Actress Brooke Shields sat down with Armchair Expert host Dax Shepard where she discussed a number of things. What’s catching everyone’s attention at the moment is her look back on her time advertising Calvin Klein jeans in 1980 as well as her interview with Barbara Walters in 1981.
The Backlash of the 1980 Calvin Klein Campaign
After becoming the youngest model to appear on a cover of Vogue, Shields—15-years-old at the time—began modeling jeans for the Calvin Klein brand. Some of the photos were suggestive and there was a discussion about sexualizing teen models.
Brooke Shields TRASHES 1981 Interview with Barbara Walters As “Practically Criminal”
Shields mentioned that she didn’t see anything overtly sexual about the campaign at the time but it was spun that way in part due to her age. Also, she admits that her mother shielded her from a lot of it as well.
The ad in question is a very famous one from the early 80s with the catchphrase “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”
Things for Shields and mother Teri would become more frustrating as there was a legal battle the following year over modeling nudes of the actress that were taken by Garry Gross in 1975.
With everything that was out about Brooke Shields at the time as well as the CK campaign, the teenage star had a target on her and experienced a ton of media backlash.
In short, the early 80s was a pretty hectic time for a celebrity who hadn’t even hit 20-years-old. Despite the hostility she received, the campaign bolstered her young career and made Calvin Klein a household name.
Brooke Shields and the Barbara Walters Interview
Running alongside that legal battle was an interview with retired long-time ABC personality and The View host Barbara Walters which she described as “maddening” and “practically criminal”.
During that interview, the then 15-year-old Shields was asked some personal questions such as her sexual history, measurements, and things that she hadn’t told her mother.
Basically, the kind of “juicy” stuff that would make for an interesting interview by 80s standards but cranked up to “explosive” because of the backlash and her age. In describing the interview, she said “It’s practically criminal. It’s not journalism.”
Following Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s exit from The View in 2013 after ten years, Shields’ name was tossed around as a replacement. She had done a few episodes while also directing Chicago at the Hollywood Bowl before Jenny McCarthy got the nod as Hasselbeck’s replacement.
Had she gotten the chair, she would’ve been a regular co-host with Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Sheppard, and the end of Joy Behar’s first run on the daytime talk show.
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