If we've learned anything from the Ellen DeGeneres scandal, it's that nothing talk show hosts
do should surprise us.
Some hosts' horrible behavior happens in front of the cameras, while others reportedly terrorize
their guests behind the scenes.
However it went down, these TV hosts treated their guests like trash.
Tucker Carlson rarely hides his animosity toward his guests, and apparently, the Fox
News personality doesn't need to.
Thanks to his fans and his haters, viewers have turned him into a ratings giant, with
many tuning in to see what he might say and how he might react at any given moment.
He's called guests names, he's refused to accept guests' responses, and he's questioned
the credentials of academics.
"Are you really a professor by the way?"
"What?"
But that hasn't been the worst of his alleged mistreatment of guests.
According to Cathy Areu, a former guest on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the married talk show
host made inappropriate advances toward her.
In a July 2020 complaint filed in federal court, via Vulture, Areu alleged that the
show's tech crew would not let her leave the set until Carlson had a chance to ask her
if she wanted to go to a hotel room with him.
She shut down the invitation, and she was asked back to the program only a few more
times.
In response, Fox News stated that the network takes this type of claim seriously, and added,
"Based on the findings of a comprehensive independent investigation conducted by an
outside law firm […] we have determined that all of Cathy Areu’s claims […] are
false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit."
As of 2021, the lawsuit is still pending.
Dr. Phil McGraw's hit talk show has been on the air since 2002.
But over those years, he has found himself in hot water a few times.
Using what the New York Post calls "scumbag tactics," McGraw attempts to create the most
compelling interviews by challenging his guests.
The approach has been criticized by many in the mental health community, but even so,
he soldiers on.
"I feel like I am being totally attacked.
And, it's not —"
"No you're being questioned."
In 2017, guest Kaden Mahaffa was roundly mocked on Dr. Phil's stage for her beliefs that she
had psychic abilities.
She claimed the experience caused a mental breakdown, which resulted in her being committed
to a mental health facility, according to TMZ.
"Can you tell me what I'm thinking right now?"
"I can't really do it on demand, necessarily."
"Take your time."
Mahaffa later sued McGraw and CBS, claiming,
"[I] was misled by [the] show […] into thinking [my] appearance in the episode was to talk
about the alleged abuse [my] boyfriend went through by his mother and grandmother."
But perhaps the most questionable treatment of a guest was McGraw's 2016 interview with
Shelley Duvall.
McGraw appeared to sensationalize the actor's mental health problems on the show, and in
promotional teasers.
"A star's descent into mental illness."
"The man who threatened me is the Sheriff of Nottingham."
The backlash was fierce, including from Vivian Kubrick, who is the daughter of Duvall's director
on The Shining, Stanley Kubrick.
She tweeted that the Dr. Phil show was a, quote, "utterly heartless form of entertainment."
Countless headlines have been made about Matt Lauer's alleged misconduct towards female
coworkers.
He lost his Today show gig and his career.
But there were others who were allegedly subjected to mistreatment, including his guests.
"The major thing that's changed since you were here last?
I have now seen you naked."
Take his 2009 interview with Sandra Bullock, where Lauer apparently struggled to talk about
anything other than a racy scene in The Proposal.
In 2012, Lauer spoke to Anne Hathaway during her promotional run for Les Mis, where he
referred to a wardrobe malfunction at the movie's premiere, quipping,
"Nice to see you, seen a lot of you lately.
[…] What's the lesson learned from something like that?"
There's also his 2017 interview with Corey Feldman about allegations regarding the abuse
of child stars, a topic the actor has talked about for years.
Lauer wondered why Feldman would appear on Today when he could be talking to the authorities.
"Why are you sitting down talking to me?
Why aren't you sitting down with the police right now?"
To that, Feldman responded,
"I told the police.
[…] If anyone wants to go back to 1993, when I was interviewed by the Santa Barbara
Police Department, I sat there and I gave them the names.
They're on record."
When Lauer asked why he hadn't gone back to the police more recently, Feldman cited the
statute of limitations in California.
The legendary Barbara Walters has been in the Television Academy Hall of Fame since
1989, and her long career has had its share of eyebrow-raising moments.
During Walters' 1991 interview with Bette Midler, the singer shockingly claimed,
"Geraldo Rivera and his producer came to do an interview with me in […] the early 70s.
They pushed me into my bathroom.
They broke two poppers and pushed them under my nose and proceeded to grope me."
To that, Walters responded,
"Well, let's go on to other things, shall we?"
Rivera later denied the accusation and claimed Midler was upset over a tell-all book he wrote
about his romantic conquests.
Then, on a 2013 episode of The View, Walters clashed with another guest.
As Corey Feldman spoke with the panel about allegations regarding child entertainers in
Hollywood, the host questioned the cost of his claims, adding,
"Are you saying that they're pedophiles?
