17 Body-Shaming Celebrity Interviews That Have Aged Really, Really, REALLY Poorly
1.
When Howard Stern tried to get Anna Nicole Smith to step on a scale (and tried to bribe her by saying he’d show her his penis):
E!
2.
And when Stern also shamed Carnie Wilson over her weight just weeks after her gastric bypass surgery, repeatedly telling her that she should lose 20–30 more pounds and questioning her about what she ate, telling her she could “knock off the cheese” and essentially saying getting surgery was lazy.
Steve Granitz / WireImage via Getty Images
3.
When Oprah asked Mary-Kate and Ashley what size they were, while referencing rumors of Ashley’s eating disorder.
OWN
5.
When Diane Sawyer questioned Whitney Houston on her weight, as well as if she had an eating disorder or was using drugs.
ABC
And then Sawyer asked Houston how much she weighed.
ABC
6.
When Barbara Walters asked Elizabeth Taylor if she was worried about gaining weight.
ABC
7.
When Barbara Walters asked Brooke Shields her measurements and made her stand up next to her when Shields was only 15, in an interview Shields has since called “practically criminal” and “not journalism.”
8.
And when she made Dolly Parton stand up to show off her body, then asked for her measurements…
ABC
…Also asking if she’d had breast implants and if she was full-figured as a kid.
ABC
9.
When Nicole Richie was asked about appearing “thicker” on The Simple Life.
10.
And in 2004, when Howard Stern also commented on Nicole Richie’s weight, discussing her photoshoot for Stuff Magazine and asking if she dieted for the shoot, saying it looked like she’d lost weight and looked good. Richie replied that she was eating healthy and working out. Stern then noted that “it’s hard too because Paris Hilton’s so goddamn skinny, even if you diet down and stuff, standing next to her, she’s like a twig … no matter how thin you get, you’ll be the big one.”
James Devaney / WireImage via Getty Images, Jean-paul Aussenard / WireImage via Getty Images
11.
Richie again appeared on the Stern radio show in 2005, when he actually tricked Richie into stepping on a hidden scale (before laughing about trying to play the same trick on Nicole Smith, while cow noises play in the background). He then asked Richie, “You’re not gonna gain the weight back, are you?”
J. Emilio Flores / Getty Images
12.
When British presenter Chris Evans weighed former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell on camera…
Channel 4
13.
…And did the same to Victoria Beckham on TFI Friday, checking to make sure she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight…
Channel 4
14.
…AND basically called Emma Bunton the “least fittest” of the Spice Girls.
Channel 4
15.
When an interviewer asked Jonah Hill if he was still “the fat guy in Hollywood.”
16.
When Anne Hathaway was asked how much weight she lost to fit in the Catwoman costume when she was promoting an entirely different film.
17.
And finally, when she was repeatedly asked about her diet and body for The Dark Knight Rises, in what was at least an interview for the film.
What’s the worst example of an interviewer body shaming a celeb or asking inappropriate questions that you can remember? Let us know in the comments!
