promptly stood up, called Guru-Murthy a “schmuck” and left.
Javier Bardem
At a 2023 press conference, Spanish actor Javier Bardem was asked: “How do you feel being the only man in the world who enjoys working with his wife?” in reference to his latest collaboration with his wife, Penelope Cruz. Taking a minute to digest the joke, he replied: “The question is of extremely bad taste.” The crowd broke into applause.
Hugh Grant
During a 2023 pre-Oscar interview, Hugh Grant appeared boorish and dismissive of guest host Ashley Graham’s questions, eventually rolling his eyes and walking away. “I could tell he didn’t want to be there, that was obvious,” she reflected. “Before, we were chatting – he was very pleasant. Then we started rolling, and he was like, ‘I don’t want to be here,’ and I was, ‘OK, work with me! I get it! But, like, work with me?'”
Jennifer Lawrence
You’d think Jennifer Lawrence would’ve been in a great mood after winning a Golden Globe award, but she was actually pressed. During a post-ceremony press conference at the 2016 show, Lawrence cut off an international journalist for reading a question from his phone. “You can’t live your whole life behind your phone, bro,” Lawrence said. “You just can’t do that.”
Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr has always been the Beatles’ punching bag. Even during a recent appearance on Loose Women he sat down and declared: “OK then, girls, what are we doing here? Shall we just get Paul McCartney out of the way? Let’s get Paul McCartney out of the way. You want to talk about Paul McCartney?”
Jim Carrey
In September 2017 while attending NYFW, Jim Carrey sounded off on the vacuous nature of celebrity during an interview. “Yeah I don’t believe in icons, I don’t believe in personalities. I believe that peace lies beyond personality, beyond the invention of the skies, beyond the red ‘S’ that you wear on your chest, that makes bullets bounce off. I believe that it’s deeper than that.”
Samuel L Jackson
In February 2014, a lazy reporter confused Samuel L Jackson for Laurence Fishburne. “We don’t all look alike!”, Samuel said in response. “We may all be black and famous, but we don’t all look alike! You’re busted. You’re an entertainment reporter? And you don’t know the difference between me and Laurence Fishburne?”
Kourtney Kardashian
Kourtney Kardashian, by family standards, remains quite good-humoured and unpretentious. But if you’re going to bring up a traumatic event from her past, it’s not going to end well. After being asked about her sister Kim’s Paris robbery on Australian TV, she took a vow of silence and pretended the feed had broken.
Mila Kunis
While on a press conference for Friends with Benefits, Mila Kunis wasn’t too happy with a journalist asking what possessed Justin Timberlake to make a jump from music to movies. “Well, what would you rather have him do?” the actress quipped. The fact the entire conversation was in Kunis’ native Russian made it so much better.
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill was Hollywood’s token fat guy for a few years at the tail end of the 2000s. Everybody knows that. But you’re not supposed to bring it up to him, in a professional interview. During a press junket in 2014, the Superbad actor shut down a question about his recent weight loss and whether he worried it would lose him work. “Do you have any questions that are smart?” he asked.
Brie Larson
During a press conference at the 2023 Cannes Festival, a reporter Brie Larson how she felt about the festival opening with Jeanne du Barry, Johnny Depp’s first film as a leading man in three years following legal disputes with Amber Heard. “You’re asking me that?” Larson sniped. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the correlation or why me specifically.”
Selena Gomez
In her documentary My Mind & Me, Selena Gomez is asked by a reporter what other work she has in mind. Gomez offers a long answer, which ends in her revealing a passion for philanthropy. The reporter then abruptly ends the interview saying, “That’s good for me.” Shocked, Gomez drones: “Wow. Thank you. Appreciate it. Felt like you really understood.”
Christina Hendricks
Christina Hendricks is famous for starring opposite Jon Hamm in Mad Men. Among internet pervs, she’s also famous for having large breasts. When an Australian Sun Herald reporter quizzed Hendricks about her being “full-figured” in 2012, the actress refused to answer any further questions in protest.
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx may be known for his acting work today, but he started in stand-up comedy. Normally, he has a great sense of humour about his life. But when it comes to his relationships? Nope. At the 2018 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, Foxx stormed off an interview when his rumoured squeeze Katie Holmes was brought up.
