Brooke Shields revisited a moment in her past where she felt “taken advantage of” by esteemed journalist, Barbara Walters.
During an appearance on the “Drew Barrymore Show,” Shields and Barrymore both praised Walters for her career, but also took issue with the way their individual interviews with the ABC News anchor unraveled when they were both young stars.
In 1981, after her infamous Calvin Klein advertisement that sparked controversy, Walters probed Shields, now 57 about her body. She was just 15 at the time. In the commercial, Shields says, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”
Shields said that in her interview with Walters, “She asked me what my measurements were. And asked me to stand up.”
Both Brooke Shields, left, and Drew Barrymore, right, reflected on their interviews with Barbara Walters.
(Allen Berezovsky/Bruce Glikas)
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“And I stand up and she’s like comparing herself to this little girl and I thought, ‘There – this isn’t right. I don’t understand what this is.’ But I…behaved and just smiled and felt like so taken advantage of in so many ways.”
This is not the first time Shields has been critical of Walters. In 2021, she spoke with Dax Shepard on an episode of his podcast “Armchair Expert,” where Shepard pointed out that the interview with Walters was “maddening,” to watch in present day.
“It’s practically criminal, it is not journalism,” Shields said of the way she was interviewed by Walters.
Brooke Shields poses for a picture with Barbara Walters in 1991, 10 years after her sit-down interview.
(Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection)
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Barrymore, for her part, remembered a moment when she was interviewed by the former “The View” co-host.
“I never thought of Barbara Walters in a negative light nor do I, however, I watched this interview that her and I did when I was in my early twenties, and she would not relent…She was like, ‘Talk to me about the drugs and alcohol, talk to me about your mother, talk to me about bisexuality, talk to me about everything,’ and I kept saying, ‘You know Barbara I’m really doing well,’ and it was five, six, seven times over,” she recounted.
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Both Drew Barrymore, left, and Brooke Shields shared their recounts of interviews with ABC News’ Barbara Walters.
(Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Cove, Paradise Island)
Despite the obvious discomfort over her past interview, Barrymore said “I love Barbara Walters.”
“Oh me too,” Shields agreed.
“I really look up to her, I admire her,” Barrymore added, to which Shields said “absolutely.”
