Top 20 Most Confrontational Talk Show Moments

shots fired welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 most confrontational talk show moments for this list we're looking at the most combative back and forths on talk shows we'll be excluding staged confrontations like jerry lawler's fight with andy kaufman on david letterman [Applause] number 20 aziz ansari calls out cbs the late show with stephen colbert representation has been a topic of discussion in show business for a long time and it's something that aziz ansari has spoken candidly about steven's the first late night host from south carolina right and the bajillionth white guy so during an interview with stephen colbert the parks and rec comedian took some not so subtle jabs at cbs's track record when it comes to diversity and ansaria managed to do it while still being funny this is like an all-time high for cbs yeah fortunately colbert was able to roll with it and poke some fun of his own diffusing potential awkwardness and making it easy to focus on the comedian's point i've written the best-selling book uh modern love modern romance sorry modern really this is called modern roman really my card says modern oh somebody's gonna get fired wow god i got i hope it's a white guy number 19 abel ferrara awkward interview late night with conan o'brien conan o'brien has interviewed almost every celebrity imaginable so the fact the host picked abel ferrara as his most difficult interview means something about the conan there you go all right cool all right you just passed our sobriety test here all right i know from the very start the accomplished filmmaker comes across as though he'd rather be anywhere else yeah beat him up you can beat him up why didn't she be tomorrow why didn't she why did she want you to beat up harvey kaitel tell me why despite conan's best efforts to get a conversation going ferrara mostly mumbles through a couple of half stories about madonna and harvey keitel while playing around with a cigarette as awkward as this interview is there is almost a comedic brilliance to it especially since it kind of ends on a punch line able frog will be right back yeah we're gonna number 18 norman mailer versus gore vidal the dick cavett show i'd really like to get into a discussion with gore he's been saying absolutely uh uh unspeakable things about me he's been acting even worse than he usually does as a polemicist and uh you know you know he's really uh he's shameless an intellectual argument he's absolutely without character a moral foundation or even intellectual substance the dick cabot show had its share of explosive sessions over the years but few compared to the sheer ferocity that defined norman mailer and gore vidal segment norman did a book on women's liberation and his attitudes towards sex some very interesting some quite outrageous his very anti-women's liberation piece and he was very mean to a couple of the girls particularly kate millett and i answered this his piece and a number of others you know i know norman is taking everything too personally while everyone got their licks in mailer was the driving force behind this confrontational debate with the writer mocking vidal's career personality and pretty much everything besides his political campaign i guarantee you i wouldn't hit any of the people here because they are smaller in what ways [Laughter] intellectually intellectually smaller well let's let me turn my chair and join these three perhaps you'd like two more chairs to contain your giant intellect mailer even challenged cabot and the audience's intelligence while aboard janet flanner sat there like a frustrated teacher presiding over a couple of school children while things never quite got violent on screen mailer reportedly head-butted vidal earlier that night hey can i talk to the audience why don't you fold it five ways and put it where the moon don't shine number 17 a rude interruption the wendy williams show few things can ruin a person's focus quite as instantly as a ringing phone somebody phone on yeah get out get out during a recording of the wendy williams show the host found her train of thought interrupted by the sound of a ringtone a crime that could not go unpunished at that moment wendy williams uttered the phrase anyone who's ever been stuck in a theater with a disruptive audience member has always wanted to say tickets are free but when you come here you must turn your phones off although williams defused the situation within a few seconds that does not mean that the host's initial frustration was not genuine number 16 vince mcmahon vs bob costas on the record with bob costas vince mcmahon thanks for coming vince pleasure xfl ratings are down 75 from week one they now rival the lowest ratings ever in prime time not just for a sports program but for any television show can you guarantee me right now that there will be a year two for the xfl while some discussions start gently and gradually grow more confrontational bob costa's interview with wwe's vince mcmahon is underpinned by a palpable fierceness right from the start but in most people's minds not with prestige because of the type of programming you're associated with on the other hand nbc has prestige they risked not just dollars they risked prestige coming across more like an interrogation than a discussion costas grilled his guest on the failings of the xfl a then new football league created by mcmahon that would ultimately go bust within a year of debuting while also not painting professional wrestling in the most positive light you want to let me finish here for a second pal i'm asking you the question shut your mouth and let me answer the question all right i'll be happy to answer let me finish by the time the interview came to an end mcmahon appeared on the verge of body slamming the host although the pair would meet up for a much more cordial episode a year later number 15 bill maher kicks out an audience member real time with bill maher this long-running show tackles sensitive and controversial topics using irreverent