13 Allegedly "Difficult To Work With" Celebs Who've Addressed Their Damaged Reputations
Little harms a performer's career quite like gaining a reputation for being "difficult to work with." However, those rumors don't always ring true.
Here are 13 celebs who've been called "difficult to work with" (and how they've responded):
1.THE REPUTATION: Katherine Heigl's reputation for being "difficult" and "ungrateful" seemingly stems from two pivotal moments in 2008 — the Vanity Fair interview in which she said Knocked Up was "a little sexist" and "hard for [her] to love" and her controversial decision to withdraw her Grey's Anatomy work from Emmy consideration because she "did not feel that [she] was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination."
She told Vanity Fair, "[Knocked Up] was a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it on some days. I'm playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time, it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie."
In a statement regarding her Emmy decision, she said, "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination, and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."
HER REACTION: In 2021, she told the Washington Post, "I may have said a couple of things you didn't like, but then that escalated to 'she's ungrateful,' then that escalated to 'she's difficult,' and that escalated to 'she's unprofessional,'" she said. "What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don't like? Now, I'm 42, and that s--- pisses me off."
She continued, "At the time, I was just quickly told to shut the f--- up. The more I said I was sorry, the more they wanted it," she said. "The more terrified and scared I was of doing something wrong, the more I came across like I had really done something horribly wrong."
2.THE REPUTATION: Julia Roberts reportedly earned the nickname "Tinkerhell" on the set of 1991's Hook.
At the time, there was a lot of speculation as to whether or not she'd return to work on the movie after calling off her wedding to Kiefer Sutherland and spending five days in the hospital with the flu.
Then, during filming, there was a rumor that she allegedly threw shoes at someone on set.
HER REACTION: In 1991, she told Entertainment Weekly that she "never heard" the nickname. She said, "But I'm a normal person. I mean, if I sit in my trailer for six hours doing nothing, I'm going to say, 'What the f— is going on?' I don't think that's an outrageous question, I don't think that's temperamental either. So I don't know what to tell you. I'm not, like, perfect. 'Go wait here for eight hours.' 'Okay, fabulous! You let me know. Can I go get you some coffee?' I have normal frustrations like everybody else, but I don't consider myself temperamental."
Then, in 2024, she seemingly alluded to her reputation when her Nothing Hill director Richard Curtis interviewed her for British Vogue.
Richard said, "Do you remember what you said to me on the final week of Notting Hill? You suddenly started coming to the set every day, even when you weren't shooting, and you said you have to be careful on movies, careful you're not too friendly...Because you said someone will always slightly take advantage of it. That someone will always suddenly ask you to meet their mum and come to dinner and everything. And you just felt you had to focus on your job. Do you still sometimes feel that you have to hold back? Because people are reacting to you not as a person but as a famous person?"
Julia replied, "That's a tricky one, because I feel I sometimes have to hold back because there's too many question marks over what the space will expand into. And sometimes people are so familiar with me. I'll say 'Hi!' 'Oh, my God, hi!' I have hugged, warmly, total strangers."
Elsewhere in the interview, she said, "I think I speak very plainly. That's kind of how I see myself. I'm very forthright. There are a lot of personalities in the world that don't accept that easily, and it can seem really harsh, even if I feel like I'm just being honest about something and just saying this is how I see it. I never am trying to be unkind."
3.THE REPUTATION: Responding to Chevy Chase's criticism of Saturday Night Live in 2018, Pete Davidson told The Howard Stern Show, "He's a fucking douchebag. Fuck Chevy Chase. He's just a genuinely bad, racist person, and I don't like him. He's a putz. What has he done since '83? Nothing. He had a big career, and then it stopped because everybody realized he's a jerkoff."
Pete continued, "He should know more than anybody. It's disrespectful to Lorne [Michaels], too, a guy who gave you a career. No matter how big you get, you can't forget what that guy did for you."
Chevy has been known to not get along well with his costars. For example, while hosting Saturday Night Live in 1978, he infamously fought with Bill Murray backstage.
Also, on the set of Community, he allegedly interrupted scenes by making racial jokes. In 2018, series creator Dan Harmon told the New Yorker, "Chevy was the first to realize how immensely gifted Donald was, and the way he expressed his jealousy was to try to throw Donald off. I remember apologizing to Donald after a particularly rough night of Chevy's non-P.C. verbiage, and Donald said, 'I don't even worry about it.'"
