Celebrity Arguments Caught On Tape
Most celebrities would rather play nice for the cameras than hash out their differences in front of fans and the press. Simply put, A-listers stars can't afford to risk their reputation and brand for a petty fight, and no level-headed celeb wants to give the tabloids a reason to publish dirt about their life. Trash talking is rarely a good look. Of course, some stars are better at hiding their drama than others, and the careless ones often learn about the power of bad publicity the hard way. We're talking about leaked audio and video tapes. It's hard to deny recordings of your own words and actions.
And while it might be hard to believe, there are some residents of Tinseltown who want to get caught feuding with a fellow celeb. Mariah Carey versus Nicki Minaj, anyone? Those two didn't do a darn thing to hide the bad blood between them, and there is a ton of footage documenting that strife. Yikes.
Without further ado, here are the most explosive celebrity arguments caught on tape.
Alec Baldwin calls daughter a 'thoughtless little pig'
Alec Baldwin enjoyed renewed professional success when he landed a role on 30 Rock in 2006, but just when the actor was returning to the top of his game, TMZ obtained a disturbing voicemail he left his then 11-year-old daughter, Ireland Baldwin.
The 2007 voicemail — used as a piece of evidence in Baldwin's three-year custody battle with ex-wife Kim Basinger — was a rant in response to Ireland not answering her dad's scheduled call. "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being," Alec says on the tape (via the Daily Mail). "I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the a** ... Once again I have made an a** of myself trying to get to a phone. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone."
Alec released a public apology following the leak and blamed his anger on alleged "parental alienation." During an appearance on Good Morning America years later, he referred to the voicemail as a "scab that never heals." Luckily, Ireland can make light of the scandal. "If I Were A Pig... I would be Rude and Thoughtless of course," she captioned a 2015 shot of her and her dad "reading" a book titled If I Were a Pig.
Mel Gibson's disturbing calls to Oksana Grigorieva
It's common knowledge that Mel Gibson has skeletons in his closet, and his romance with singer-songwriter Oksana Grigorieva was one of them. After Gibson and his wife of 28 years, Robyn Gibson, separated in 2006, the Braveheart star struck up a relationship with Grigorieva. The new couple welcomed daughter Lucia Gibson in 2009, and everything seemed great at first — until we all got to hear the secret recordings of Gibson's furious phone calls to Grigorieva.
In one recording, released in July 2010, Gibson berates Grigorieva's looks. "... you go out in public and it's a f***ing embarrassment to me. You look like a f***ing b***h in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n***ers it'll be your fault," he screams (via Radar Online). The tapes take an especially frightening turn when Gibson threatens physical harm against her. "...You need a f***ing bat in the side of the head... You need a f***ing brain transplant..."
As for Gibson, he claimed the disturbing tapes were edited.
Christian Bale cuts a crew member down
Actor Christian Bale took a professional hit when he was overheard berating a crew member on the set of Terminator Salvation. Apparently, Bale lost it when the film's director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, walked in his line of vision during filming.
"I want you off the f***ing set, you pr**k ...," Bale tells Hurlbut in a recording released by TMZ in February 2009. Hurlbut tries to apologize, but Bale is on a roll: "No, don't just be sorry. Think for one f***ing second. What the f**k are you doing? Are you a professional or not? Am I going to walk around and rip your f***ing lights down, in the middle of a scene?" Bale goes on and on.
To Bale's credit, he later took responsibility for his actions. "I was out of order beyond belief. I acted like a punk," he told the Kevin & Bean show (via Today). "There is nobody who heard the tape who is hit harder than me. I make no excuses for it. It is inexcusable."
Lily Tomlin and David O. Russell let it rip
Creative differences are common in Hollywood, especially between directors and actors. What's less common is for these disagreements to erupt into explosions the caliber of this one between actress Lily Tomlin and director David O. Russell on the set of 2004's I Heart Huckabees.
During a particularly tense day of filming, Tomlin reportedly got into a fight with Russell about frequent changes in the script. The argument began with Tomlin tossing out some f-bombs to express her annoyance, and it ended with a ballistic Russell hurling the c-word and more at the actress. The whole mess was caught on video tape.
"F**k you! I'm just trying to f***ing help you, do you understand me?" Russell screams as he throws set pieces (via Cosmopolitan). "I'm being a f***ing collaborator and figure out the f***ing picture, okay b***h? I'm not here to be f***ing yelled at! I worked on this f***ing thing for three f***ing years not to have some c**t f***ing yell at me in front of the f***ing crew, while I'm trying to help you, b***h!..." But wait — that's not all. During another scene, Tomlin slams Russell for supposedly bothering her. "Leave me the f**k alone," she yells (via TMZ) "Do you know what the f**k is going on, period? F**k you! F**k you, motherf***er!"
Something tell us these two don't heart these memories.
Donald Sterling's racist request
Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling lost it all in April 2014, after a racist audio conversation between him and then-girlfriend V. Stiviano leaked online. In the disturbing exhange, Sterling asks Stiviano — who is biracial — to delete an Instagram photo of her posing with retired basketball star Magic Johnson.
"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" he says (via TMZ). "...You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it...and not to bring them to my games... I'm just saying, in your lousy f***ing Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with, walking with black people... Don't put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."
Shortly after the tape went viral, the National Basketball Association fined Sterling $2.5 million and banned him from the organization for life.
Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer: a gift for 'glib'
Matt Lauer's 2005 Today show debate with Tom Cruise over mental health and medication will live on in infamy. Cruise is a member of the Church of Scientology, which doesn't believe in psychiatry and psychiatric medications, so the actor didn't mince words when discussing model Brooke Shields use of medication to treat postpartum depression with Lauer.
"I really care about Brooke Shields," Cruise tells Lauer (via Today). "I think, here's a wonderful and talented woman. And I want to see her do well. And I know that psychiatry is a pseudo science." Lauer counters, "But Tom, if she said that this particular thing helped her feel better, whether it was the antidepressants or going to a counselor or psychiatrist, isn't that enough?" A back-and-forth debate on the legitimacy of psychiatry ensues. At one point, Cruise yells: "Matt. Matt, Matt, you don't even — you're glib. You don't even know what Ritalin is."
Although Lauer and Cruise are reportedly cool now, it's unlikely these two will ever agree on this topic. Oh well, live and let live, right? Unless you're Brooke Shields, in which case you're apparently supposed to follow the advice of two dudes who are not medical professionals.
Orlando Bloom & Justin Bieber need to take a chill pill in Ibiza
Fans initially couldn't figure out why Justin Bieber was caught on tape ducking a punch from Orlando Bloom at a party in Ibiza. Why did the Biebs yell, "What's up b**ch?" to the Pirates of the Caribbean star? The whole thing reads like bad fan fiction. In a song that's old as time, this bizarre 2014 fisticuffs allegedly erupted over a woman — Bloom's ex-wife, model Miranda Kerr.
In one version of events, Bloom supposedly takes a swing at Bieber over an inappropriate comment the Sorry singer makes about Kerr. Considering it's rumored that Bieber and Kerr hooked up following a 2012 Victoria's Secret show, it's not hard to imagine the kind of comment Bieber may have made. Another version of the story alleges Bieber got pissed when Bloom refused to shake his hand. As Bloom supposedly tries to explain why he won't shake, Bieber starts to walk away, and that allegedly pisses off Bloom so much that he throws a punch (and misses.)
We may never know what really happened, but the rich and famous behaving like middle-school kids still makes for good gossip.
Rosie O'Donnell & Elisabeth Hasselbeck: feuding patriots
Once upon a time at The View, former co-hosts Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck were constantly at each other's throats. The bad blood wasn't surprising considering O'Donnell is an outspoken liberal and Hasselbeck is a staunch conservative, but their differences nearly upended the hit show in May 2007 during a discussion about the war in Iraq.
In short: O'Donnell was upset that Hasselbeck didn't defend her against conservative pundits after O'Donnell critiqued American involvement in Iraq. O'Donnell had tried to bring attention to civilian deaths in Iraq, but some conservative news outlets twisted her statement to make it seem like she had called U.S. soldiers terrorists. "I just don't understand why it's my fault if people spin words that you put out there or phrases that suggest things," Hasselbeck tells O'Donnell on the show (via the Los Angeles Times).
"Every day since September I have told you that I support the troops," O'Donnell yells at Hasselbeck. "I asked you if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying. You said nothing, and that's cowardly."
The situation continues to intensify on live TV until co-host Joy Behar asks, "Is there no commercial in this show?" Nice try, Behar.
Bill O'Reilly's teleprompter meltdown
Former Fox News star Bill O'Reilly has a hothead reputation, but of all his on-air blowups, his furious argument with a crew member while hosting Inside Edition may be the worst.
The meltdown was reportedly triggered by confusion about a teleprompter. O'Reilly was flummoxed by the closing line of the script: "There's no words there! 'To play us out?' What does that mean? 'To play us out?" an incensed O'Reilly yells at an employee in an off-air moment caught on video (via HuffPost). When the employee tries to explain that "play us out" references a music video by Sting that will play during the credits, O'Reilly continues shouting like a rabid parrot: "I don't know what that means! 'To play us out? What does that mean? To end the show?"
Eventually, the newsman begrudgingly moves on. "F**k it. We'll do it live!" he screams, adding. "F***ing. Thing. Sucks." (He changes the line during the live segment to "Take it away."
Nicki Minaj to Mariah Carey: 'Off with your head'
When you bring together two masters of shade, there are bound to be fireworks. Case in point: When Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey both appeared on American Idol Season 12, the fighting was reportedly non-stop, and one of their infamous brawls was caught on tape.
In footage released by TMZ in October 2012, Minaj and Carey engage in an intense debate about a contestant's audition, and it's obvious Minaj has had it with Carey. "Think I'm playin? Think this s**t is a f***ing joke? Think it's a joke?...," Minaj asks Carey. "...Say one more disrespectful thing to me, if you say one more disrespectful thing to me — off with your head!" An unruffled Carey responds: "I am not being disrespectful." That dismissal doesn't sit well with Minaj. "Off with your head, off with your head... Don't tell me I'm insecure, don't tell me I'm inadequate...," the rapper yells. "...Every time you take a shot at me I'ma take it back, and if you got a f***ing problem then handle it. I told them, I'm not f***ing putting up with your f***ing highness over there ... figure it the f**k out. Figure it out."
Yikes. We can only imagine how uncomfortable fellow American Idol judges Keith Urban and Randy Jackson felt during this war of words.