10 Hollywood a-listers who were banned from talk shows – and the reasons why

While the Notting Hill frontman has a tendency to make us melt, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart wasn’t quite on board. During an on-stage Q&A in 2012, Jon revealed that Hugh Grant was his least favourite guest he’d ever had on the show, calling him “a big pain”.

Hugh appeared on the show in December 2009 to promote his new movie, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, and allegedly expressed dissatisfaction at a clip played on the show. Grant addressed the moment in 2012, taking to social media to say "Turns out my inner crab got the better of me with TV producer in 09. Unforgivable.  J Stewart correct to give me kicking."

“You get a car, everybody gets a car!”...apart from Letterman, that is. Oprah Winfrey had a longstanding 'feud' with fellow talk show mogul David Letterman, which reportedly stemmed from her 1989 appearance on his show; after a controversial episode of her own program days earlier, Letterman’s audience were less than happy with Oprah, with a guest even yelling, “Rip her, Dave”.

It was Oprah who banned herself from the show, though closure was seemingly reached in 2013 after Letterman’s appearance on Oprah’s Next Chapter. “You were sort of baiting the audience…it felt so uncomfortable to me," Oprah reflected, with Letterman admitting to being “very sorry”.

There’s one famous family we won’t be spotting on Anderson Cooper 360° anytime soon – during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2012, Anderson Cooper revealed the one guest he’d refuse to have on his talk show.

“I’d generally say any member of the Kardashian family,” he said – though there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings behind the choice. “‘I don’t have anything against them, I just think they’re everywhere. I don’t think I could really add much.”

Of all the guests Piers Morgan might have banned from his show, Material Girl hitmaker Madonna might seem like an unlikely candidate. Prior to the premiere of his CNN show Piers Morgan Tonight in 2011, the talk show host told Access Hollywood that there had been several incidents involving the pair, calling her “an irritant in my life for 20 years”. 

It doesn’t appear that the duo will be making up anytime soon, either. Piers faced backlash for posting a picture of Madonna at the 2023 Grammys with the caption, “I thought Halloween was in October?”. The singer retaliated with a powerful statement, writing, “I have never apologized for any of the creative choices I have made nor the way that I look or dress and I’m not going to start.”

Adrien Brody famously went off-script during his first Saturday Night Live hosting gig in 2003. While introducing musical guest Sean Paul, Adrien donned dreadlocks and spoke with a Jamaican accent, a stunt which was dubbed inappropriate and led to rumours of the star’s permanent ban.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Adrien revealed that he’d never officially been banned, but added “I have also never been invited back on, so I don’t know what to tell you.”

Vince Vaughn appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2011 to promote his new film The Dilemma – which created one in itself. Ellen reportedly took issue with Vince’s character’s use of the word “gay” as a derogatory descriptor; though the line was pulled from the film, Vince later told Deadline, “Drawing dividing lines over what we can and cannot joke about divides us.”

Though Ellen never commented on the alleged ban, fellow host Anderson Cooper appeared to address the situation during his own appearance on Ellen, saying “we've got to do something to make those words unacceptable, cause those words are hurting kids." Vince did eventually make a return to the show in 2016, so it seems the pair ended up reconciling.

Radio host Howard Stern had a longstanding feud with talk show host Jay Leno, which reportedly began after Leno began hosting The Tonight Show in 1992, taking over from Johnny Carson. Both Stern and Carson reportedly favoured David Letterman as the show's successor, and the snub was the beginning of Stern’s long-held grudge against Leno, who departed the show in 2014.

While Leno and Letterman have seemingly remained cordial, Stern doubled down on the perceived slight during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2013, claiming he was still “fighting the war”.

Previous The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson was no stranger to lengthy feuds, having one of his own with comedian and actress Joan Rivers. After Joan appeared numerous times on Carson’s show over a twenty-year period, he reportedly felt betrayed when Joan scored a late-night slot of her own in 1986, which was framed as a rival to Carson’s. 

Joan’s The Late Show only lasted two seasons, swiftly cancelled due to low ratings and alleged tensions with executives. The Spaceballs star didn’t return to The Tonight Show until Jimmy Fallon’s reign, telling Variety, “It’s about time! I’ve been sitting in a taxi outside NBC with the meter running since 1987.”

In his new book Love Johnny Carson (2025), author Mark Malkoff revealed some new names that the host never invited back to The Tonight Show – including the ultimate Funny Girl herself. Barbra Streisand reportedly cancelled a scheduled appearance last-minute in 1975, which didn’t go down too well with the host – while Barbra didn’t make another appearance during Carson’s heyday, she’s since returned to chat with Jimmy Fallon.

Other famous faces who found themselves in hot water with the host included William Shatner, as well as acclaimed director Orson Welles.

Dax Shepard was banned from Late Night with Conan O’Brien after his 2004 appearance, where the actor was noticeably intoxicated and even broke a coffee table. The actor has since spoken favourably about the ban, which Conan implemented in an effort to help the Parenthood star get sober.

“I was banned from that show for some years, until I got sober and I got myself back on it, and now I’ve been on it a bazillion times,” Dax told The Pursuit of Healthiness podcast in 2021, calling it “the only career wreckage-y thing I did.”