Latest news with #BarbaraWalters
New York Post
37 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Why Barbara Walters was 'threatened' by Diane Sawyer: doc director
The interviewer is now the subject. Legendary broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, who died in 2022 at age 93, takes center stage in the new documentary 'Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything (premiering Monday, June 23 on Hulu and Disney+). Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Jackie Jesko, the program offers a comprehensive look at Walters' trailblazing career, and her life from her early years until her retirement. Advertisement 'This isn't a hagiography, and it was never intended to be,' Jesko exclusively told The Post. She added, 'I think with someone like Barbara, people know that she was a difficult person and a complicated person, and it would be ridiculous to make something about her that didn't include that.' 9 The 'Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything' documentary poster. Hulu Advertisement 9 Jackie Jesko attends the 'Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything' premiere during the 2025 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theater on June 12, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival 9 Barbara Walters says farewell to live daily television in May 2014 on 'The View.' ABC The doc covers Walters' career beginnings as the first woman to co-anchor a national news show on prime time television, her early struggles in the boys' club environment in the 1970s, her rise to 'Today,' '20/20' and 'The View,' her famous interviews, her friendship with controversial figures like Roy Cohn, and her tumultuous personal life, including her rocky relationship with her daughter, Jackie Guber. It also covers her contradictory attitudes of embracing her position as a mentor to women – but viewing Diane Sawyer as a rival. Advertisement 'I thought it revealed a lot about Barbara and sort of what made her tick and what she was insecure about,' Jesko told the Post, referring to her tension with Sawyer, 79. 9 Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer at the annual gala of the Museum of Television & Radio at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1996. 2.11.96 9 Barbara Walters at the beginning of her career in the 70s. HULU 'I do understand that it makes sense that Barbara would have been extremely threatened by Diane Sawyer,' she said, adding that Sawyer had as much talent as Walters, but was also 'beautiful' in the way that 'Barbara wished she had been.' Advertisement The film includes numerous voice covers from archival footage of Walters. 'You probably catch in the film that she talks about herself as ugly kind of a lot, which is really quite shocking when you see the photos and videos of her or so when she was much younger. You're like, 'Wow, you were absolutely beautiful. What are you talking about?'' 9 Barbara Walters interviews Monica Lewinsky on 20/20 in 1999. ABC 'But I think that she didn't match the beauty standard of the 60s, which was much more Diane Sawyer than it was Barbara Walters,' Jesko explained. 'Her whole life, she always felt lesser than in some way. And for a mix of reasons, Diane brought that out in her.' Interviews include Oprah Winfrey, Connie Chung, Katie Couric, Joy Behar, Disney CEO Bob Iger, Bette Midler and Monica Lewinski (who was one of Walters' major 'gets' for a sit-down). 'I hadn't realized exactly how much Barbara had impacted her life – Oprah saw [Walters] as a roadmap for herself. I found it touching, and I found that really interesting,' said Jesko. 9 Barbara Walters sitting with Oprah Winfrey in 1999. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images 9 Barbara Walters and Harry Reasoner on ABC news in 1976. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Advertisement The director wasn't shocked by any information she found, but she was fascinated by Walters' friendship with controversial lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn – who was most recently dramatized by Jeremy Strong in the 2024 movie 'The Apprentice.' 'It was very revealing that she was so close to this man, and that she didn't seem to mind a lot of the things he did, which were terrible in his life… she stood by him even at the time when it was very disadvantageous for her to do so.' She added, 'So, theirs must have been a true friendship on some level.' 9 Barbara Walters on 'The View' in 2014. Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Advertisement The film, however, doesn't cover Walters' declining health, such as her reported dementia before her death. The reports were never confirmed. 'When you do celebrity films about someone who's passed away, it's always like, okay, are you doing cradle to grave? Where do you want to end the story? And we weren't sure at the outset where we wanted to end the story,' Jesko explained to The Post. Capping it with Walters' onscreen retirement from 'The View' in 2014 – when two dozen women in journalism came to pay tribute to her – made the most sense. 'I didn't really see a strong reason to keep the story going at that point in time,' Jesko explained. 'It felt like an ending.'
