Celebrity Interviews Gone Awkward

August 5th, 2008

What happens on a talk show when the interviewer and their guest simply don’t connect? It could be the result of the interviewer asking an idiotic question or simply the guest is an idiot – but it’s when these situations get awkward that things actually get entertaining. It’s this sort of ridiculousness that I live for, therefore it is my duty to share a few of my favourite celebrity interviews that end up shit creek without a paddle.

10. Tom Cruise on the Red Carpet

When practical jokes go awry, things can get very awkward very quickly. Case in point: a red carpet interview where a microphone watergun squirted Tom Cruise in the face. It was mean-spirited, and yes the reporter was a “jerk,” but what we witnessed in the process is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood having a mini-breakdown that started off as surprise, transitioned into laughter, moved to a calm righteousness, and then ended in a creepy simmering anger. It truly was a fascinating up-close look into one of the most cryptic minds in Hollywood and showed that even the most plastic and showy of exteriors have their cracks. [WATCH]

9. Drew Barrymore on Letterman

In 1995, a 20-year old Drew Barrymore appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. It also happened to be the host’s birthday, so Drew, being the rebellious girl she was, decided to hop on his desk to give him a little celebratory dance – which ended with the actress flashing her jubliees at the birthday boy. The unflappable host was suddenly… flappable. The crowd cheered, but my parents were cringing. [WATCH]

8. Whitney Houston with Diane Sawyer

Crack is whack. When a “cleaned-up,” husky-voiced Whitney Houston uttered those three cute little words, the entire world felt embarrassed for her… and a fabulous catchphrase was born. [WATCH]

7. Madonna on Letterman

Note to self: Never introduce a guest as someone who has “slept with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry,” because then in walks Madonna who will proceed to call you a “sick f*ck” and continue to swear and then ask you to smell her panties and talk about Charles Barkley’s member and that “it hurt.” And then ask if your hair is a rug. And then smoke a cigar. All for 20 minutes! This (and more) happened on The Late Show with David Letterman back in the day when Madonna was “shocking”. Now her “shocking” consists of…. what exactly? Cutting tracks with Timbaland and grinding with Justin Timberlake? Come to think of it, this is more embarrassing than awkward… so moving on. [WATCH]

6. Zac Efron and Nikki Blonsky on MOD

On our very own MuchOnDemand, Matte Babel asked Zac Efron and Nikki Blonsky if their kiss in the hit movie Hairspray was natural enough to recreate on live TV. After some childish “ooohhhh’s” from the audience and co-stars, the duo went at it. Open mouthed. With tongue. Big and sloppy. Some people swooned, others were grossed out, however I was freaked out – this brings back too many horrible memories of preteen parties full of Spin The Bottle, Truth or Dare, and Seven Minutes In Heaven. Scarring, to say the least. [WATCH]

5. Omarosa on The Wendy Williams Show

Last month, Reality TV star/villain Omarosa went on The Wendy Williams Show to promote her upcoming book aptly titled The Bitch Switch. What followed was a very odd and unexplainable diatribe from Omarosa about not letting herself be disrespected by the host and THEN she wouldn’t even let Wendy show the damned book to the camera, madly snatching it out of her hand (which is an odd way to promote a book, let me tell you). Wendy tried to pull it together for the rest of the interview, but the juicy tension could not be ignored. Skeptics have said that it was a planned stunt, which both Omarosa and Wendy Williams deny, but to be honest, I had never even heard of this show until this drama went down – so hey, this planned/unplanned stunt worked! [WATCH]

4. Danny Devito on The View

Not too long ago, the The View gods smiled down upon us when an openly drunk Danny Devito walked onto the set of the estrogen-filled chatfest. Why was he drunk? George Clooney had bought him too many limoncellos the night before (no joke). The interview started off tame enough, but suddenly the little man started cursing, slurring, bashing the President and slapping himself in the face. Barbara Walters did not know what to do with herself. And suddenly when you thought it couldn’t get any odder, Danny Devito went ahead and sat on Rosie O’Donnell’s lap, Santa-style. George Clooney, you should be ashamed of yourself (for bringing us such an amazing 5 minutes of television). [WATCH]

3. Tom Cruise on Oprah

It was the couch jump heard around the world. This man is absolutely loony and I love him for it. [WATCH]

2. Paula Abdul on Fox News

Everyone thinks Paula is constantly drunk or high or… something. Reason being: her fragmented, slurred critiques on American Idol and… interviews like this one with Fox News. She was all over the place, unfocused and clearly not “with it.” She has blamed this on “technical difficulties” which supposedly resulted in multiple questions coming through her earpiece, but only a drunk or high person would fall for an explanation like that – sadly, for both her and me, I’m currently sober. [WATCH]

1. Anne Heche on 20/20

Let me state that Anne Heche is so confusing and interesting to me that I’m not even sure where to begin. Yes fine, she was practically married to Ellen Degeneres and then ended up marrying a man. But she speaks an alien language? Has an alien counterpart named Celestia? Hears God telling her she’s from Heaven? It all came out during a riveting 20/20 interview with none other than Barbara Walters who remained so “into” the conversation that I questioned HER sanity as well. Unfortunately all traces of this episode have been wiped clean off the internet (creepy, I know), but what remains is a quick snippet that has sadly been doctored, but still worth a look-see. It truly was one of the most awkward yet amazing celebrity interviews. [WATCH]

Posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 10:49 am by Soja and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture.