11 Times Interviewers Asked A Celeb About A Breakup Or Feud, And They Absolutely Refused To Answer
Fans are often interested in a celebrity's personal life, which is why so many interviewers ask about it — especially when there's drama involved. Some celebs love to give their side of the story, but others plead the fifth.
Here are 11 times interviewers asked a celeb about a breakup or feud, and they absolutely refused to answer:
1.THE CONTEXT: In 2017, actor Francia Raisa donated a kidney to her friend Selena Gomez, which brought them close and made them feel like "family." Five years later, in her Apple TV+ documentary My Mind & Me, Selena said, "My only friend in the industry really is Taylor [Swift]." When E! News posted the quote on Instagram, Francia commented (then later deleted), "Interesting."
On a TikTok video someone else made about the situation, Selena commented, "Sorry I didn't mention every person I know."
THE INTERVIEW: Several months later, a TMZ reporter approached Francia while she was out walking her dog and asked about Selena. Francia simply changed the subject.
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 1:04 mark:
2.THE CONTEXT: Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber dated on-and-off from 2010–2018. They got back together for the first time in spring 2012 but seemingly broke up again a few months later. Around the time they separated, Justin was reportedly involved in a car accident that injured a pedestrian as well as a scandal where a leaked video appeared to show him peeing in a custodian's mop bucket, spraying a picture of President Clinton with cleaning fluid, and saying, "Fuck Bill Clinton."
THE INTERVIEW: In 2013, entertainment critic Dean Richards asked Selena about Justin's recent scandals. She kept silent and looked at someone else off-camera, then the interview ended.
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 1:40 mark:
3.THE CONTEXT: Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez have been good friends since 2008. At the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, Justin Bieber was filmed kissing Selena on the cheek. Off to the side, Taylor saw them and stuck out her tongue. Years later, one of Taylor's Tumblr likes seemingly confirmed speculation that Justin cheated on Selena.
THE INTERVIEW: Later that night, Taylor declined to answer a question about Justin's big win.
You can watch the full video below, with this part starting at the 0:24 mark:
4.THE CONTEXT: Taylor Swift and Kanye West's longstanding feud originated at the 2009 VMAs. While she was accepting her award for Video of the Year, he hopped on the stage, took the mic, and said, "Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!"
THE INTERVIEW: When Taylor visited the MJ Morning Show later that year, the host brought up "the Kanye West incident." After he ignored her request to stop talking about it multiple times, she said, "I really would appreciate it if we could talk about something else, because I've asked you three times now, and I'm trying to be nice about it because it just isn't something we need to spend this whole interview talking about."
The host replied, "Taylor, let me just give you a couple of tips here. You've got 10 or 12 radio stations lined up after me, and they're all going to want to talk about this, Taylor."
She said, "Absolutely, but I think that if I ask them three times and I've already talked about this in interviews..."
When the host asked about Kanye yet again, Taylor passed the phone to her publicist, who said, "Hey guys, we've got to move on past that question. I'm sorry. Can we talk about something new, like her record, 'You Belong With Me' going #1?"
He continued to argue with the publicist. Meanwhile, Taylor walked away. After a bit of back and forth, the publicist politely ended the interview.
5.THE CONTEXT: Taylor Swift and John Mayer reportedly dated for a few months between 2009–2010. Her song "Dear John" — which came out shortly after he faced backlash over comments he made in Rolling Stone and Playboy — has long been speculated to be about him. In 2012, he told Rolling Stone, "I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I'd already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?"
He continued, "I will say as a songwriter that I think it's kind of cheap songwriting. I know she's the biggest thing in the world, and I'm not trying to sink anybody's ship, but I think it's abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, 'Wait till he gets a load of this!' That's bullshit."
THE INTERVIEW: A few months later, Taylor told Glamour that it was "presumptuous" for John to tell Rolling Stone that "Dear John" was about him. When the interviewer tried to read his comments to her, she said, "No! I don't want to know, I don't want to know... I know it wasn't good, so I don't want to know. I put a high priority on staying happy, and I know what I can't handle."