And that they're still in this business?
[…] You're damaging an entire industry."
For years, Bill O'Reilly was the leader of cable news programs.
He rose to the top with his acerbic style in dealing with guests.
The former host of The O'Reilly Factor had a short fuse and would blow up if guests challenged
him or seemed to get the better of him in a debate.
It could be argued, given the ratings, that O'Reilly acted this way to drive up his numbers.
Regardless, audiences ate it up.
But what was apparently hidden below the surface, was also vile.
According to The New York Times, a former guest on The O'Reilly Factor, Wendy Walsh,
alleged that O'Reilly made a pass at her after he offered her a role at the network.
She rejected him, and he allegedly rescinded the offer.
"I had a business dinner with Mr. Bill O'Reilly and he asked me to go to his hotel room afterwards."
Walsh said of O'Reilly's behavior,
"I feel bad that some of these old guys are using mating strategies that were acceptable
in the 1950s and are not acceptable now.
[…] I hope young men can learn from this."
Juliet Huddy, another guest of the show, also accused O'Reilly of inappropriately pursuing
a relationship with her and trying to kiss her.
O'Reilly has consistently denied all claims of harassment and misconduct, and both Walsh's
and Huddy's complaints against O'Reilly were settled out of court.
"Many women go into the settlement agreement because they just don't want to face what
potentially could be coming at them."
For more than 20 years, Chris Matthews hosted Hardball on MSNBC.
In that time, the veteran tv personality was never shy about commenting on the looks of
his female guests.
In a 2017 piece from The Daily Caller, one Hardball producer claimed Matthews regularly
rated the looks of the women who appeared on his program, going so far as to declare
the, quote, "hottest of the week."
"I get in trouble for this, but you're great-looking, obviously, you're one of God's gifts to men
in this country."
While this drew criticism for Matthews, his reign on TV remained secure, until freelance
journalist and columnist Laura Bassett shared her personal story about the host with GQ.
Having appeared on Matthews's show in 2016, she claims he requested the makeup artist
continue to apply makeup to Bassett's face, alleging that he said,
"Why haven't I fallen in love with you yet?
Keep putting makeup on her, I'll fall in love with her."
On another occasion, Matthews allegedly asked Bassett if she had plans that night and then
instructed a makeup artist to wipe her face so no other men would see her looking camera-ready.
Bassett initially shared her story in 2017 but didn't name names in order to protect
her career.
Shortly after she published her piece in 2020, Matthews announced his retirement and later
told Vanity Fair that Bassett's complaints about his behavior were, quote, "highly justified."
"Compliments on a woman's appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly
thought were ok, were never ok."
In legal documents obtained by Deadline, PBS ordered an investigation into Tavis Smiley's
conduct while employed with the network, after they received numerous complaints about his
behavior and activities.
The host reportedly engaged in inappropriate conduct with multiple women, including guests
that were on his show.
According to NBC News, one guest from 2008 and 2009 alleged that she had an intimate
relationship with Smiley.
She said it was consensual, but added,
"Women are put in a bad position when their boss hits on them."
She told the investigator that she was not asked to return to the show.
In the end, Smiley was fired in 2017.
In March 2020, he was ordered to pay PBS nearly $1.5 million for breaching their "morality
clause."
A lawyer for the network explained,
"You can't have a consensual relationship between a manager and a subordinate because
of the power dynamic.
It's never consensual because that manager has power over all aspects of that person's
employment."
While Smiley has denied the allegations, a judge further upped the amount due to PBS
to $2.6 million in August 2020.
Nancy Grace is an acquired taste.
And because of her style of questioning, as well as her obvious opinions, she's been at
the center of a few controversies throughout her lengthy career.
In 2006, years after her kidnapping, Elizabeth Smart appeared on Nancy Grace to promote the
passing of a new sex offender bill.
The host, however, simply wanted to rehash Smart's traumatic experience, despite her
guest's very obvious discomfort.
"You were afraid, I assume."
"…Yeah."
The same year, Grace forcefully questioned Melinda Duckett about the disappearance of
her two-year-old son, Trenton.
She even accused the mother of hiding information.
"Why aren't you telling us and giving us a clear picture where you were before your son
was kidnapped?"
"Because I'm not gonna put those kind of details out."
The next day, Duckett took her own life, leading her family to file a lawsuit against the show
host.
According to ABC News, the case was settled out of court, with Grace paying $200,000 to
establish a trust dedicated to finding the missing boy.
Duckett's lawyers also stated,
"The parties now agree that Nancy Grace, the producers of her program, and CNN engaged
in no intentional wrongdoing in the course of dedicating a program to finding the missing
toddler, as alleged in the lawsuit."
Duckett's grandfather Bill, however, disagrees with that assessment.
He said,
"Nancy Grace and the others, they just bashed [Melinda] to the end."
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.