HIS REACTION: In 2022, Chevy told This Morning that he doesn't "give a crap" about his former costars criticizing his past behavior or calling him a "jerk." He said, "I am who I am. And I like...who I am."
He continued, "I don't care. And it's part of me that I don't care. And I've thought about that a lot. And I don't know what to tell you, man. I just don't care."
4.THE REPUTATION: Enough director Michael Apted was hesitant to work with Jennifer Lopez because of her "diva" reputation. In 2002, he told E!'s Behind the Scenes: Enough, "You hear all the legends about [how] difficult she is and its going to be hard to get through it and all this kind of stuff, and then we met and we got on."
He continued, "But then there was a kind of gap between us agreeing to do it and starting to rehearse, and during that time, I could never get a hold of her. She was always so busy. And I thought, 'Oh my god, this is a big, tough job, and if she isn't going to be around, how are we going to get through it?'
[But I discovered she was] very focused on what's in front of her. If you're in her peripheral, forget it; you won't get the time of da. Up until when we started rehearsing, I was very much in the peripheral of her life. But once we started, she was incredibly focused. What I love about her is that she's gifted, but she's also very hardworking."
HER REACTION: During The Hollywood Reporter's 2016 Drama Actress Emmys Roundtable, Jennifer said, "I've always been fascinated by how much more well-behaved [women] have to be than men. I did get a moniker of being a diva, which I don't deserve."
Then, in 2019, she told GQ that she "for sure" has looked back on her career and realized that some things she's been through in her career, such as the early '00s "diva" rumors, may have stemmed from a place of racism and sexism.
She said, "Because I was Latin, and I was a woman, and I was Puerto Rican, and they were not giving me the same pass that they gave everybody else at certain times. It's hard to remember specifics. I wish I could. But honestly, I don't like to harp on the negative or feel sorry for myself. You know, it, it just is what it is. There were moments in my life where it got to me more. Where it kind of took me down for a second. But it never took me down for very long. The energy was always in just getting better, doing more growing, and driving myself. To be better all the time. And creating more opportunities for myself. Just be resilient. They'll give up."
5.THE REPUTATION: Madonna has been criticized as a "diva" throughout her career. For example, in 2024, The View cohost Sara Haines called the singer "disrespectful" for being two hours late to a concert, which fans sued her for. Sara said, "You’re literally flipping off your fans who paid to come and watch you. You can be a diva. You should not act like a diva. To me, Madonna is not there."
"Beyoncé? Always on time. Taylor Swift, Pink, that’s called respectful. It’s how you’re raised. You respect someone’s time the way you expect them to respect yours. You showed up here. They paid hundreds of dollars," she said.
HER REACTION: In her 2016 documentary Madonna: Rebel Heart Tour, the singer reportedly said, "I know that I can be difficult and demanding and push you, and sometimes my ego is out of control, but I am a Leo."
6.THE REPUTATION: While working on Ford v Ferrari, Christian Bale was compared to his character, Ken Miles. In 2019, he told British GQ that director James Mangold told him, "Christian, the character's just you. Don't you get that? It's you, you difficult wanker!"
Christian also said, "Like, someone who's been called an arsehole throughout the whole film! I don't know how to take that."
HIS RESPONSE: In 2022, Christian told GQ that he doesn't regard himself as difficult "in the slightest." He said, "Absolutely not, no. I'm totally grateful and surprised that I get to keep working, right? And you have to maintain that gratitude. But within that gratitude, that mustn't mean you let standards slip, right?"
"It doesn’t mean you start going, 'Oh, I’m so happy and grateful to be working at all, because I never expected this in my life,' which is all true. But that gratitude must turn into, therefore, “I must do things as absolutely well as I possibly can.” But you get passionate characters in the world of filmmaking, right? Because sometimes caring can come across as a certain way for people who might, uh, get a bit overexcited at times," he said.
He also said that the director "was fucking with [him] a little bit there...but maybe not" and that they "enjoy working together."
7.THE REPUTATION: Val Kilmer reportedly has a reputation for difficult behavior on set. In 1996, Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher told Entertainment Weekly, "I had heard horror stories about Val and was warned not to hire him."
The director had "heard that about many talented people, hired them anyway, and had no problems whatsoever," so he went ahead and cast Val. However, a few weeks in, the two allegedly "had a physical pushing match."
Joel said, "He was being irrational and ballistic with the first AD, the cameraman, the costume people. He was badly behaved, he was rude and inappropriate. I was forced to tell him that this would not be tolerated for one more second. Then we had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss."
