Just as an interview can send a celeb’s star power soaring, an ill-thought out comment can destroy careers.
One calamitous interview is enough to send a star back into the fame wilderness – whether it was because of what they said or in many cases, what they didn’t say.
And no one is safe from the fallout of a bad interview, even royalty, as Prince Andrew famously found out in 2019.
From TV stars like Katherine Heigl to Hollywood heartthrob Charlie Sheen and legendary sports stars, some huge A-listers have fallen on their own sword.
We take a look back at some of the most famous car crash interviews.
Charlie Sheen
In 2015 actor Charlie Sheen faced outrage and lawsuits after revealing on TV that he was HIV-positive.
Speaking to Matt Lauer on Today, Charlie revealed that he had had the virus for ‘roughly four years’ and had informed all of his sexual partners since that time.
But hours after the bombshell interview a different story began to unfold.
In 2015 actor Charlie Sheen faced outrage and lawsuits after revealing to Matt Lauer on Today that he was HIV-positive
The actor’s former girlfriend Bree Olson made an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, claiming that Sheen never once revealed to her that he is HIV-positive, and said later in a separate interview; ‘He’s a monster.’
In 2015 Sheen’s ex-fiancee, Brett Rossi, filed a lawsuit saying they had had sex five times before she found out he was HIV-positive. Rossi alleged that Sheen exposed her to HIV.
She also claimed that she was physically and emotionally abused. Her suit, which was filed in December 2015, was later referred to arbitration.
In a follow up interview with Lauer in 2016 the actor backtracked and admitted that he had hidden the diagnosis from at least two sexual partners, but said he used protection both times.
Not long after the second interview authorities considered launching an investigation against Sheen amidst claims that he had exposed several other women to the sexually transmitted disease without warning them.
Then, in 2022 Sheen settled a 2017 lawsuit with his ex-girlfriend who claimed he exposed her to HIV.
In a follow up interview with Lauer in 2016 the actor backtracked and admitted that he had hidden the diagnosis from at least two sexual partners
The actor agreed to pay the unnamed woman $120,000 in monthly installments over the course of a year, according to the stipulation filed to LA County Superior Court.
The anonymous woman who filed the suit, also referred to as Jane Doe, previously informed court that, upon meeting Charlie, she signed an NDA out of fear.
Charlie – who, aside from a brief cameo appearance in an episode of Bookie, hasn’t had any acting roles since 2017.
He went to court in 2018 to seek a reduction in his child support payments to ex-wives Brooke Mueller and Denise Richards, explaining that he was in a ‘dire financial crisis’.
Lance Armstrong
Decorated cyclist Lance Armstrong ended years of denials with a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey in 2013, confessing that he used a litany of banned substances while winning seven Tour de France races.
Four months previously the sportsman had been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life, following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams.
Decorated cyclist Lance Armstrong ended years of denials with a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey in 2013, confessing that he used a litany of banned substances
When Armstrong chose not to fight the charges, USADA banned him for life. They stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles and erased all of his results since August 1, 1998. But Armstrong responded by tweeting a picture of himself with his collection of yellow jerseys.
It wasn’t until his sit down with Oprah months later that the cyclist finally confessed.
Recalling his years of angry, often public denials, Armstrong shocked viewers by laughing as he admitted: ‘Yeah, yeah, I was a bully. … I was a bully in the sense that I tried to control the narrative … say that’s a lie, they’re liars.’
Armstrong, once a hero to millions, suffered a spectacular fall from grace that cost him millions of dollars in lawsuits and endorsements. He reportedly lost $75million of sponsorship income in a day.
Katherine Heigl
US actress, Katherine Heigl has long been blasted for reputedly causing ‘desperately difficult situations’ on set.
And Katherine famously upset Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen after badmouthing their critically-acclaimed romantic comedy Knocked Up – which amassed $219.1M at the box office – to Vanity Fair in 2008.
Katherine Heigl famously upset Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen (pictured with Heigl in the movie) after badmouthing their critically-acclaimed romantic comedy Knocked Up
She famously said the hit movie which she had the lead role in ‘was hard for me to love’ dubbing it ‘a little sexist’.
She also burned a big bridge that same year with her Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes after publicly dissing the medical drama’s writing.
After Knocked Up – the two-time Golden Globe nominee starred in a string of romantic comedy duds like Killers, One for the Money, The Big Wedding, Jackie & Ryan, Home Sweet Hell, and Jenny’s Wedding.
Prince Andrew
Emily Maitlis’ Newsnight interview about the Prince Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender was watched live by 1.7 million Britons
In November 2019, over 58 minutes, Prince Andrew’s reputation and any hope of a working future with the Royal Family came crashing down.