humor that adds to the debates without necessarily overshadowing them like i even boy sometimes here at cbs i wish the sound wasn't working typically cool is a cucumber bill maher is always in command and does not react kindly to any attempts to hijack a panel especially from hecklers while the first heckler received a personal goodbye from mar the tension only escalated from there as waves of unrest echoed from the audience [Applause] i'll kick your ass out of here too through it all mars still manages to get a couple of laughs although each one-liner is fueled by anger number 14 patti labelle isn't having it the tyra banks show who knew that a pretty short conversation revolving around cupcakes and paper could be so uncomfortable there's paper on it yeah you can't eat the paper nope now these are made and touch them with your hands that is true two kinds of cake mix what seems to start out as a genuine misunderstanding between hungry girl cookbook writer lisa lillian and guest patti labelle regarding the paper surrounding the cupcakes quickly turns into an improv session with cringe-worthy attempts at humor and condescending remarks all things considered labelle managed to keep her cool despite being spoken to like a toddler while the animosity dies down relatively quickly a segment about cupcakes should never have been this tense to watch diet hot cocoa what is that over there cheers what made you think i think i could eat the paper paper no no paper paper bag okay the incident was so infamous that it inspired a 2020 saturday night live sketch starring snl cast member eggo wodem as labelle stand in cookie lefloof and host daniel craig as the put upon celebrity chef well don't eat the foil what uh the aluminium foil on the just just don't eat the foil that's i don't want to eat the foil okay and make it sure don't eat the foil who is this man number 13. morton downey jr vs seika the morton downey jr show in hindsight the morton downey jr show was closer to programs like the jerry springer show than modern day talk shows 10 bookstores yes at 23 years old folks isn't this a wonderful country 23 years old you had 10 where'd you get your money from i started out with one store very small mom didn't give you the money mob the pilot episode dealing with the adult film industry instantly established the tone for the show as the host utilized an aggressive interviewing style designed to put actress seika immediately on the defensive how about do you agree with the fact that uh do you agree with the fact that 50 of all porn is controlled by the mob and 90 of all money made from hard porn through the distribution is handled by the mob you believe with that you don't believe with that the live audience ate up downey's savage takedown of his guest even if the whole thing comes across as a sensationalist stunt that sought to belittle seika for easy ratings you damn right it makes them right i'd much rather hear it from those people who have studied it than from someone who's laid down with everyone that they can find in a porn film it's hardly surprising that seka walked out during a commercial break number 12 harvey picard wilds out late night with david letterman this exchange was memorable enough to be recreated in a biopic what kind of show was it what it was talk show gonna be the talk it was a talk show and then what kind of guests would you have i didn't even consider that question because i don't want to do it now why wouldn't you want to do it well i've seen you here harvey picard's appearances on david letterman's talk shows are the stuff of legend especially the heated exchanges the pair had during the 80s and i want to tell you something about that stuff no waiting i'm serious no we're number one damn it now man don't mess with me the duo always seemed to be stuck in a power struggle and that was never more apparent than when picar went on a rant about general electric the parent company of nbc the network that aired late night with david letterman they're being sued in ohio because they sold they sold these nuclear reactors around the country harvey harvey this is very bad manners i don't care man this is very very inappropriate this was not some previously discussed routine as letterman did not hide the fact that picard's comments were highly inappropriate and unwelcome number 11. megan's choice words the view political discussions naturally tend to grow a bit fiery but certain words are practically never heard on daytime television but he was sort of nagging lindsey graham at the same time and i even tweeted last night who was doing the president was again watching the rally yeah while megan mccain and joy behar are known to snap at each other the views co-hosts usually refrain from using profanity i know you're angry i that you're angry that trump's president like a lot of people are about every single thing yelling at me is gonna fix the problem while debating a trump rally mccain grew increasingly frustrated with behar's occasional interruptions it reached the point that whoopi goldberg had to try and cool down the panel it's being a sacrificial republican every day well i'm just trying to here's the thing don't feel bad mccain and behar have had several blowouts over the years but this was one of the more memorable ones number 10 cher vs letterman late night with david letterman it's rare that a talk show interview starts out confrontationally then becomes progressively calmer is this as good as it gets but that's exactly what happened when cher first appeared on late night with david letterman you know you uh uh i know you didn't want to come on here for the longest time so why finally after uh nearly four and a half years did you decide to come on i don't know i i thought it was one reason but i'm sure that couldn't what is the reason you thought i wanted to pay my hotel bill during the initial stages letterman attempted to learn why cher had previously rejected the show's invitations and there was a definite tension during these moments that made the exchange uncommonly awkward now