these interviews waded into contentious
waters and divided viewers welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 most
controversial interviews right is
compare annoyed schizophrenic paranoiac
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’re
looking at interviews that were
provocative for their content or
circumstances and generated public
discussion and debate
you look different than I remember
number 10 Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer and
I know that psychiatry is is a
pseudoscience this 2005 interview was
supposed to be about the War of the
Worlds but it’s soon devolved into a war
of words
I understand there’s abuse of all of
these no you see here’s the problem you
don’t know the history of Psychiatry I
do
things started out with a few questions
about Scientology but then took a
different track where it works
you don’t even you’re glitter you don’t
even know what reelin is when Lauer
asked Cruz about his criticism of Brooke
Shields for her use of medication to
treat postpartum depression the star
launched into an incensed rant against
Ritalin and psychiatry pretty serious
stuff for a celebrity interview knowing
I’m really describing Ritalin Tom and
I’m not telling anyone else to do Laur
tried to hold his own but in the end he
just didn’t know what Tom Cruise knows
when you don’t know and I do
number nine Sarah Palin and Katie Couric
but he still has a stake in the company
so isn’t that a conflict of interest
it was hard not to cringe during this
trainwreck of an interview with CBS
evening news anchor Katie Couric
if 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah
Palin had expected Couric to go easy
she and the viewing public soon learned
otherwise newspapers and magazines did
you regularly read before you were
tapped for this to stay in for most of
them again with a great appreciation for
the press for the media like what would
me miss if eclis I’m curious that you
broadcast over several segments Kirk’s
questions were direct and Palin’s
answers were well less so Palin’s
insistence that she had foreign policy
experience because Russia is right next
door to Alaska didn’t exactly help
Alaska has a very narrow maritime border
between a foreign country Russia and on
our other side the land boundary that we
have with Canada Palin came off looking
unnerved in ill-informed which she later
blamed on Couric because I did feel that
there were a lot of things that she was
missing in terms of an opportunity to
ask what a VP candidate stands for
number eight Monica Lewinsky and Barbara
Walters I don’t think I don’t think that
my relationship hurt the job he was
doing it didn’t hurt the work I was
doing it wasn’t the first time Barbara
Walters had a woman spill the beans on
her lover but few interviews have been
as anticipated as her 1999 sit-down with
Monica Lewinsky the month after Bill
Clinton was acquitted of perjury and
obstruction of justice I wouldn’t dream
of asking Chelsea and mrs. Clinton to
forgive me but I would ask them to know
that I am very sorry for what happened
and for what they’ve been through the
former White House intern apologized to
Clinton’s wife and daughter and said the
president was a quote good kisser and he
kissed you yes what do you think he’s a
good kisser millions of viewers watched
as walters grilled Lewinsky on her
affairs with married men only to reveal
her own in an autobiography years later
number seven Charlie Sheen on ABC and
n-b-c us winning oh how the mighty have
fallen
in 2011 soon after leaving the sitcom
Two and a Half Men Charlie Sheen gave a
series of interviews that were strange
to say the least
the star of Oliver Stone’s platoon
launched into bombastic rants during a
string of interviews on ABC and NBC
claiming he had Tiger blood and Adonis
DNA you got Tiger blood and Adonis DNA
man it’s like get with the program dude
he also admitted to using drugs a drug
called Charlie Sheen hey sometimes you
just got to be honest yeah I am on a
drug it’s called Charlie Sheen his
grandiose pronouncements ignited
speculation regarding his mental state
and continued drug use and this wouldn’t
be the last time his personal life hit
headlines I’m by winning a win here no
in there number six
John Juliet buck and Syrian first lady
Asma al-assad do you feel like a fool um
I feel like a fool visa vie Asma Assad
somehow it seemed like a good idea at
the time right before the outbreak of
the Syrian civil war vogue sent writer
Joan Juliet buck to interview Syrian
first lady Asma al-assad for their 2011
power issue in a naive and flattering
fluff piece published just as the
government cracked down on protesters
buck painted the Assads as charitable
and quote wildly democratic proponents
of peace according to buck she begged
her editors not to run it but vogue
forged ahead ruining bucks career and
later removing the article from their
website
I got flattered into doing it and of
course I regret it number 5 Lance
Armstrong and Oprah Winfrey isn’t my
