Brooke Shields calls out Barbara Walters over 'practically criminal' '80s interview
Shields had sat down with Walters for an interview following public backlash over her Calvin Klein campaign
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brooke Shields called out Barbara Walters for her "practically criminal" interview in the 1980s.
Shields discussed the interview during a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s podcast, "The Armchair Expert."
The actress opened up about how she was overly sexualized by the media as a young teen.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}At age 15, Shields appeared in a campaign for Calvin Klein where she modeled the brand’s jeans. In one ad Shields said, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing." The ad caused backlash at the time.
Brooke Shields characterized a sit-down interview she participated in with Barbara Walters as "practically criminal." (Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic via Getty Images)
Shortly after the ad campaign aired, Shields sat down with Walters for an interview. Walters asked the 15-year-old Shields a handful of invasive questions, according to People magazine. Specifically, Walters asked Shields what her measurements were.
BROOKE SHIELDS EXPLAINS WHY SHE DOESN’T ‘HAVE ANY DESIRE TO FIT BACK’ INTO HER CALVIN KLEIN JEANS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During his podcast, Shepard called the interview with Walters "maddening."
"It's practically criminal," Shields responded. "It's not journalism."
Representatives for Walters declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shepard also noted that the media had created "competing narratives" about Shields at the time. The media cast Shields as "overtly sexual...a sexual tigress" but also claimed the 15-year-old was "naive" and "being taken advantage of," according to Shepard.
Shields sat down with Walters following public backlash over her 1980s Calvin Klein campaign. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for AAFA American Image Awards)
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"They [the press] couldn't figure out what they were trying to say about you," Shepard said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They were mad at themselves for not figuring it out and taking it out on me," Shields responded.
Shields previously opened up about the Calvin Klein ad campaign in an interview with Vogue.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Actor Dax Shepard brought up Walters' interview during Shields' appearance on his podcast, "The Armchair Expert." (Reuters)
"I was away when they all came out, and then started hearing, 'Oh, the commercials have been banned here, and Canada won't play them.' And paparazzi and people screaming at me and screaming at my mother, 'How could you?' It just struck me as so ridiculous, the whole thing," Shields told the outlet.
"They take the one commercial, which is a rhetorical question. I was naive, I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think it had to do with underwear, I didn't think it was sexual in nature. I would say it about my sister, 'Nobody can come between me and my sister,’" she added.
"I think the assumption is that I was much more savvy than I ever really was."