I recently saw a tweet asking people to name all the times a celebrity has “shut up” an interviewer (i.e. all the times a celebrity has surprised, left the interviewer speechless, taken them off guard, or corrected them).
The replies and examples shared were so awesome that I thought I'd round up some of my favorites to share with you. Let's get started:
1.
When Woody Allen asked Twiggy for her opinion on “serious issues,” like who her favorite philosopher was, she asked him the question back.
….and he just couldn't name one:
…And RuPaul stood up for Jimmy.
3.
Eartha Kitt couldn't help but laugh when asked if she would compromise for a man.
Four.
When Lady Gaga denied anti-trans Anderson Cooper's question about whether she has a penis:
Five.
Plus, she's so used to being pushed back that when an interviewer asked Lady Gaga if she thought sexual references detracted from her music, she roundly denounced it in the most eloquent and obnoxious way possible.
7.
when Dancing with the Stars After the judges criticized Simone Biles' on-stage personality and host Tom Bergeron commented that she didn't smile back at the judges, Simone responded:
8.
When the interviewer kept asking how Anne Hathaway looked in her Catwoman costume, Anne gave the perfect response:
9.
When an interviewer asked Britney Spears if she was jealous of Justin Timberlake (her then-boyfriend) kissing a co-star in a movie, she replied: intersection, And Britney told them:
Ten.
This list wouldn't be complete without including the time Ellen accused Dakota Johnson of not inviting her to her birthday party, and Dakota chastised her with the famous line, “Actually, that's not true, Ellen.”
Needless to say, when Ellen doubled down on the invitation, Dakota came back with the receipt and called on Ellen's producer (who was offstage) to verify if Ellen had really been invited.
11.
And when Ellen said Kim Kardashian's son's gold chain was fake, Kim responded:
12.
When Joe Rogan said, “They're all doing the same thing” RuPaul's Drag RaceMiley Cyrus quickly responded: “I watch your show and I feel the same way. We all feel the same way.”
13.
When Ariana Grande had to contend with sexist interview questions from two male radio DJs:
The interview got even worse when one of the hosts suggested that the unicorn emoji was for “girls” (yes, this was a 2015 interview, and a new emoji update had just been released).
14.
After being questioned by a reporter about his “ambiguous” line, Tom Hardy shut the reporter down by saying:
15.
When the interviewer asked Cher about her opinion of men…
…and then said this legendary line:
16.
In 1993, when a group of white people on a talk show panel suggested Tupac's music promoted “killing cops,” Tupac corrected them, saying his music spoke about police brutality, not “killing cops” as the media liked to put it.
17.
And finally, in the same interview, after a white woman condescendingly suggested that his music was a bad influence on “his people,” Tupac asked, “What do you know about my people?”
Okay, that's it! What are your favorite celebrity interview moments or rebuttals? Let me know in the comments!