Emily Maitlis’ Newsnight interview about the Prince’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender was watched live by 1.7 million Britons.
Andrew was pilloried for his TV performance because of a lack of contrition for his friendship with the paedophile and his failure to express sympathy for the dozens of women Epstein trafficked and abused over three decades.
His alibis for not having sex with Virginia Roberts three times, including being in Woking’s Pizza Express and his claim that he cannot sweat, have also been widely ridiculed by the public.
One of the first to jump was KPMG, which pulled the plug on its sponsorship of Prince Andrew’s Dragons Den-style entrepreneur scheme Pitch@Palace. KPMG was paying £100,000 a year to the scheme.
Charities and schools linked to Prince Andrew were also in disarray as they distanced themselves from the under-fire royal.
The Queen then ‘sacked’ Prince Andrew from royal duties after discussing the crisis with Prince Charles and summoning her distraught ‘favourite son’ to Buckingham Palace to learn his fate.
The interview, and the fallout, was chronicled in two films, Netflix hit Scoop and Prime’s s A Very Royal Scandal, heaping further embarassment on Andrew and his family.
Michael Jackson
Martin Bashir’s interview with Jackson was aired in the explosive 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson on ITV.
The documentary was credited with sparking a child sex abuse prosecution against the star, in which Bashir testified.
In one particular segment the singer defended sleeping alongside then 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, a cancer patient who was staying at his ranch, telling Bashir: ‘Why can’t you share your bed? That’s the most loving thing to do, to share your bed with someone.’
Martin Bashir’s interview with Jackson was aired in the explosive 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson on ITV
When pressed further by Bashir, Jackson continued to refuse any suggestion that it was inappropriate to share his bed with children, claiming that it was a pure and completely innocent act.
After the documentary’s sensational release, Neverland was raided and Jackson charged with four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation, one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive, and conspiring to commit extortion and child abduction.
Jackson was acquitted of all charges in 2005.
The popstar maintained he had been duped by Bashir. Two years later, during the pop star’s trial for alleged child abuse and extortion, Mr Bashir faced intense questioning over his conduct.
Jackson’s family accused Bashir of using ‘manipulated footage and unethical journalism’.
Belle Gibson
Lifestyle influencer Belle Gibson gave an infamous TV interview with Channel Nine journalist Tara Brown on 60 Minutes Australia in 2015
Lifestyle influencer Belle Gibson rose to prominence in 2012 as a self-proclaimed health guru who had ‘cured’ her own brain cancer through healthy eating, clean living and ‘positive thinking.’
Within a year, her inspirational Instagram account @healing_belle had amassed thousands of followers, many of them hopeful cancer sufferers, who would go on to download her wellness app, The Whole Pantry, and buy her cookbook of the same name.
Throughout it all, Gibson claimed her earnings – reportedly more than $1 million – would be donated to various cancer charities.
But there was just one big problem: Gibson never had cancer, and eventually her empire came crashing down after two Australian journalists discovered she had been lying about it all – not just her disease, but her philanthropy too.
Four months after Melbourne’s The Age newspaper released an investigation into Gibson’s claims of donating proceeds to charity, the influencer gave an infamous TV interview with Channel Nine journalist Tara Brown.
Brown said that Gibson appeared to be polite and ‘friendly’ when she first arrived for interview.
However, her inability to directly answer even the most basic questions – such as her age – exhausted the veteran interviewer.
After reviewing Gibson’s non-existent cancer diagnosis and the apparent lying doctor who falsely told her she had a brain tumour, Brown questioned why Gibson withheld medical documents which would prove her story true.
‘We’ve already asked for background information. We’ve asked for all your medical records and your medical history,’ Brown told Gibson in 2015.
‘You haven’t given us any dates. You haven’t given us any brain scans, you haven’t given us any MRIs, you haven’t given us any tissue tests.
‘You haven’t given us anything.’ Gibson replied: ‘I wasn’t explicitly asked for any of that, but I have it.’
Seemingly fed-up, Brown answered: ‘Belle, Belle, Belle, please. You’re interested in getting to the bottom of this and presenting the facts as they are, or you’re not, okay?’
Reflecting on the moment 10 years on, Brown said: ‘She had fooled the world, in a dangerous way.
After a drawn-out and dramatic case against the Federal Court of Australia, she was ordered by the court in 2017 to pay AU$410,000 (US$257,000) for her false claims of charitable donations
‘I didn’t want her to be upset but it didn’t mean that she should have avoided the questions.
Despite swindling millions, Gibson never faced any jail time.