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Kathy Griffin reveals shock confrontation with Barbara Walters over turning down million dollar job offer
is opening up about a shocking confrontation with Barbara Walters when she was guest-hosting on The View. Walters created the daily talk show and was a fixture on the panel alongside Joy Behar, Meredith Viera, Star Jones and Debbie Matenopoulos when the show debuted in 1997. While Walters left the panel in 2014, she remained as an executive producer until her passing in December 2022 at 93. Since the original lineup, there have been a slew of guest hosts, one of whom was Griffin, who guest hosted from May 2007 to September 2007. She has said many times in her stand up comedy routines that she was 'banned' from The View, and now she's explaining why. Griffin, 64, filmed a new video for her YouTube page this week, where she revealed Walters was not pleased after Griffin turned down a permanent hosting spot. She began the video by calling Walters a 'bad-ass journalist' and added she, 'loved doing that show.' She said she co-hosted the show 'something like 27 times,' adding she was flying from Los Angeles to New York City each time. 'They pay you scale and stuff but they don't dress you and they don't pay for makeup outside the hair and makeup room and they're already so busy and over booked and all that stuff,' she added. 'So eventually I said to my agent "Okay tell them if they're going to offer me a permanent chair please tell them to just offer me the chair or not." But I keep flying out there and they're trying out new hosts so much that I'm like I'm done auditioning did I get the job or not?" She added, 'So they made me an offer and the offer was for $1.4 (million) and I am just going to be honest i had to turn it down, because at the time between doing My Life on the D-list and touring I was making about 10 a year.' 'So I had to turn down The view because I would have had to uproot my whole life. My mom was still alive and my dad might have still been alive actually and I didn't want to leave them and my mom and dad didn't want to get on airplanes anymore so there wasn't a situation where I could have brought them with me and it was a whole thing,' she added. Griffin continued, 'I remember when they offered me the job Barbara Walters said backstage one time before we were about to go out and do the live show, "They say we have chemistry i don't really see it but they say we do," and I loved that. I said "Of course we do Barbara people love when I give you s**t." And then she just roll her eyes.' The comedienne added that she waited until she had a private moment with Walters to tell her in person that she turned down the offer. 'It was important to me that I pull Barbara aside and I said, "I want you to know why I'm going to say no. It's not that I think I'm too good for the show, it's the opposite; the show is too good for me,"' she said. 'It was important to me that I pull Barbara aside and I said, "I want you to know why I'm going to say no. It's not that I think I'm too good for the show, it's the opposite; the show is too good for me,"' she said. 'I'm going to be honest, this is how much money I made last year. I will show you my tax returns. I don't want you to think I'm blowing smoke.'" While she cited a number of variables like moving costs and the home she owns in Los Angeles, in the end, Walters was not pleased. 'She did not like that one bit. She didn't care, they didn't up their offer by a penny. I think I might've said something like, "Can you meet me halfway?" And they didn't.' She claimed to be banned from the show but would return sporadically, including a 2009 appearance where she got into a spat with Elizabeth Hasselback, which she claimed got her 're-banned,' even though she did appear on a March 2024 episode as well.
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
Barbara Walters' success was fueled by personal struggles, documentary director says
Barbara Walters had a legendary 50-year broadcast career fueled in large part by the private struggles she faced behind the scenes, according to the director of a new documentary on her life. In the documentary, "Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything," the late journalist herself describes the struggles her family faced, particularly her father, Lou Walters, a nightclub impresario who owned the Latin Quarter, a club in New York City's Times Square. "My mother had no means of having a livelihood and my nightmare was that my father was going to lose it all," Barbara Walters, who died in 2022 at the age of 93, says in archival footage shown in the documentary. "He was a gambler by nature. He gambled on cards, and eventually he gambled on the Latin Quarter. And after years of success, he had nothing, nothing." She continued, "My father was in great despair, and he attempted suicide from an overdose of sleeping pills. I was in my 20s, and I had to support my whole family. I had to work at a time when many women of my generation were not working." Barbara Walters' forced responsibility of having to provide for her family -- which included an older sister with a disability -- was a pressure that led her to great professional success, according to Jackie Jesko, who directed "Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything." "Her dad goes riches to rags story, and then Barbara -- and this is at a time few women worked at all -- she becomes the breadwinner for the family, and I think that pressure really propels her for the rest of her life," Jesko said Wednesday on " Good Morning America." Jesko said she had 50 years of archival footage of Barbara Walters to draw from for the documentary, which begins streaming June 23 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. To begin to tell the story of the life of the trailblazing journalist, Jesko said she looked to Barbara Walters' own memoir, "Audition," as a blueprint. "Her own book, 'Audition,' was kind of our guide. I wanted to know what was important to her. What were the career highlights that really stood out to her?" Jesko said. "That was really, really helpful." Barbara Walters joined ABC News in 1976, becoming the first female anchor on an evening news program. Three years later, she became a co-host of "20/20," and in 1997, she launched "The View." In a career that spanned five decades, Walters won 12 Emmy Awards, 11 of those while at ABC News. She made her final appearance as a co-host of "The View" in 2014, but remained an executive producer of the show and continued to do some interviews and specials for ABC News.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kathy Griffin Turned Down $1.4 Million Offer to Co-Host 'The View' and Barbara Walters 'Did Not Like That One Bit'
