Buckle up – these outrageous stories of celebrity bad behavior will shock the heck out of you.
Martin Lawrence - Saturday Night Live
To enjoy the comedy ofMartin Lawrenceis to accept his outrageousness. From his standup, to his sitcomMartin, to, yes, theBig Momma’s Housefranchise, Lawrence is a bad boy of comedy.
But when he hostedSaturday Night Livein 1994, he broke a little too bad.
In his opening monologue, Lawrence veered away from his prepared remarks, delivering an impromptu set about – how can we put this nicely? – “the inner workings of the female body.” It was so disgusting thatSNLexecutive producerLorne Michaelsbanned him, and the monologue was edited out of any reruns.
Vince Vaughn - The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Remember the movieThe Dilemma? The 2011Vince Vaughn/Kevin Jamescomedy about whether to tell a friend about infidelity?
Maybe you’d remember it more if Vaughn was able to promote it properly. But because of a homophobic joke he made, he was banned from one popular talk show.
In the original trailer forThe Dilemma, Vaughn makes an insensitive joke about electric cars.Ellen DeGeneres, offended, banned Vaughn from appearing on her daytime talk show,The Ellen DeGeneres Show. AndThe Dilemmasuper-flopped. Since then, Vaughn has made up with DeGeneres and appeared on her show.
Jay Leno - Conan
If there’s talk show drama, look forJay Lenoat the center.
After stealingThe Tonight Showslot from the more probable choice,David Letterman, Leno stole it back from his successor,Conan O’Brien, just one year into the run.
Naturally, O’Brien had some thoughts on this.
When O’Brien moved to TBS to host his own late night show, the simply namedConan, he had one rule: Leno will never be a guest. O’Brien was firm about this, even publicly turning down any hypothetical amount of money he’d be given for such an interview.
Steven Seagal - Saturday Night Live
As producer ofSaturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels has met a lot of famous people. And he’s worked with them all, with the very specific goal of producing a live 90-minute sketch comedy show.
And of all these famous people, only one deserved the title of Worst Jerk Ever.
That’s right: Ponytail-sporting martial arts eccentricSteven Seagal.
Throughout his episode’s production, he behaved in incredibly odd and upsetting ways. He made the cast and crew so annoyed and on edge, they almost just did a show without a host. Instead, they suffered through, but Seagal got banned.
Kelsey Grammer - Piers Morgan Live
Hey baby, I hear the blues are calling tossed salads and… talk show bans? WhenFrasierstarKelsey Grammerwas booked to appear onPiers Morgan Live,Piers Morganfeatured a picture ofCamille Grammerin the opening credits.
One problem: Kelsey and Camille had just gotten a bitter divorce.
Grammer asked Morgan if they could remove the photo from the opening credits sequence. Morgan, standing his ground, refused to take her out. So Grammer, standing his ground, walked off-set before giving the interview. And Morgan, giving a masterclass on ground-standing, banned Grammer for life.
Andy Kaufman - Saturday Night Live
On the very firstSaturday Night Liveepisode, influential postmodern comedianAndy Kaufmanperformed an iconic bit where he lip synced to theMighty Mousetheme song. From that point on, Kaufman appeared several times to crush onSNL. Until his surprising ban.
Like everything else in his short life, Kaufman’s ban was part of a truth-bending bit.SNLhad an on-air phone hotline where viewers could call and vote on this issue: Should Kaufman be banned fromSNL? Viewers overwhelmingly voted yes. Kaufman, of course, honored the ban, never appearing again.
The Kardashians - Anderson Live
Anderson Cooperhad successfully conquered the CNN airwaves. Where could he take his silver fox charms next? Why, to a daytime talk show, of course.
Anderson Livedebuted in 2011. And before he had anything else set, he knew one guest who wouldn’t be allowed. Or, more accurately, one family.
TheKardashians. You know them, you love them, you gotta keep up with them. But they weren’t welcome on Cooper’s show.
When he appeared onWatch What Happens Live, Cooper explained that the Kardashians are already everywhere, so he has nothing new to say to them, so why have ‘em?
Adrien Brody - Saturday Night Live
So you’re the youngest man to have ever won the Oscar for Best Actor. And now, you’re taking a victory lap by hostingSaturday Night Live. A question: What’s the quickest way you could absolutely screw it up? If you’reAdrien Brody, the answer is clear: Being racist.
During Brody’s 2003 performance, Jamaican-born reggaeton artistSean Paulwas the musical guest. To introduce him, without anyone’s knowledge, Brody donned a dreadlocks wig. Then, he busted out his best Jamaican accent.
It was, needless to say, very racist. Lorne Michaels banned him ever since.
Madonna - Piers Morgan Live
There’s an infamousLate Show With David Lettermanepisode whereMadonnaswears up a storm, makes all kinds of adult jokes, and even gives Letterman a pair of her underwear.
But she wasn’t banned from Letterman’s show. For whatever reason, she instead earned the ire of Piers Morgan.
Morgan has constantly belittled Madonna publicly, with no response from her. And when she made a new Twitter account in 2012, Morgan responded to it, reminding the singer she was still banned from the show. Why, exactly? Morgan may never tell.
Gilbert Gottfried - The Howard Stern Show
With his trademark scream-talk and controversial jokes, comedianGilbert Gottfriedseems like a perfect guest onThe Howard Stern Show, hosted by the notorious shock jock. And for awhile, he was, appearing several times. Then, mysterious circumstances led to an abrupt ban for Gottfried.
Why is he banned? No one knows for sure. Some theorize it’s because of a bit gone awry where he spit cupcakes on the floor. Some think it’s from a bizarre on-street interaction he had withHoward Stern’s wife. And some think Gottfried’s personality just stopped meshing with Stern’s.