words for almost two decades he was a
hero for many and for some Lance
Armstrong is still remembered for his
dramatic comeback from cancer in the
late 90s I’ve said it for seven years
I’ve said it for longer than seven years
I have never doped but in 2012 the
disgraced cyclist was banned from
competition and stripped of all seven
Tour de France titles for using
performance-enhancing drugs yes or no
did you ever take banned substances to
enhance your cycling performance yes
his tents inter
view with Oprah marked his first public
admission confirming what many had long
suspected doping in the sport was
widespread and Armstrong had been using
banned substances since early in his
career was it humanly possible to win
the Tour de France without doping seven
times in a row not in my opinion
number four megyn kelly and Alex Jones
you’re trying to have it always right no
I’m not
incendiary shock jock Alex Jones thrives
on provocation he’s infamous for
claiming the Sandy Hook elementary
school massacre was all a hoax and for
going bananas in interviews for telling
us what to do whatever go back to where
they took the guns if you don’t like it
so when megyn kelly interviewed Jones
for NBC in 2017 the network was
criticized for airing his views at all
but here’s the thing
Alex Jones isn’t going away Kelly
countered that his opinions have to be
addressed and pressed Jones hard as the
conspiracy theorists scrambled to cover
all bases Alex the parents one after the
other devastated the dead bodies that
the coroner autopsy and they blocked all
that and they won’t release any of it
nonetheless the backlash continued when
Jones released tapes of Kelly promising
to show viewers quote the dad in him and
Rolling Stone magazine brought up the
ghost of Kelly’s FoxNews past to suggest
she had helped foster the culture that
made Jones popular number three Sean
Penn and El Chapo Yoda karan claro el
contenido attempt released a– s
exclusive o para la senorita k del
Castillo
it’s a man Joaquin el chapo guzman had
the dubious honor of being the most
powerful drug lord in the world the head
of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel was a wanted
fugitive when actor Sean Penn
interviewed him for Rolling Stone in
2015
Penn’s in was actress kate del Castillo
who el chapo had invited to meet him al
chapo boasted that he trafficked more
drugs than anyone else in the world but
reactions focused on the ethical and
legal issues of the interview seems the
magazine didn’t inform the authorities
and promised the drug baron editorial
control in the end el chapo must regret
the meeting most it inadvertently helped
police locate him any way leading to his
latest arrest number two
David Frost and Richard Nixon that’s
your conclusion it is but now let’s look
at the facts Nixon’s name has become
synonymous with political scandal which
wasn’t the personal legacy the disgraced
ex-president had in mind for himself but
through his interviews with Robert Frost
Nixon helped to restore his image and
mitigate the political fallout of
Watergate do you feel that you ever
obstructed justice or were part of a
conspiracy to obstruct justice
arguably Nixon got the best of early
one-on-ones
but then frost pulled out his secret
weapon a transcript of a damning
conversation between Nixon and aide
Charles Colson proving Nixon’s knowledge
of the cover-up now somewhere you were
pretty well informed by that
conversation On June 20th outfoxed Nixon
disassembled but with his back against
the wall finally apologized to the
nation I let the American people down
and I have to carry that burden with me
for the rest of my life my political
life is over before we reveal the
identity of our top pick here are some
dishonorable mentions ok I’m being
pulled away you know we turned down
another interview for this you don’t do
crack don’t do that crack is whack with
the terrorists you have to take out
their families when you get these
terrorists
you have to take out their families
number one Michael Jackson and Martin
Bashir how do you write a song how do
you write a song how do I write a song
well in 2002 in 2003 British journalist
Martin Bashir was given unprecedented
access to the reclusive King of Pop for
his film living with Michael Jackson it
was an interview Jackson would regret
the film included Jackson’s claim that
his father had been abusive but also the
revelation that Jackson’s sometimes had
sleepovers with children
I slept on the floor I wasn’t sleeping
back the interview ignited a media and
legal firestorm while Jackson said he
felt quote utterly betrayed and us
reviewers accused Bashir of using
manipulative tactics new allegations of
child molestation divided the public and
continued a cast a cloud over Jackson’s
legacy that’s that’s not a worrying
thing I should be wearing who’s the
criminal who’s who’s Jack the Ripper in
the room do you agree with our picks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and subscribe for new videos
every day
