Warning: Some entries mention alcohol addiction.
Some talk shows, such as Alan Carr: Chatty Man and Late Night with Seth Meyers, have segments dedicated to drinking with their guests. Others reportedly offer their guests alcohol backstage before their interviews, but sometimes, guests arrive to set already under the influence.
Here are 13 celebs who were drunk or high during talk show appearances:
1. Miley Cyrus was "very stoned" when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2015.
Returning to The Tonight Show in 2017, she told Jimmy, "You, without knowing it, were kind of a reason for [me quitting weed]. Because I've always been very stoned on your shows... Remember the last time I was here? I think I was dressed as, like, a bunny rabbit and then, like, a cat? There's a reason for that...I was high."
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2. Drew Barrymore "drank too much" when she appeared alongside Timothy Olyphant on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2018.
Speaking with Andy for The Art of the Interview in 2020, she said, "It was on your show, and I drank too much, and I have never forgiven myself, nor will I ever forgive myself. I'm an imperfect person, and I tout that, and I've had that liberty since I was a kid because it was all out there. And it was either boo hoo about it or say, 'God, it's sort of redeeming to not have to pretend to be perfect.' But I really want to apologize to you because I really — I just, I will never let that happen again. I'm so sorry."
Andy replied, "I'm used to people being overserved on my show, and so I don't even really have a totally clear memory of it, but you don't need to apologize to me for being overserved on my show, that happens. You're in a great club of people."
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3. When Danny DeVito visited The View in 2006, he was still drunk from the limoncello shots he took with George Clooney the night before.
George told Today, "I had to do Regis & Kelly the next day, and I was pretty hungover as well... I got to the point where I was dumping the shots into a plant next to me, and I don't think…Danny saw me do that... Well, the funniest thing was, it was…we were just at a restaurant. It wasn't like we were out drinking. We were at a restaurant, sitting down, drinking. I was in bed by 11:30 at night, and I woke up at 7:00, and I was still drunk."
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4. When John Stamos appeared on Mornings With Kerri-Anne, an Australian talk show, in 2007, he was drunk and annoyed with a Daily Telegraph reporter who released a video from their early morning interview that "made it seem like [John] was on drugs, which was not true."
John told the Advocate, "My mother saw that and got really upset. So when I went on that talk show the next day, I made fun of the guy by saying he had a small penis. He tried to sue me for that, you know. I said, 'The only way he's going to prove me wrong is to whip his dick out in court,' so the lawsuit went away. But I'll be honest: When I went on that morning show, I was drunk. Yes, I was on sleeping pills, and I was jet-lagged, but I was also just plastered. And I never said I wasn't, but that whole Warner Bros. publicity machine got involved and said, 'Just say he was jet-lagged.' I said, 'No, tell 'em the truth! I was fucking drunk in Australia. Big deal.'"
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5. Mark Wahlberg was reportedly drunk when he was on The Graham Norton Show alongside Sarah Silverman in 2013. He interrupted Sarah, pulled her into his arms, and climbed into the host's lap.
Later that year, Graham Norton told Digital Spy, "I think the three of us had met a lot of drunk people over the years. Mark Wahlberg's been on the show before, and he's a really lovely guy. We've all done that thing where you suddenly realize, 'I'm by far the drunkest person at this dinner party' and you don't know how that happened. It was a bit like that, so I don't judge him harshly at all. It was just a thing."
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6. Jessica Simpson was intoxicated during her 2017 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show because, at the time, she had an alcohol addiction.
In 2020, she told Today, "I can't even watch the interview. It was a weak moment for me, and I wasn't in the right place... I had started a spiral, and I couldn't catch up with myself, and that was with alcohol."
However, she later began her journey toward sobriety.
Here's the full clip:
7. Kevin Durant was high when he discussed destigmatizing marijuana with David Letterman on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction in 2022.
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8. When Jay Leno hosted The Tonight Show live from the Cheers bar in 1993, the entire cast showed up drunk. Aside from Rhea Perlman, they were criticized for acting like "jerks" and "idiots."
Jay told Herald TV, "Those people were so drunk I don't know what else we could have done in a live situation. You don't tell these people how to behave. Nobody tells them what to do... Was it a great show? No. But I guess you have to expect people to show up totally drunk when you do a live show from a real bar. In a real bar, everybody drinks real drinks."
He also said that, the next day, Ted Danson sent him flowers as an apology, and George Wendt called him as well.
Here's the full broadcast, with the cast interview starting at the 20-minute mark:
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9. Chris O'Dowd made a tipsy appearance on The Last Leg in 2018.
The next day, he tweeted, "Didn't feel like a drank a bunch, but I went to the studio from the gym and skipped dinner. Unwise, in retrospect."
He added, "I am a little embarrassed to be honest. But to keep things in perspective, it's a tipsy comedian on a late night chat show on Channel 4. I wasn't doing meth on BBC Breakfast. But thanks for your concern, genuinely."
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10. Willie Nelson smoked weed ahead of his 2017 visit to Larry King Live.
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11. In 1970, Husbands director John Cassavetes and actors Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara drank before appearing on The Dick Cavett Show. Their antics — which included taking off their shoes and socks, smoking cigarettes, shouting, and piling on the floor — irritated the host so much that he walked off.
In 2014, Dick told the New Yorker, "It was out of the blue. It was astonishing. I could not believe it while it was happening. I think I watched it a year or so ago, and it seemed even worse than I remembered it. When the circus was going on, with shoes coming off and smelling each other's feet — which may be an image I have conjured, but something very close to it — and falling down, as if that were funny, just a bunch of louts out encouraging each other in their stupidity, it was… I had a mixed feeling as it was happening. I knew it would be entertaining in a certain way involving the word 'horror.'"
Watch the full interview below:
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12. Steve-O's 2005 appearance on Too Late with Adam Carolla was the "drunkest [he] ever was on television."
In a 2020 YouTube video, he said, "[The show] reached out about booking me for one of their early episodes. And I said, 'Aw, cool. I'll do this tablecloth trick.' I was all excited because I had done it on tour. I showed them the trick, and they said, 'You know, we can get away with edgier stuff because we're on Comedy Central.' ... I said, 'How about if I get as drunk as I possibly can?' And they said, 'We love it!' I couldn't even believe it! Brought this huge bottle of vodka to the show. And I get backstage, I'm already loaded... [They] brought me out. I can't remember a damn thing."
When the show aired, he thought it was "awesome." However, in the YouTube description, he said, "This video demonstrates how my identity as both a person and [an] entertainer were overwhelmed by my alcoholism."
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13. And finally, Madonna smoked weed before her infamous 1994 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
When she returned to the Late Show in 2009, she said, "It wasn't because I was excited about you. I think it may have had something to do with the joint I smoked before I came on."
Watch the full clip below:
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If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.