When Brooke Shields Recalled Her Interview With Late Barbara Walters as 'Practically Criminal'

Originally a young actor, Brooke Shields rose to fame in Hollywood because to her legendary performance in the 1980 movie Blue Lagoon. However, during a 2023 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show  Shields recalled an awkward interview with late broadcast journalist, Barbara Walters. Calling the 1981 incident 'unconscionable' she revealed, “The way the press treated us and what was acceptable, whether it’s asking me my measurements on nationwide television, asking me to stand up — Barbara Walters did that and compared herself to me — and just the sort of approach that they had in asking me questions as a teen was really just unconscionable." 

As per Page Six, Shields continued with her interview anecdote, “I think when people see you, they don’t realize how tall and slim you are. Let me stand up with you because I’m 5-5 and I’m wearing high heels.” Walters then joked with Shields’ mom, Teri, who was present, “It’s very hard when you have a little kid this high to keep her down to size, isn’t it?” teenage Brooke then giggled and added that her father was six foot seven and "really tall, too." In response to the humiliating disclosure, Clarkson stated that the line of question "stirs rage."

In November 2022, Brooke had shared her thoughts about the same interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, “‘This isn’t right. I don’t understand what this is.’ But I just behaved and just smiled,” she recalled, also acknowledging that she “felt so taken advantage of in so many ways.” Remembering "the fiasco," Shields claimed she believed the late TV journalist was going for a "negative soundbite" in their contentious interaction. "She asked me what my measurements were and asked me to stand up," the Pretty Baby actress, who was 15 at the time, told Barrymore. "And I stand up, and she was like comparing herself to this little girl." As per Parade, Shields previously described her interview with Walters as "practically criminal" and "not journalism" because the exchange was so awkward.

"But then you learn to say no," she added. Barrymore then said that she likes and admires the founder of The View before sharing her own, less than flattering, Walters experience. "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,'" Barrymore shared about the late host's intrusive nature . "And I kept saying, ‘You know, Barbara, I’m really doing well,’ and it was five, six, seven times over."

The interview in question took place after the debut of Shields' Calvin Klein jeans campaign. Shields recalled the incident during her Newsweek interview with Alan Scott as well. Speaking about how the media sexualized her when she was younger, Shields claimed that her mother had done a fantastic job of shielding her and assisting in her efforts to "maintain a certain naïveté.""Being in those situations where Barbara Walters is asking me what my measurements are, or the sort of lack of respect for a young person, didn't insult me or hurt my feelings, but what it did was just made me lose so much respect," she told. "I remember thinking, 'Here we go again, I thought these were supposed to be the smart people, but I guess not.'"