NEWSBarbara Walters' Friend Admits 'Some of Her Interviews Haven't Aged Well': 'No One Got Out Unscathed'
Barbara Walters' friends and colleagues are looking back at her decades-long career.
Barbara Walters made history when she became the first female co-anchor in nightly news, and though the trailblazer cemented herself as one of the most successful broadcast journalists of all time, the late star's friend admitted in a new interview that she sometimes pushed the envelope a little too far.
"Some of her interviews haven’t aged well," pal and former NBC correspondent Cynthia McFadden acknowledged. "No one got out of a Barbara interview unscathed."
Barbara Walters 'Changed' the Dynamics of Interviewing
Barbara Walters' friend admitted, 'no one got out of a Barbara interview unscathed.'
Oprah Winfrey defended Walters' tenacity, noting, "she asked the questions that nobody else asked."
ABC News senior executive producer David Sloan echoed that notion, insisting, "she really changed the way people ask questions."
"Can you imagine sitting opposite Chris Christie, the then-governor of New Jersey, who was running for President, and saying, ‘Aren’t you too fat to be President?’ But these were the things that the people watching at home on their sofas really wanted to know," he explained.
Sloane also noted that regardless of who she was speaking with, "you’ve never seen someone more prepared."
Brooke Shields Shaded Barbara Walters' 'Unacceptable' Behavior
Brooke Shields was furious with the way Barbara Walters conducted their interview decades ago.
In 2023, Brooke Shields confessed it "stirs rage" within her to think about the things Walters said to her when she was 15.
"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," the actress explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
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In the infamous sit-down, The View alum told the Blue Lagoon actress, "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," as the cameras scanned her body.
The brunette beauty also touched on the situation on Drew Barrymore's talk show in 2022, noting she knew it "wasn't right" while it was happening but "just behaved and just smiled," even though she felt "so taken advantage of in so many ways."
New Documentary Delves Into Walters' Career
Other shocking moments over the years included her asking Martha Stewart, "why do so many people hate you?" and telling the Kardashian family they don't have any "talent."
As OK! reported, Walters passed away at age 93 in December 2022 after battling dementia.
Fans can learn more about the TV icon when the Hulu documentary Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything debuts on Monday, June 23.