While filming The Island of Dr. Moreau, Val reportedly "was sort of teasing [a camera operator] with the end of his cigarette and burned this guy's sideburn."
Tombstone director Kevin Jarre told Entertainment Weekly, "There's a dark side to Val that I don't feel comfortable talking about...[One day on set, we] were deep in conversation about Doc Holliday, and this stand-in brought over a very colorful sort of locust and said, 'Look what I found!' I looked up and said, 'Hey, that's pretty good,' and Val, without saying a word, grabbed the locust from the guy and ate it. And it was big. He said to me, 'As you know, I have a reputation for being difficult. But only with stupid people.'"
HIS REACTION: In a 2017 Reddit AMA, Val responded to a fan who asked about his reputation as a "difficult actor." He said, "Of all people Oliver Stone warned me from experience of how vindictive our little community is and that 'YOU better make time for them...' Them back then meant press and hanging with studio execs and casting agents and other stars and agents. I loved my life in New Mexico so took up the cause of defending myself when this folly started gaining traction a bit too late."
He continued, "I didn't develop a persona like all my contemporaries. When you think of Sean Penn or Tom Hanks or Johnny Depp, you think immediately of the same character and image I do. Tom Hanks usually has an American flag behind his head for example. Johnny has a hat. These are characters they have created. Its fun and its a way to secure your part of the sandbox, but its only a slight part of who they are. These are their personas. Cultivated. Now that I'm older I do wish I had spent a bit more time here defending myself, only because it cost me some really fun roles, and a mountain of money I assumed would always be there. Just for my kids sake, it would be nice to have a couple joints around the world, to pop off to. But most importantly, all the nonprofits I'm involved with would be helped by lots of cash, like some of my friends are able to do now. But Robert Downey Jr. was at the bottom of the barrel and now he owns the HOLLYWOOD sign I think."
Then, in a later 2017 Reddit AMA, he responded to another fan who asked about his "difficult" reputation (and linked to the aforementioned EW article). He replied, "I didn't do enough hand holding and flattering and reassuring to the financiers. I only cared about the acting and that didn't translate to caring about the film or all that money.
I like to take risks and this often gave the impression I was willing to risk their money not being returned, which was foolish of me. I understand that now. And sometimes when you are the head of a project and the lead actor is usually the reason a film is being made, unless its a superstar director, then its only fair to make people feel good and happy they are at work. I was often unhappy trying to make pictures better."
8.THE REPUTATION: In 2022, Mask director Peter Bogdanovich told Vulture that Cher was the most difficult actor he's worked with. He said, "Well, she didn’t trust anybody, particularly men. She doesn’t like men. That's why she’s named Cher: She dropped her father’s name. Sarkisian, it is. She can't act. She won Best Actress at Cannes because I shot her very well. And she can't sustain a scene."
He continued, "She couldn't do what Tatum [O'Neal] did in Paper Moon. She'd start off in the right direction, but she'd go off wrong somehow, very quickly. So, I shot a lot of close-ups of her because she's very good in close-ups. Her eyes have the sadness of the world. You get to know her, you find out it's self-pity, but still, it translates well in movies. Roger Ebert loved Mask and Cher's performance, writing, 'Cher makes Rusty Dennis into one of the most interesting movie characters in a long time.' I shot more close-ups of her than I think in any picture I ever made."
HER REACTION: In 1988, Cher told Film Comment magazine, "I have been difficult. But I'm not a difficult actress; I'm not a difficult person. I really enjoy working with people, and if you tell me to do something that I can't do, something happens, and I can't do it. I just can't do it. Not that I won't try other things, but if you ask me to do something that I don't believe in, then you might as well fire me. 'Cause I can't do what I don't believe in; that's why I don't take lots of movies. It's like Peter [Bogdanovich]. I understood what Peter wanted, and I understood why he was angry, and a lot of it had to do with the fact that I wouldn't fuck him, too. Okay?"
She continued, "It's the only problem I've had. That's the only time that that's happened. It was a little earlyish in my career. I mean I'd already been famous my whole life but it was earlyish in my acting career. And the way he said it was, you know, 'You think I want to fuck you but I don't.' That was like at 7:30 one morning, while he was eating a fried egg sandwich. I mean, I was totally unprepared for it."
9.THE REPUTATION: In 2020, in response to a tweet Lea Michele made in tribute to George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, several of her Glee costars called her out for allegedly treating them poorly behind the scenes. In a since-deleted tweet, Samantha Ware said, "LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET. I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD 'SHIT IN MY WIG!' AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGRESSIONS THAT MADE ME QUESTION A CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD."
