Johnny Carson Reportedly Banned This Celebrity From His Talk Show In The '90s

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On "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," famous TV host Johnny Carson spoke to a slew of celebrity guests over the years. If you wanted to boost your fame or get people talking, you wanted to be booked for a spot on the show. Some of the most memorable guests over the years included Robin Williams, a seven-year-old Drew Barrymore during "E.T." promotions, Don Rickles, and Steve Martin, to name just a few. But there were also many well-known Hollywood figures active during the years of Carson's show who never managed to get that prestigious invite. In fact, there's one celebrity who was reportedly banned because of one simple rule Carson had, and that was Pee-Wee Herman, portrayed by Paul Reubens.

A 2025 book all about Carson and his late-night talk show revealed that a little-known rule prevented Reubens from getting booked for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." The sole reason was that Reubens would have appeared in character as Herman. According to "Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend," written by Mark Malkoff, in-character guests were a no-go for Carson. Malkoff explained in the book all about the TV legend (via Fox News), "Carson wouldn't put on guests that were 'in character' if he thought the home audience might be confused if they were real or not. It was the same reason Carson refused to book Gilbert Gottfried or Bobcat Goldthwait." 

But even this rule had a few exceptions. Carson allowed guests for whom "it was plainly obvious that it was a 'put on,'" like Father Guido Sarducci, played by Don Novello, for example. Because of this lone rule, Reubens, despite being a popular celebrity at the time as Herman, was never able to enjoy an on-screen conversation with Carson on his show. 

Despite Paul Reubens, also known as Pee-Wee Herman, never getting interviewed by Johnny Carson on his show, he technically appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" during its run. But instead of Carson, it was during an episode hosted by Joan Rivers. Reubens, who died in 2023, was a guest for the Halloween episode in 1985. It was the perfect fit for him as a holiday known for dressing up in character, and he arrived as Herman in costume as Dracula. Reubens was also a guest for an episode hosted by Jay Leno a few years later. Thanks to a bit of a technicality, Reubens was at least able to be a part of the hit talk show in some capacity.

Reubens' guest host, Rivers, actually had an interesting history with "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" as well. Although she appeared as a guest host for years, Rivers was later blocked from the show like Reubens, but for a very different reason. In the 1980s, Fox offered Rivers her own talk show, and she said yes. According to PBS, Carson didn't respond to the news very well. Rivers said, "He literally had me blacklisted and to this day, I have not been on NBC late night ever." Rivers finally returned to "The Tonight Show" in 2014 with host Jimmy Fallon.

As for Reubens, during the later part of Carson's time on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," another talk show host didn't have the same qualms about hosting in-character guests. "Late Night with David Letterman" was another popular program on NBC that ran from 1982 to 1993. It was hosted by David Letterman, who had a close relationship with Carson, and Reubens made several memorable appearances on the talk show.