waters and divided viewers welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 most
controversial interviews right is
compare annoyed schizophrenic paranoiac
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’re
looking at interviews that were
provocative for their content or
circumstances and generated public
discussion and debate
you look different than I remember
number 10 Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer and
I know that psychiatry is is a
pseudoscience this 2005 interview was
supposed to be about the War of the
Worlds but it’s soon devolved into a war
of words
I understand there’s abuse of all of
these no you see here’s the problem you
don’t know the history of Psychiatry I
do
things started out with a few questions
about Scientology but then took a
different track where it works
you don’t even you’re glitter you don’t
even know what reelin is when Lauer
asked Cruz about his criticism of Brooke
Shields for her use of medication to
treat postpartum depression the star
launched into an incensed rant against
Ritalin and psychiatry pretty serious
stuff for a celebrity interview knowing
I’m really describing Ritalin Tom and
I’m not telling anyone else to do Laur
tried to hold his own but in the end he
just didn’t know what Tom Cruise knows
when you don’t know and I do
number nine Sarah Palin and Katie Couric
but he still has a stake in the company
so isn’t that a conflict of interest
it was hard not to cringe during this
trainwreck of an interview with CBS
evening news anchor Katie Couric
if 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah
Palin had expected Couric to go easy
she and the viewing public soon learned
otherwise newspapers and magazines did
you regularly read before you were
tapped for this to stay in for most of
them again with a great appreciation for
the press for the media like what would
me miss if eclis I’m curious that you
broadcast over several segments Kirk’s
questions were direct and Palin’s
answers were well less so Palin’s
insistence that she had foreign policy
experience because Russia is right next
door to Alaska didn’t exactly help
Alaska has a very narrow maritime border
between a foreign country Russia and on
our other side the land boundary that we
have with Canada Palin came off looking
unnerved in ill-informed which she later
blamed on Couric because I did feel that
there were a lot of things that she was
missing in terms of an opportunity to
ask what a VP candidate stands for
number eight Monica Lewinsky and Barbara
Walters I don’t think I don’t think that
my relationship hurt the job he was
doing it didn’t hurt the work I was
doing it wasn’t the first time Barbara
Walters had a woman spill the beans on
her lover but few interviews have been
as anticipated as her 1999 sit-down with
Monica Lewinsky the month after Bill
Clinton was acquitted of perjury and
obstruction of justice I wouldn’t dream
of asking Chelsea and mrs. Clinton to
forgive me but I would ask them to know
that I am very sorry for what happened
and for what they’ve been through the
former White House intern apologized to
Clinton’s wife and daughter and said the
president was a quote good kisser and he
kissed you yes what do you think he’s a
good kisser millions of viewers watched
as walters grilled Lewinsky on her
affairs with married men only to reveal
her own in an autobiography years later
number seven Charlie Sheen on ABC and
n-b-c us winning oh how the mighty have
fallen
in 2011 soon after leaving the sitcom
Two and a Half Men Charlie Sheen gave a
series of interviews that were strange
to say the least
the star of Oliver Stone’s platoon
launched into bombastic rants during a
string of interviews on ABC and NBC
claiming he had Tiger blood and Adonis
DNA you got Tiger blood and Adonis DNA
man it’s like get with the program dude
he also admitted to using drugs a drug
called Charlie Sheen hey sometimes you
just got to be honest yeah I am on a
drug it’s called Charlie Sheen his
grandiose pronouncements ignited
speculation regarding his mental state
and continued drug use and this wouldn’t
be the last time his personal life hit
headlines I’m by winning a win here no
in there number six
John Juliet buck and Syrian first lady
Asma al-assad do you feel like a fool um
I feel like a fool visa vie Asma Assad
somehow it seemed like a good idea at
the time right before the outbreak of
the Syrian civil war vogue sent writer
Joan Juliet buck to interview Syrian
first lady Asma al-assad for their 2011
power issue in a naive and flattering
fluff piece published just as the
government cracked down on protesters
buck painted the Assads as charitable
and quote wildly democratic proponents
of peace according to buck she begged
her editors not to run it but vogue
forged ahead ruining bucks career and
later removing the article from their
website
I got flattered into doing it and of
course I regret it number 5 Lance
Armstrong and Oprah Winfrey isn’t my
words for almost two decades he was a