Alex Newell replied in Samantha's support.
They also tweeted, "I’m gonna say this one time... when my friends goes through something traumatic I also go through it... that’s what friendship is... and if you can’t understand that then you’re part of the problem... and that’s on PERIODT! And I mean that for both sides of this coin!"
And Dabier tweeted, "GIRL YOU WOULDNT LET ME SIT AT THE TABLE WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS CAUSE 'I DIDNT BELONG THERE' FUCK YOU LEA."
HER RESPONSE: In an Instagram statement, Lea said, "One of the most important lessons of the last few weeks is that we need to take the time to listen and learn about other people’s perspectives and any role we have played or anything we can do to help address the injustices they face. When I tweeted the other day, it was meant to be a show of support for our friends and neighbors and communities of color during this really difficult time, but the responses I received to what I posted have made me also focus specifically on how my own behavior towards fellow cast members was perceived by them."
She continued, "While I don’t remember ever making this specific statement [Samantha posted about] and I have never judged others by their background or color of their skin, that’s really not the point. What matters is that I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people. Whether it was my privileged position and perspective that caused me to be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times, or whether it was just my immaturity and me just being unnecessarily difficult, I apologize for my behavior and for any pain which I have caused. We can all grow and change, and I have definitely used these past several months to reflect on my own shortcomings.
I am a couple of months from becoming a mother and I know I need to keep working to better myself and take responsibility for my actions so that I can be a real role model for my child and so I can pass along my lessons and mistakes, so that they can learn from me. I listened to these criticisms and I am learning and while I am very sorry, I will be better in the future from this experience."
10.THE REPUTATION: Russell Crowe has a reputation for fighting, which South Park made fun of in 2002 with a parody about him hosting a show called Fightin' Around the World.
His reputation stems from several incidents around the world.
In 1999, he was reportedly involved in a fight in a hotel in Australia.
In 2002, he reportedly pinned BBC producer Malcolm Gerrie against the wall, verbally abused him, and told him he'd "never work in Hollywood. Initially, it was reported that Russell got upset because the producer cut part of the actor's BAFTAs acceptance speech where he read a poem, but Russell later clarified he was bothered by the removal of a segment honoring John Nash, the real-life mathematician A Beautiful Mind was based on. However, Russell later called the producer to apologize.
Later that year, he was reportedly involved in a fight with Eric Watson, a New Zealand businessman, in a London restaurant. Police were called, but a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told BBC News Online that "no allegations of a crime were received, there were no injuries and there will be no further police action."
In the years after the South Park parody, he was involved in several other reported incidents, including an alleged fight with his bodyguard over a misunderstanding on the The CInderella Man set in 2004 and the infamous incident where he plead guilty to a misdemeanor for allegedly throwing a phone at a hotel clerk in 2005.
Here's a clip:
HIS RESPONSE: He told 60 Minutes that he knew the South Park creators and knew they planned to make the parody, but they "didn't ask [him] cooperate with it." He said, "If there was something for me to learn from it, is the analogist thing, you know? 'Cause I did think the whole thing was a fight. I did think my whole career was a struggle."
He continued, "I was born in Seatoun, New Zealand, in Wellington, you know, and we're talking in the Pierre Hotel in New York. It's a long way."
In 2015, he told Charlie Rose, "What I have stopped doing is, I used to...you know, you've probably read many a time that you know, 'I've hit a photographer'—I've never done that in my life, never, you know. It's just pure bullshit. But what I've done is I've saved some of the most stinging verbal barbs just for those sorta people, you know. And they're shredded in now and wounded and bleeding going back to their editor...and they try and put it, like, a physical thing on the fact that I just ripped them apart emotionally with a single sentence."
11.THE REPUTATION: Tyra Banks has been plagued with rumors of being an alleged "diva" thorough her career. For example, in 2022, Brooke Burke told the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast, "[Dancing with the Stars is] tough, it's a live show. And I know those live tapings are a struggle behind the scenes. You know, she's a diva. Everybody knows she's a diva. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying anything bad about her."
A few months later, Brooke told Us Weekly, "Boy was that big news when I called her a diva. So not meant in [a] negative way...’Diva’ is not a negative thing. ‘Diva’ is a fabulous thing. If I would’ve said ‘queen,’ it would’ve been OK.”