Kathy Griffin was offered a seat at The View table, but declined the offer The comedian recalled turning down the talk show chair because it would "uproot" her life in Los Angeles She said that Barbara Walters "did not like that one bit"Kathy Griffin was offered a seat at The View table - but turned it down. In a YouTube video shared to her channel on Tuesday, June 17, the comedian recalled being offered a cool $1.4 million to co-host the daytime talk show. Though Griffin, 64, declined the proposal, the late Barbara Walters apparently wasn't a fan of Griffin's decision. "I really respect those women for going on that show day in and day out because they know there's blowback," Griffin began, praising the show, "and by the way, to this day, The View is one of the most buzzworthy shows on television or anywhere." "People still get up in arms online talking about who said what on The View, so it's always been a high-stakes show." Griffin then spoke about co-hosting the show roughly 27 times before being offered a permanent spot in the mid-2000s. She had been flying from Los Angeles to New York for several appearances, and though she was getting paid, extras like wardrobe, hair and makeup weren't included. "Eventually I said to my agent, 'Okay, tell them if they're going to offer me a permanent chair, please tell them to just offer me the chair or not,' " Griffin recalled. After a certain point, while the talk show kept auditioning new potential hosts and still flying out Griffin numerous times, she asked whether or not she got the job. "So they made me an offer and the offer was for 1.4 [million dollars] and I am just going to be honest, I had to turn it down because at the time between doing [the reality show] My Life on the D-List and touring I was making about 10 [million dollars] a year." "I had to turn down The View because I would have had to uproot my whole life," added Griffin, adding that she was taking care of her parents. "I remember when they offered me the job, Barbara Walters said backstage one time before we were about to go out and do the live show, 'they say we have chemistry, I don't really see it but they say we do.' And I loved that. I said, 'Of course we do Barbara, people love when I give you s---.' And then she just rolled her eyes." Griffin recalled that while making her decision, she pulled Walters, who died in 2022 at 93, aside and said, "I want you to know why I'm going to say no. It's not that I think I'm too good for this show, it's the opposite: this show is too good for me." "I'm going to be honest, this is how much money I made last year. I will show you my tax returns. I don't want you to think I'm blowing smoke but between moving costs and I'm so entwined with my mom and dad. I have a house in Los Angeles, and it just isn't feasible for me to do, but I want you to hear it directly from me." "She did not like that one bit," Griffin recalled. "She didn't care. They didn't up their offer by a penny, I think I might have said something like, 'Can you meet me halfway? And they didn't.' But there's the real story," she concluded. Rosie O'Donnell wound up getting hired by The View in 2006, years after leaving her eponymous talk show. Read the original article on People
New York Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
New Barbara Walters documentary tells the story of my dear friend
Up close 'View' on Barbara Barbara Walters left us at age 93. Her Tribeca Festival and Imagine Entertainment documentary 'Tell Me Everything' is on Hulu June 23. As teenagers, we'd meet steadily in her father Lou Walters' B'way nightclub the Latin Quarter. Me dating his club's star. She in college. Both of us nobody. In larger life, we lived near one another. We traveled together. I have her Bulgari wristwatch and two mink jackets. Together we sold her diamond jewelry. Her housekeeper now works for me. Once I had her favorite Chinese restaurant charge $1,000 takeout to me. Another birthday, $1,000 in pantyhose. Advertisement I had dinners, lunches with her. My driver Jose drove her. We shared the same doctor. People magazine quotes me: 'She didn't love you if you were nobody. You had to be somebody.' Visiting me was always in hat and dark glasses. Her Havanese dog was named Cha Cha. Summers we'd visit her Hamptons rental. We did Iran, Israel, Argentina, Italy and another dozen countries together. Taking one Italian steamship trip. She to make a speech. Me her Plus One. On our way, a doctor gave me Ambien to sleep. Five milligrams. Airborne, I took a second pill. Forget it. My head fell inside our scrambled egg breakfast. The crew had to tie me to a wheelchair. Up the ramp as the ship's captain saluted Barbara, the crew needed to strap me in and push me. Thrilled Barbara was not. Advertisement Our dining table was in a protected area so nobody'd bother us. Know that a nearby table of 10 shouters were knocking Barbara. We heard. I didn't know what to do. Barbara knew. Finishing dinner she walked over and told them she'd heard every word they said. Three of us friends were buying contiguous homes together in the Plaza Hotel's newly renovated apartment wing — Barbara, Joan Rivers, me. We'd have each other's keys. Always be together, safe, never alone. One by one that idea would not work. Sara Bernstein — behind my own Imagine Entertainment doc and always knows what she's doing — was involved in this one. Advertisement Vocab lessons Forgotten words: I never forgot them because I never knew them. Now they're yours — lotsa luck. Hoddypeak: A fool or simpleton. Cockalorum: Boastful person. Advertisement Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Jobbernowl: Ignorant person. Twattle: Idle gossip. Ill-willie: Meanie. Peregrinate: Wander around. Cacafuego: Talks big but doesn't listen. Bletheration: Foolish talk. Advertisement Opsimath: One who learns late in life. Gobemouche: One believing anything they hear. MSNBC anchor: 'We knew the show was in trouble when we found 50% of the studio audience wasn't even listening.' Only in the USA, kids, only in the USA.