Cara Delevingne
Eight years prior to her awkward encounter with Martin Brundle at the Grand Prix, while promoting the 2015 film Paper Towns on Good Day, Cara Delevingne displayed early symptoms of, ‘I detest everything about press junkets’. After being accused of being “irritated”, Cara said: “I think that’s just you.”
Mel B
Scary Spice can handle herself perfectly well in most situations, but when you’re being quizzed first thing in the morning about your sexuality, it’s hard to play ball. In 2010, Mel B appeared on The Howard Stern Show only to walk off after a few minutes of the controversial host asking which Spice Girls she had slept with.
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda has aged better than a lot of people half, maybe a quarter of her age. In the 1980s, she got America fit with a hugely successful series of fitness videos. While being interviewed by Megyn Kelly in 2017, she was asked about how she wasn’t “proud” to admit she’d gotten plastic surgery along the way. “We really wanna talk about that now?!” the actress shot back.
Dakota Johnson
“Actually, no. That’s not the truth, Ellen.” And so began one of the most awkward celebrity interview moments of all time. Dakota Johnson was responding to Ellen’s joke that she hadn’t invited her to her birthday party. “You were invited,” she continued. “Last time I was on the show, last year, you gave me a bunch of s**t about not inviting you, but then I didn’t even know you wanted to be invited… I didn’t even know you liked me.”
Mike Tyson
After returning from hiatus, Tyson sat down to talk with Channel 9’s Russ Salzberg to promote his fight and rubbish the idea of him being an underdog. “I don’t know anything about the numbers,” the boxer said. “I know what I can do: I’m about killing this motherf***er. I’m talking to you the way I want to talk to you. You have a problem, turn off your station!”
Mel Gibson
When WGN-TV’s Dean Richards asked Mel Gibson if he felt he was a better person than he was five years ago back in 2010, the actor snarled: “I’ve moved on. But I guess you haven’t. That was a while back, and I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas, so … let’s move on, dude.” As the interview ended, Gibson called Richards an “a**hole”.
R. Kelly
Prior to arriving at the slammer, disgraced singer R. Kelly had a meltdown in front of CBSN’s Gayle King. “Stop it!” he begged. “Y’all quit playing. I didn’t do this stuff. It’s not me. I’m fighting for my f***ing life. Y’all are killing me with this s**t. I gave y’all 30 years of my f***ing career. I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids. Y’all don’t want to believe the truth.”
Tom Cruise
When 60 Minutes Australia’s Peter Overton asked Tom Cruise about his marriage to ex-wife Nicole Kidman in 2005, the Top Gun actor was quick to shut him down. “Listen, here’s the thing, Peter, you’re stepping over a line now…and you know you are. Take responsibility for what you want to know… This is a conversation that I’m having with you right now. So I’m just telling you right now, OK, just put your manners back in.”
Joan Rivers
The late Joan Rivers didn’t like people taking her too seriously. While promoting her new book in 2014 on CNN, she was asked about the uproar she’d get from wearing real fur on the cover. “You know this interview is becoming a very defensive interview,” Rivers said. “Are you wearing leather shoes? Then shut up.” She walked off shortly after.
Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne was not briefed about the kind of irreverent attitude Chanel 4’s Popworld had to celebrity interviews over in the UK. While chatting to Zane Lowe, the Sk8er Boi singer was asked if her engagement to Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley in Venice was ruined by the smell of eggs coming from the sea. Needless to say, she didn’t answer a single question after that.
Russell Brand
On the cusp of surrendering to the right-wing grift, Russell Brand appeared on Morning Joe and accused them of “casual objectification” after the interview fell apart. “Is this what you all do for a living?” he asked, after the three anchors failed to engage in civil conversation. Brand went on to scold them for failing to refer to him by name.
Peter Andre
Mysterious Girl singer Peter Andre put himself right in it when he agreed to sit down with Sky News a day after his ex-wife Katie Price married Alex Reid. When questioned about the possibility of Reid adopting his children, Andre got visibly emotional and said, “Nobody’s gonna take my kids away from me. I’d rather just stop this if that’s OK?”
Jerry Seinfeld
What’s the deal with not researching your guest? Back in 2007, Larry King triggered Jerry Seinfeld big time by asking if his eponymous sitcom had been cancelled. “You think I got cancelled?” Seinfeld asked. “You’re under the impression that I got cancelled? I thought that was pretty well documented. Is this still CNN? That was the number one show on television, Larry. Do you know who I am?”