After a drawn-out and dramatic case against the Federal Court of Australia, she was ordered by the court in 2017 to pay AU$410,000 (US$257,000) for her false claims of charitable donations.
Combined with her legal fees, she must cough up about half a million dollars (US$313,000).
It’s been almost a decade since then and she hasn’t paid the fine.
Gerald Ratner
Gerard Ratner built his family business Ratner Group into an empire of bling in the 1980s. At its peak, Ratners was the UK’s largest jewellery chain with 2,500 stores, including 1,000 in the US, and a turnover of nearly £200 million a year.
when he told a conference of the Institute of Directors at the Albert Hall that a product was ‘total c**p’.
‘We do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95,’ he said, gearing up for his punchline.
Gerard Ratner built his family business Ratner Group into an empire of bling in the 1980s but Mr Ratner’s humour became his undoing in April 1991
‘People say, ‘How can you sell this for such a low price?’. I say, ‘Because it’s total crap’.
‘An M&S prawn sandwich would last longer than most of the earrings the company sold,’ he added.
Ratner later apologised, saying newspapers misinterpreted his speech. But the fallout led to a plunge in sales and £500 million being wiped off the value of the business almost overnight.
Ratner said he slid into depression and was unable to get out of bed for years. The episode achieved legendary status among businesspeople, with ‘doing a Ratner’ referring to executive gaffes.
He recovered after taking up cycling and returned to the business world in 1996 when he started a health club which he sold for £4million in 2001.
He also built a career on the after-dinner speaking circuit, charging up to £6,000 a gig.
John Mayer
Singer and notorious playboy John Mayer apologised after make a string of derogatory comments in a 2010 interview with Playboy.
Among the shocking comments was the popstar’s declaration that he was not open to having sex with black women, describing his penis as ‘sort of like a white supremacist’.
He also described his brief 2006 relationship with Jessica Simpson as an addiction. ‘That girl was like crack cocaine to me…Sexually, it was crazy. That’s all I’ll say. It was like napalm, sexual napalm,’ he said.
Jessica wrote about her ex’s comments in her 2020 memoir, confessing that she was ‘floored and embarrassed’ by Mayer’s words. ‘He talked about me by name in the most degrading terms,’ she wrote.
Singer and notorious playboy John Mayer apologised after make a string of derogatory comments about his ex Jessica Simpson in a 2010 interview with Playboy
The singer also apologised for using a racist slur during the interview.
‘What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” he told Playboy. ‘And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a [N-word] pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass?’
He added: ‘But I said, ‘I can’t have a hood pass.’ I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.”
‘I am sorry that I used the (‘N’) word. And it’s such a shame that I did because the point I was trying to make was in the exact opposite spirit of the word itself,’ Mayer said in a Twitter posting days after the interview was published.
‘It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it because I realize that there’s no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged,’ he added, saying he would never say the word again.
Following the interview, Mayer largely withdrew from public life and insisted he would not give any more interviews.
Among the shocking comments was the popstar’s declaration that he was not open to having sex with black women, describing his penis as ‘sort of like a white supremacist’
R Kelly
During a 2008 interview journalist Touré, who was with BET at the time, asked R Kelly point-blank whether or not he liked underaged girls.
Touré later recounted his experience in piece for The Daily Beast, writing: ‘As soon as I heard that R. Kelly was going to talk to me, I know it was a huge opportunity to get after the truth.’
‘And I think the tool to get it was chosen at the last second; one of the questions I asked R. Kelly was, ‘Do you like *underage* girls?’ and as soon as I asked it, before Kelly could speak, his crisis manager, a stern and serious man in a stuffy suit, jumped up and yelled, ‘No, you can’t ask that!”
‘He filled the air with noise to halt the production and let Kelly breathe. But Kelly stopped him. No, he said, I want to answer this. So the crisis manager sat down. But this time I didn’t ask ‘Do you like *underage* girls?”
During a 2008 interview journalist Touré asked R Kelly point-blank whether or not he liked underaged girls
‘At the last second I changed it to say; ‘Do you like *teenage* girls?’ I think because I wanted something more clear—underage feels legalistic and up for debate whereas everyone knows what a teenager is. But of course, Kelly completely flubbed the question.’
The singer responded: ‘When you say teenage, how old are we talking?’ After the journalist clarified ’19 and younger,’ Kelly replied: ‘I have some 19 year old friends.’
The interview went viral but the star continued to have a career.
Kelly was convicted in 2021 and 2022 for racketeering, sex trafficking, child pornography and enticement.
A New York City federal court sentenced him to 30 years in prison in 2022 and he was sentenced to 20 years in jail in a Chicago federal court the year after.