let's let's explore this a little why because you thought i was an ass when cher finally revealed the reason it could have come across as a punch line if it were not for the fact that the singer did not laugh for a couple of seconds after it was no joke what she said was she thought i was an awfully nice guy no an astronaut yeah number nine dakota's birthday the ellen degeneres show ellen degeneres is rarely caught off guard by any of her guests which makes this particularly awkward exchange with dakota johnson all that more captivating it's good to see you happy belated birthday when was your birthday it was october 4th october 4th you turned 30. i did and um how was the party i wasn't invited after inquiring about the actress's birthday party ellen made the mistake of mentioning that she was not invited a throwaway joke that ended up not being true a fact johnson wasted absolutely no time in correcting actually no that's not the truth ellen you were invited last year no last time i was on the show last year you gave me a bunch about not inviting you but i didn't even know you wanted to be invited well who didn't want to be invited to a party well i didn't even know you liked me ellen's comedic timing does manage to diffuse some of the tension out of the situation although that does not make the interview's opening few minutes any less uncomfortable to watch ask everybody ask jonathan your producer who says you were i was invited why didn't i go i don't know was it was it oh yeah i had that thing um number eight madonna versus letterman the late show with david letterman this interview was off to a rough start with letterman's derogatory introduction in the past 10 years she has sold over 80 million albums starred in countless films and slept with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry he then told madonna to kiss a man in the audience let's go kiss a guy in the audience why don't you go kiss the guy in the audience so obsessed with my sex life even so no one could have predicted what followed i gave him my underpants [Applause] that's not where they go no that's no believe me that's where the underwear goes filled with expletives from madonna and innuendo from both parties this interview toes the lines between playful banter and outright hostility to say that it takes some weird turns is an understatement turn down your volume turn the volume down immediately she can't be stopped by the last few minutes it had gone completely off the rails as any semblance of structure gives way to confusion cigars and shocked audience members number seven tom cruise versus matt lauer today i've never agreed with psychiatry ever before i was a scientologist i never agreed with psychiatry and then when i started studying the history of psychiatry i started realizing more and more why i didn't agree with psychiatry and as far as the brook shields thing is look you got to understand i really care about brook shields during an interview with today's then undisgraced host matt lauer tom cruise opened up about life and mental health in a rant that would arguably change the public perception of the actor forever matt you have to understand this here we are today where i talk out against drugs and psychiatric abuses of electric shocking people okay against their will of drugging children with them not knowing the effects of these drugs do you know what adderall is do you know ritalin the strangest thing about this whole ordeal was that the interview was perfectly cordial for the first half but the tone changed once lauer mentioned scientology which snowballed into crews sharing his distrust about psychiatry as someone who knew the profession's long history so you're you're advocating it i am not i'm telling you in their case in their individual case it worked i am not going to go out and say get your kids on riddle and it's the cure-all and the end-all matt but here's the point what is an ideal scene in life the interview got particularly heated once brook shields became the topic of discussion with cruz even going so far as to describe lauer as glib maybe there are too many kids on ritalin maybe electric shockers kids on riddling i'm just saying but but aren't there examples where it works you don't even you're glib you don't even know what ritalin is if you start talking about chemical imbalance you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories matt okay that's what i've done number six rosie o'donnell versus tom selleck the rosie o'donnell show in the aftermath of the columbine high school massacre rosie o'donnell and tom selleck ended up in a now infamous debate over gun control you know i i understand how you feel this is a really contentious issue probably is contentious and potentially as troubling as the abortion issue in this country all i can tell you is rush rushes to pass legislation at the time of national crisis or mourning i don't really think uh are are proper selik who came on the talk show to promote the romantic comedy the love letter was blindsided by o'donnell who was far more interested in discussing the nra guns and the second amendment i'm not i can't speak for the other but you're their spokesperson tonight so you have to be responsible for what they say but if you put your name out and say i told you in my mouth i'm not a spokesperson remember now you're questioning my humanity no not your humanity i think you're a very humane man i'm saying that if you say i disagree with you but i think you're being so you can't say that i will not take responsibility for anything the nra represents while select tried to maintain a degree of composure and civility early on in the debate the actors seemed to give up once it became apparent this argument was just going to go around in circles i didn't come on your show to have a debate i came on your show to plug a movie that's that's what i'm doing here and that's what i mean it's proper to have a debate about the nra i'm trying to be fair with you and i'm trying to sir you're calling me a spokesman for the nra number five whoopi