HER RESPONSE: In 2009, Tyra told Nightline, "I wish I was more of a diva. I wish I was harder. I wish I didn't care so much about being the 'nice girl' all the time."
She continued, "Because a lot of the time, people can [mistake] kindness for weakness."
12.THE REPUTATION: Sean Young was branded "difficult to work with" following several incidents. Most notably, in 1988, her The Boost costar James Woods sued her for $6 million for alleged harassment and emotional suffering, claiming she harrassed him and his fiancé, Sarah Owens, with phone calls and sent them a disfigured doll. Sean denied these claims, calling the "ridiculous."
She told the Chicago Tribune, "There's nothing [the LAPD] could find, because I've done nothing. I haven't spoken to Jimmy Woods since Dec. 10, 1987, the last day of shooting on The Boost."
She also said the only reason she could think of such changes being brought against her was "the jealous girlfriend syndrome." She continued, "I got along great with Jimmy when we were making The Boost, but when someone like Kevin Costner or Jimmy are doing romantic work, they get agitated, if you know what I mean, and they go home, and the agitation is noticeable.”
She also alleged that James advised Ted Danson against working with her and tried to get her agent to drop her.
Additionally, Warren Beatty allegedly fired her from Dick Tracy after she rejected him. He denies this.
She also alleged that, on the Wall Street set, Charlie Sheen wrote the c-word on a piece of paper and stuck it to her back, and that director Oliver Stone reduced her role then fired her after she stood up for costar Daryl Hannah not wanting to wear a backless dress.
Sean also claimed that, after she refused to date Blade Runner director Ridley Scott, he made her "love scene" with Harrison Ford aggressive as a "none-too-subtle message that he was getting even with [her]."
HER REACTION: Sean actually won the lawsuit, and James had to pay her legal fees. In 2021, she told the Daily Beast, "He actually was successful in destroying my studio career, but I was given more chances. I just got fed up. I remember I got hired by an agent, and he grilled me for an hour about James Woods, and I was like, 'Oh, fuck.' So I have to walk in every time now and explain why I'm not crazy? I don't see this guy having to explain anything, so what the fuck is your problem?"
She continued, "I lost some enthusiasm, which I gained back in a different venue— smaller independent pictures. After I overcame my ego being bruised because I did want to keep being a significant actress — and that eventually just died — I thought, well, it doesn't really matter that I get to do great movies or lesser movies. What matters is that the audience will be able to see me all the way through. People will be watching Blade Runner forever, and then they'll ask themselves, 'Who's that actress? Oh, what else did she do?' and they'll be able to find stuff I've done in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s — and maybe even my 70s. You never know."
13.And finally, THE REPUTATION: After Janet Hubert left The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1993, her costar Will Smith reportedly told an Atlanta radio station, "I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show. She's mad now, but she's been mad all along. She said once, 'I've been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.'"
"No matter what, to her I'm just the Anti-Christ," he said.
HER REACTION: In response, Janet reportedly said, "He probably is responsible for my firing. He has a lot of clout. It’s too bad that it’s a Black-on-Black attack. I have tried not to name names. I have more class than that. I wish Will would tell the truth. If you’re going to talk, tell the truth. He has gotten me fired from the show, and now he’s trying to get my career snatched away from me."
In 2011, she told TMZ, "There will never be a reunion ... as I will never do anything with an a**hole like Will Smith."
However, in 2020, both actors appeared on HBO Max's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion, and they sorted out their differences.
Janet said that, at the time she left the series, she was pregnant, and she was also in an abusive marriage that her castmates didn't know about.
She said, "There were a lot of things going on in my life and in Will's life as well. There was some friction because I was pregnant. Home life was not good at all. I was no longer laughing, smiling, joking because there were things going on that nobody knew about. The cast had no idea what was going on."
Will said, "During that time of her pregnancy, I wasn't sensitive. I wasn't perceptive. And, you know, now that I've had three kids, I learned some things that I did not know at the time, and I would do things very differently. But I can see where I made the set very difficult for Janet."
She also clarified that she left because she was offered a "bad deal" where she'd get two and a half months of work without being permitted to accept work elsewhere, which would cut her income when she was the only one supporting her family. She said, "I did not accept their offer. I was never fired. So the misconception was always put out there. When I left the show, I had this new baby and no one. Family disowned me. Hollywood disowned me. My family said, 'You've ruined our name.'"
She said that Will's comment contributed to the negativity surrounding her because "calling a Black woman difficult in Hollywood, is the kiss of death."
They both apologized to each other and hugged. They've since remained in touch.