Brooke Shields Says She Was ‘Taken Advantage of’ in Controversial 1981 Barbara Walters Interview

Brooke Shields feels like she was “taken advantage of” during her controversial 1981 interview with Barbara Walters when she was just 15 years old. The model, 57, opened up to Drew Barrymore and Ross Matthews on Tuesday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show about how uncomfortable interviews resulted in her setting more firm boundaries as a child.

“I had to watch an interview of when I was ten or something like that, and this woman asked the same question repeatedly,” Shields recalled of a time she was pressed for details, despite telling her the truth over and over again. The supermodel said that she’s now learned through years in the spotlight and on social media how to not back down and “to say ‘no this is my truth.’”

When Barrymore pressed Shields to see if she was discussing her controversial sit-down with Barbara Walters surrounding her racy Calvin Klein jeans ad, the model insisted she wasn’t – but she went on to detail her feelings surrounding that interview as well. During the 1981 incident, The View alum asked the teenage model and actress invasive questions repeatedly, including asking her for her measurements on camera.

“I stand up and she’s comparing herself to this little girl and I thought, ‘This isn’t right. I don’t understand what this is.’ But I behaved and smiled and felt like so taken advantage of in so many ways,” Shields recalled of the “fiasco.” Shields previously called the interview “practically criminal” during a December 2021 interview with Dax Shepard on Armchair Expert. 

Barrymore had her own memory of being interviewed by Walters when she was in her early 20s. “She was like, ‘Talk to me about the drugs and alcohol, talk to me about your mother, talk to me about bisexuality, talk to me about everything,’ and I kept saying, ‘You know Barbara I’m really doing well,’ and it was five, six, seven times over,” the talk show host shared.

Despite their memories of difficult interviews with Walters, both Barrymore and Shields had kind words about the journalist. “I love Barbara Walters. I really look up to her, I admire her. I never thought of Barbara Walters in a negative light nor do I,” Barrymore said, as Shields agreed.