She continued, "It's not that I'm this egomaniac and I don't want to hear anything negative, because I do keep myself in check. But I've never developed that thick a skin. So I just kind of live a life, and I let all the gossip live somewhere else. If you go too far down the rabbit hole of what people think about you, it can change everything about who you are."
6.THE CONTEXT: In 2019, Angela White (formerly known as Blac Chyna) and Soulja Boy dated for a few weeks before he confirmed their breakup with a vulgar tweet about her body. He later apologized.
THE INTERVIEW: In 2020, the podcast No Jumper asked Angela about the relationship, so she ended the interview.
Here's the full video, with this part starting at the 17:12 mark:
7.THE CONTEXT: Mariah Carey debuted as a singer in 1990, but seven years later, she shed the "wholesome" image her label gave her and embraced her post-divorce independence with Butterfly. She was already one of the best-selling artists of the '90s when Jennifer Lopez released her platinum-selling debut in 1999. Then, in the early '00s, female pop stars were often pitted against each other.
THE INTERVIEW: In the early '00s, the German TV series Taff asked Mariah for her thoughts on Beyoncé and J.Lo. She praised Beyoncé, but she famously had nothing to say about Jennifer.
Here's the full clip:
8.THE CONTEXT: Throughout the early '00s, Eminem claimed he once dated Mariah Carey for six months, but she denied ever being in a relationship with him. He wrote several songs about her and their alleged relationship, which led her to release "Obsessed."
THE INTERVIEW: When Mariah appeared on Watch What Happens Live in 2017, she dodged a question about Eminem by talking about M&Ms.
Here's the full video, with this part starting at the 0:15 mark:
9.THE CONTEXT: In 2009, Jamie Foxx criticized and made disparaging comments about then-16-year-old Miley Cyrus on his radio show The Foxxhole. He said, "Make a sex tape and grow up. Get like Britney Spears and do some heroin. Do like Lindsay Lohan and start being a lesbian and get some crack in your pipe. Catch chlamydia on a bicycle seat. That's what I want." He later apologized.
THE INTERVIEW: When the MJ Morning Show asked Miley if Jamie had ever apologized to her personally, the call abruptly disconnected.
Afterwards, she tweeted, "I have a specific time limit, and schedules are set up for specific time frames for each station... If a station goes over time, I am immediately connected to the next station. Yes, I am sorry if anyone thought I 'hung up' on them. The peeps at the radio stations are friends, we know each other well and have a great relationship. I'm sorry if anything was miscommunicated, taken out of context, or misunderstood."
10.THE CONTEXT: Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have been at the center of a reported feud since they worked on The Fate of the Furious together in 2016. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Dwayne called some of his male costars "chicken shit" and "candy asses." He also confirmed to Rolling Stone that the scenes were set up so that he and Vin wouldn't have to film together.
THE INTERVIEW: When Dwayne appeared on Watch What Happens Live in 2018, he was given the option to "plead the fifth" one time. He exercised that option on the very first question.
Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 0:18 mark:
11.And finally, THE CONTEXT: In late 2016, Camila Cabello left Fifth Harmony. The group's official statement claimed they were "informed via her representatives," but she denied that she left without talking to her former bandmates about her decision.
THE INTERVIEW: In 2017, the remaining four members appeared on the podcast Bizarre Life with Dan Wootton. The host asked, "What's your message about what went on then...?" Dinah Jane replied, "Right now, we're really focused on each other. We're so excited in the now, and we have so much to look forward to."
Then, the host said, "She also said that she was uncomfortable being sexualized within the band. How difficult was that for you guys to hear?"
Lauren Jauregui answered, “We know how hard we worked. We know how our choreography makes us feel and how empowered we feel... We have our voices, which are incredible and kind of surpass anything else." The others agreed with her.
Next, he asked, "Do you think that one day you guys will be able to be friends again?"
After a pause, Lauren said, "We want to talk about our new music. We don't want to be shady, man. We just have better things to talk about."
Then their publicist cut in, saying, "There's not a problem, but they just addressed it, and we only have five minutes left. If we're not going to talk about the new music that comes out in 10 days, we've got to move into that."
After a bit of back and forth, the host finally moved on to talking about the band's new music.