goldberg versus bill o'reilly the view as multiple arguments on the view can attest it's only natural that discussions get heated when politics religion or 9 11 are involved so many questions i know you have yeah so okay look at you look every time i come on here how did this happen rosie o'donnell and elizabeth hasselback had a notable exchange in 2007 but it was bill o'reilly's guest appearance in 2010 that saw tensions boil over to unprecedented heights and then the guy says america and then hold it hold it listen to me because you'll learn all right o'reilly's generalization of muslims prompts a verbal tirade from whoopi goldberg who then proceeds to leave the set alongside co-host joy behar 9 11. in retrospect there was not friction immediately between o'reilly and goldberg but things certainly did not take long to escalate number four rush limbaugh versus protesters the pat sajak show the most infamous episode of this show didn't even feature the titular host you think that bands and economic boycotts like this have a role i think women's lives are more important than any potatoes a couple of weeks before the show's cancellation rush limbaugh took over for an episode about a recently vetoed abortion bill and in a move that backfired instantly asked an audience member for their opinion you never have a baby you'll never have to have an abortion madam yes yes you need not react that way the rest of the episode involved limbaugh trying and failing to gain any sort of control over a restless crowd with many vocal members who did not agree with the guest host's political views that's right the experience was such a train wreck limbaugh would later claim it was a publicity stunt staged by the talk show's producers number three mark summers vs burt reynolds the tonight show with jay leno sometimes things escalate slowly before reaching a boil this was not one of those times we once filled a container with four thousand pounds of baked beans and made kids dive into it which was really great i wish i'd seen that you would mark summers and burt reynolds share one cordial exchange before the bitter jokes cups and pies begin to fly i was just wondering who told you that because my wife tells me that often she says good morning i'm still married as a matter of fact yes will you from the moment summers made a crack at reynolds past divorces it felt like the pair were constantly on the brink of a fight i deserved it you just you deserved that i deserved it i did it to you i deserved it you know that's the kind of guy i am yeah okay and i was saying to your wife the other night neither party came out of this segment looking particularly great while jay leno seemed simultaneously delighted and terrified by what was unfolding in front of him things might not have worked out as planned but it did lead to an unforgettable interview one two three number two gibraldo geraldo while sometimes arguments arise from unlikely pairings certain situations are purposefully crafted to spark controversy and hostility if you have true belief in your convictions and your movement is as good and as powerful as you say it is why are you afraid to let other people speak why are you not like other minorities and allow other people to pursue whatever happiness they find in whatever religion they find when geraldo invited a white aryan resistance youth member onto the same show as civil rights activist roy innis the talk show presumably anticipated a few fireworks although a full-on brawl presumably exceeded the expectations of even the most ambitious of tv execs reason why i do that is because i get sick and tired of hearing the sob stories from i get sick and tired of seeing uncle tom here sucking up trying to be a wife go ahead no let me tell you [Music] [Applause] after one particularly racist comment innis took matters into his own hands before the show lost complete control of its guests and audience by the end geraldo rivera ended up with a broken nose and a rating smash before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you'll have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one jim everett versus jim rome talk too jim good to have you on the show good to be here jim thank you check that chris everett good to have you on the show you know what you know you've been calling me that for about the last five years now two years actually chris well hey you know what let me let me say one thing a moment so infamous south park parodied it more than a decade later after years of talk two's jim rohm poking fun at jim everett by calling him chris instead in reference to the female tennis player of the same name the los angeles rams quarterback dared the host to repeat it one more time during an interview you know we're sitting here right now and if you guys want to take a station break you can but if you call me chris everett to my face one more time i already did it twice you better call one more time we better take a station break rome did so and instantly regretted it the segment is so outlandish it almost seems staged however everett has always maintained that it was legitimate well we got no problem i think that you you probably won't say it again i bet i do okay chris considering neither party came out of this scuffle looking particularly good it does seem pretty real do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be 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Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 2,739,005

Rating: 4.6842632 out of 5

Keywords: most confrontational talk show moments, confrontational talk show guests, awkward talk show moments, awkward talk show guests, talk show arguments, talk show combative moments, controversial talk show moments, stephen colbert, conan o'brien, dick cavett, wendy williams, bill maher, tyra banks, david letterman, the view, ellen degeneres, rosie o'donnell, jay leno, geraldo, TV, talk show, watchmojo, watch mojo, top 10, list, mojo

Id: P93sAkhkdYM

Length: 25min 24sec (1524 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 08 2020