hero for many and for some Lance
Armstrong is still remembered for his
dramatic comeback from cancer in the
late 90s I’ve said it for seven years
I’ve said it for longer than seven years
I have never doped but in 2012 the
disgraced cyclist was banned from
competition and stripped of all seven
Tour de France titles for using
performance-enhancing drugs yes or no
did you ever take banned substances to
enhance your cycling performance yes
his tents inter
view with Oprah marked his first public
admission confirming what many had long
suspected doping in the sport was
widespread and Armstrong had been using
banned substances since early in his
career was it humanly possible to win
the Tour de France without doping seven
times in a row not in my opinion
number four megyn kelly and Alex Jones
you’re trying to have it always right no
I’m not
incendiary shock jock Alex Jones thrives
on provocation he’s infamous for
claiming the Sandy Hook elementary
school massacre was all a hoax and for
going bananas in interviews for telling
us what to do whatever go back to where
they took the guns if you don’t like it
so when megyn kelly interviewed Jones
for NBC in 2017 the network was
criticized for airing his views at all
but here’s the thing
Alex Jones isn’t going away Kelly
countered that his opinions have to be
addressed and pressed Jones hard as the
conspiracy theorists scrambled to cover
all bases Alex the parents one after the
other devastated the dead bodies that
the coroner autopsy and they blocked all
that and they won’t release any of it
nonetheless the backlash continued when
Jones released tapes of Kelly promising
to show viewers quote the dad in him and
Rolling Stone magazine brought up the
ghost of Kelly’s FoxNews past to suggest
she had helped foster the culture that
made Jones popular number three Sean
Penn and El Chapo Yoda karan claro el
contenido attempt released a– s
exclusive o para la senorita k del
Castillo
it’s a man Joaquin el chapo guzman had
the dubious honor of being the most
powerful drug lord in the world the head
of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel was a wanted
fugitive when actor Sean Penn
interviewed him for Rolling Stone in
2015
Penn’s in was actress kate del Castillo
who el chapo had invited to meet him al
chapo boasted that he trafficked more
drugs than anyone else in the world but
reactions focused on the ethical and
legal issues of the interview seems the
magazine didn’t inform the authorities
and promised the drug baron editorial
control in the end el chapo must regret
the meeting most it inadvertently helped
police locate him any way leading to his
latest arrest number two
David Frost and Richard Nixon that’s
your conclusion it is but now let’s look
at the facts Nixon’s name has become
synonymous with political scandal which
wasn’t the personal legacy the disgraced
ex-president had in mind for himself but
through his interviews with Robert Frost
Nixon helped to restore his image and
mitigate the political fallout of
Watergate do you feel that you ever
obstructed justice or were part of a
conspiracy to obstruct justice
arguably Nixon got the best of early
one-on-ones
but then frost pulled out his secret
weapon a transcript of a damning
conversation between Nixon and aide
Charles Colson proving Nixon’s knowledge
of the cover-up now somewhere you were
pretty well informed by that
conversation On June 20th outfoxed Nixon
disassembled but with his back against
the wall finally apologized to the
nation I let the American people down
and I have to carry that burden with me
for the rest of my life my political
life is over before we reveal the
identity of our top pick here are some
dishonorable mentions ok I’m being
pulled away you know we turned down
another interview for this you don’t do
crack don’t do that crack is whack with
the terrorists you have to take out
their families when you get these
terrorists
you have to take out their families
number one Michael Jackson and Martin
Bashir how do you write a song how do
you write a song how do I write a song
well in 2002 in 2003 British journalist
Martin Bashir was given unprecedented
access to the reclusive King of Pop for
his film living with Michael Jackson it
was an interview Jackson would regret
the film included Jackson’s claim that
his father had been abusive but also the
revelation that Jackson’s sometimes had
sleepovers with children
I slept on the floor I wasn’t sleeping
back the interview ignited a media and
legal firestorm while Jackson said he
felt quote utterly betrayed and us
reviewers accused Bashir of using
manipulative tactics new allegations of
child molestation divided the public and
continued a cast a cloud over Jackson’s
legacy that’s that’s not a worrying
thing I should be wearing who’s the
criminal who’s who’s Jack the Ripper in
the room do you agree with our picks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and subscribe for new videos
every day
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