Katt Williams gagged Shannon Sharpe and the world with his recent interview on Club Shay Shay from Wednesday.
But X users were already reminiscing about the many times celebrities have clapped back at interviewers, making for some pretty awkward moments.
On Tuesday, one X user, @beyoncegarden asked the Twitterverse what other interviews have been on people’s minds: “Name a time a celebrity gagged their interviewer.”
Many of the celebs in question aren’t surprising—like Nicki Minaj, Vince Staples, and Keke Palmer—but their responses were so severe that you can’t not laugh.
Nicki Minaj and Peter Rosenberg
Back in 2012, Nicki Minaj and Peter Rosenberg started beefing after the radio host declared at that year’s Hot 97's Summer Jam concert that her Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded single "Starships" wasn’t "real hip-hop.” A year later, the pair deaded the feud on Hot 97, though Onika still took some jabs at Rosenberg.
“I don’t know your resume. I never found you funny. I never found you entertaining. I never found you smart,” she told him. “I just found you annoying. To me it was like, who are you? You don’t have enough of a resume to make those comments.”
Despite the above tweet, we have seen plenty of Rosenberg since this interview. Meanwhile, Nicki refused to perform "Starships" at a recent New Years Eve celebration.
Katt Williams
In 2018, Katt Williams went toe-to-toe with former V-103 radio personality Wanda Smith. At the time, the comedian appeared on Frank and Wanda in the Morning to promote his upcoming comedy show in Norcross, Georgia—and at first, it seemed like the pair were having fun until it took a turn.
“Only one of us has $12 worth of jewelry on,” Williams said to Smith. “If you wanna have Wanda’s jewelry, please go to Citgo or QuikTrip at any point. If you buy two packs of Newport 100’s, they will give you everything Wanda has on right now for $7.99 and it comes with a free car wash, won’t you come on down?”
In case you haven't heard, Williams also recently went viral for a blistering interview with Shannon Sharpe where Williams dissed numerous people.
Michael Jackson and Barbara Walters
In 1997, Michael Jackson sat down with Barbara Walters for a candid interview. At some point, the storied broadcast journalist condescendingly asked MJ about a nickname that the tabloids had bestowed upon him: “Wacko Jacko”—and about people subsequently giving his child the same epithet.
“I want [my child] to have some space where he can go to school. I don’t want him to be called ‘Wacko Jacko,’ that’s not nice. They called the father that, that isn’t nice, right?” the pop icon asked.
She responded, “You said you don’t want your child to be called Wacko Jacko’s son, how are you gonna prevent it, so they don’t do it to him?”
“That’s the thing, that’s the idea,” Jackson replied. “Maybe you should come up with a plan to help me.”
Offset and Bobbi Althoff
Offset and Bobbi Althoff had a pretty awkward exchange for her show, The Really Good Podcast last September. At some point during their conversation, Set started asking the TikToker why she wanted to interview him.
“Um, I didn’t,” she said. When she explained that his team reached out to hers, the rapper called “cap.” He continued, “Let’s not flex for the gram.”
“I honestly don’t know how this came about. I’m not gonna lie to you,” she said. They then tell each other that they didn’t know who the other one was prior to the interview. “I had to go on TikTok. I couldn’t even Google you,” Offset said.
Vince Staples and Nadeska
Vince Staples stressed Nadeska out during a 2018 interview at Coachella. A few minutes into the interview, seemingly for no reason, the rapper launched into a diatribe about R. Kelly, as Nadeska pleaded with him. “You’re going to get me fired from Coachella," she said.
After making a joke about taking his new Tesla out to test its speed when his probation is up, Staples used R. Kelly as an example of why he would never go to jail for such a thing. "Think about it," he said. "R. Kelly never went to jail and he's a fucking child molester. He's a child molester. I'm saying he's a child molester and he pees on people and he can't read and write and he didn't go to jail. I'm a good person, R. Kelly a piece of fucking shit. So, if piece of fucking shit R. Kelly didn't go to jail for being a child molester and peeing on people and having a human trafficking ring in Atlanta, then I'll be alright."
Years after Staples' comments, R. Kelly was found guilty of numerous crimes in 2021 and 2022 (including child porngraphy) and was sentenced to 20 years in 2023.
Keke Palmer and Wendy Williams
In 2017, Keke Palmer accused Trey Songz of sexual intimidation after including her in his “Pick Up the Phone” music video without her consent. She also revealed that had to hide in a closet “because I was so afraid of any more conflict.” Wendy Williams then went to bat for Songz, describing Palmer as “crazy” for hiding in a closet.
The actress later appeared on Wendy Williams’ show to discuss her new book, also responding to Williams’ comments. When Wendy asked Keke to tell her what happened, Palmer shot back, “Well, you know because you done told everybody especially.”
She continued, "I will say, Wendy, I would have loved to turn on your show and see you be a little bit more compassionate and a little less accusatory.”
"I couldn't," Wendy responded, to which Palmer said, “The gag is you wasn’t there.”
Mike Tyson
In 2014, Mike Tyson lashed out at Toronto CP24 reporter Nathan Downer after he asked the boxing legend the wrong question. During the TV interview, Downer questioned the effectiveness of having Tyson help with former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s re-election campaign.
"Some of your critics would say, ‘This is a race for mayor. We know you're a convicted rapist, this could hurt his campaign.’ How would you respond to that?" Downer asked.
Tyson clearly didn’t expect this line of questioning, responding, "It's interesting because you come across like a nice guy but you're really a piece of shit.” He added, for good measure, “Fuck you.”
