I was watching a short bit on Kathy Griffin (who I knew next-to-noting about until watching her biography last night) and it mentioned that Griffin is “banned” from Leno, Letterman, Conan, etc. because she has been so nasty to other celebrities (though NOT actually to the various hosts of the shows she is banned from) that the talk shows are afraid that if they put Kathy Griffin on, the other stars that she has bad blood with will boycott appearing on shows that have featured a guest appearance by her.
I was pretty surprised to hear this (I thought that most celebs are so desperate to get their mugs on camera at every possible opportunity that they wouldn’t dream of passing up a chance at a publicity shot for something so trivial) and it had me thinking about what celebrity is the most despised by their peers…
It could be for any number of reasons; there is currently a Jay Leno thread going, where apparently some stars wont go on his show to “punish” him for shit-sassing Conan.
It could be a situation like Mel Gibson, where racist remarks and abusive behavior have been widely known about and some stars are offended by such actions.
I don’t watch very often, but I imagine that Seth MacFarlane has a lot of famous people who hate him, as Family Guy features some INCREDIBLY nasty jokes at various celebrities’ expense.
I can’t think of any other good examples, but who would you nominate as being the most hated star in Hollywood?
Kathy Griffin appeared on Leno in February and Craig Ferguson in March, so I think they were making it up to make her sound more outrageous. I’m sure you’re saying, “Kathy Griffin, an attention whore, I don’t believe it.” Shocking, but true.
Funny, but Andy Dick was actually on the Kathy Griffin bio that I watched, and he was literally in tears (real or faked, I wasn’t sure) talking about how Griffin was one of the only celebrities who will still have anything to do with him, and what a great friend she has been to him during his courageous struggle with cocaine addiction and chronic asshole-itis…
I am sure I have also seen her on Jimmy Kimmel Live, (now there’s a meeting of two nasty assholes, eh?) but the program said she can’t get booked on the “Big Shows” like Letterman or Leno, but apparently the “ban”, if there ever was such a thing, has been lifted, at least by Jay Leno’s show.
Shirley MacLaine seems to have been very unpopular in her day. Debra Winger, Anthony Hopkins and Stephen Collins all dissed her diva attitude in interviews- Hopkins said she was the least professional actress he’d ever worked with.
Val Kilmer also had a lot of feuds and horror stories.
Funnily enough, I thought Debra Winger was also one of those actors that perennially come up in the “most difficult to work with” lists (along with Sean Young).
I am really curious about what celebrities think of other celebrities, but they never talk about their true feelings, the bastards.
From what I understand, Griffin is less disliked for saying bad stuff about people, and more for not being able to keep a secret and just saying what ever pops into her head. The idea being that, if anything goes wrong at all, she will share it. It’s hard to be around a person like that. It’s the price she pays for being funny in the way she is. (She’s the only straight comedienne I like.)
As for the thread, I was going to mention Dick, but, since that’s taken, I’ll throw in one I just googled: Christian Bale.
I also remember that both Kevin Pollack and Dana Carvey think Adam Corolla is a dick, but I think that’s his shtick.
Andy Dick is starting to push us pretty far down the definition of “celebrity.” He’s not quite as low as “reality TV star” or “star for being a fan of reality TV” (there’s actually a guy “famous” for this) but still, he’s below D-list.
Lawrence Tierney was infamously hard to work with. If you don’t know his name, he played Elaine’s Dad on “Seinfeld.” That was supposed to be a recurring role but he was such a jackass they cancelled that idea.
I’ve heard several celebrities opine that Chevy Chase is singularly unpleasant.
At 1985’s Live Aid, he was MC’ing when Queen was getting ready to go on, and made a remark (“Are they a bunch of Queens?”) that was as lame as it was tacky.
His ill-fated 1990ish talk show was where I got the distinct feeling that he really doesn’t like anybody.
And though I haven’t seen it, I was told that his Friar’s Club Roast had some really awkward moments, when the mood of loving jest required for such humor just wasn’t there for Chevy. Sort of like when they roasted Michael Scott on “The Office”.
Rosie O’Donnell is definitely one, but I’d have to say Star Jones. With her new book out…she betta watch out!
Richard Gere only made enemies because he’s an activist and often uses the mic in order to speak out.
Cathy (sp?) Griffin needs to go away. Especially after her comments about Sarah Palin’s daughter on the VH1 Divas Salute The Troops thing. She walked around in these raunchy outfits…she’s just gross.
In fact, she was banned from The View for awhile specifically because she talked about what happens backstage at The View in one of her Bravo comedy specials. I’m a huge fan of hers exactly because she’s aggressively honest in that way.
I saw Martin perform in the late seventies and he seemed fairly grumpy and pissed off that people kept wanting him to do King Tut when he had “other shit” to get out of the way first.
And I’ve read (almost exclusively here but by different people and over a number of years) that he’s often rude or dismissive to fans who approach him in public. I suspect he’s one of those people who are friendly and collegial with other people in the business but contemptuous of their fans. I think Paul Shaffer may be somewhat the same way. A local disc jockey was involved in a promotion of some sort with him and said that he was nice and friendly if you were a musician but otherwise he didn’t have much time for you.
Now, having said all that, Chevy Chase was who I came in to mention.
And Hopkins later said something similar about Debra Winger, as well. Which makes me wonder if it’s not that all three of them are abrasive in their own ways and don’t like getting matched like for like.
Stephen Collins on the other hand is a gracious man with generous praise for his co-stars like whoa. His Twitter stream, which is entirely of his own making not solicited opinion, is loaded with appreciation for the people on his current show and co-stars past. So if he dished dirt on MacLaine, I’ll believe it to be true.
Letterman is notorious for holding grudges against people (mostly women who he can’t charm with his creepy awkward flirting) who he deems hard to interview, and banning them for a period, then having them back (sometimes with fanfare, see: Madonna) and sometimes on a low-key Thursday night with no big notice, just to test the waters. Griffin hasn’t sat out her Letterman penalty period yet, and given her opinion of him, it’s a question whether her endless need for self-promotion would win out over their mutual dislike if she did get an invite back.
Richard Gere’s politics have nothing to do with people’s opinions of him, it’s how he works on film sets. Some people apparently get along with it well (Julia Roberts and Diane Lane seem to have no worries) others, including some with good reputations on film sets (Jodie Foster, Kim Basinger, as it happens, Joan Cusack) say he’s difficult and demanding and blows takes when he’s not pleased with other actors’ performances, which is crap.
Steve Martin is only an “ass” to people who expect him to be 100% charming and funny on demand, when they walk up to him on the street. He’s a introverted person and doesn’t particularly enjoy being accosted when he’s going about his day to day life, and people think he ought to fall all over himself to sign things and pose for pictures. It’s an unfair expectation.