Diane Sawyer is getting canceled (2024)

During her illustrious career Diane Sawyer has interviewed various celebrities, but as old clips of these interviews resurface online, people are now canceling the journalist.

The veteran broadcaster is known for her stern approach but she is facing backlash for her controversial 2003 conversation with Britney Spears. People are also digging up old footage of her chats with other famous faces, such as Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Madonna, with many demanding she apologize for her line of questioning.

Newsweek reached out to Sawyer through a representative at ABC News for comment via email Tuesday.

Britney Spears

This isn't the first time Sawyer has faced retaliation for the interview she conducted with Britney but since the release of the singer's tell-all book The Woman in Me on October 24, it's receiving newfound attention.

On November 27 user @lmsocurious posted a thread to X, formerly Twitter, with clips of the interview—and it's now gaining traction. People have taken this opportunity to slam Sawyer for some of her interviews with other stars.

"Diane Sawyer is a psychopath—a thread 🧵," the X user wrote.

During the 2003 interview with Spears, Sawyer questioned the pop icon about her sex life and relationships as well as a partially nude cover she did for Rolling Stone magazine.

"You broke his heart. You did something that caused him so much pain, so much suffering. What did you do?" Sawyer asked the singer after her public split from Justin Timberlake.

Sawyer also questioned Spears on a comment made by Kendel Ehrlich, who was Maryland's first lady at the time. In a speech at an anti-domestic violence conference that year, Ehrlich condemned Spears as a bad influence, saying: "Really, if I had an opportunity to shoot Britney Spears, I think I would."

"Diane Sawyer finally getting what she wants! For her to make Britney cry in front of the whole world," @lmsocurious captioned one of the clips.

Spears revealed in her memoir that she felt forced by her father and her management to do the now-infamous interview with Sawyer and called it "a breaking point."

"I felt like I had been exploited, set up in front of the whole world," she wrote. "I was too vulnerable then, too sensitive, to do this type of interview."

People were quick to share their thoughts in the thread's comments, with many slamming Sawyer and saying she needs to apologize.

"Diane Sawyer's toxic Britney interview speaks volumes. No apology after all these years? Heaven's likely not on her agenda. 🤘#NoRemorse," one person wrote.

"Shame on you @DianeSawyer," said another.

"The day she takes her eternal darkness ascent we having the biggest celebration for what she did to Britney and countless celebrities…" a third person wrote.

Madonna

One X user took to the thread to share a video of a 2004 interview with Madonna that showed Sawyer questioning the pop singer's moral right to write a children's book. They added: "[Sawyer] is just plain awful."

Over the years Madonna has written seven picture books and 12 chapter books. Three of her books have topped the New York Times Best Seller list. Her children's book, The English Roses, was published on September 15, 2003, more than 10 years after the singer published Sex, a 1992 coffee table book.

"What moral right do you have after doing Sex to write a children's book?" Sawyer asked.

Madonna responded: "I don't understand that question. I have the right to write any book I want about anything and the books that I am writing now are a reflection of who I am and what I value in the world. When I published Sex that was the subject I was interested in exploring and to me, they're both reflections of who I was and who I am now. It's a development of me."

Whitney Houston

"Don't forget her body [shaming] Whitney [Houston] and trying to force her to talk about her addiction," another person wrote in the replies.

Their comment was accompanied by a snippet of a 2002 ABC News interview where Sawyer sat down with the pop icon to discuss allegations regarding Houston and drug use. During the segment, Sawyer pulled out a photo of Whitney on stage, claiming she looked "scary thin."

"That's not just thin…it's scary thin…Anorexia, they've written it…Bulimia, that it's because of drugs," Sawyer suggested, which Houston denied.

The journalist passed the photo to Houston to ask her if her weight was a result of drug use, suggesting she was using "crack," which Houston also denied, claiming "crack is whack."

Janet Jackson

Some people also don't appreciate how Sawyer handled her 2001 Primetime interview with Janet Jackson in which she read out lyrics to Jackson's song "Would You Mind."

Some of the lyrics in the song include, "'Cause I'm gonna bathe you, play with you, rub you, caress you," and "I just wanna touch you, tease you, lick you, please you." Because of its sexually explicit lyrics, the album All For You, which it was on, was banned by the government of Singapore.

"It seems the sole purpose of this lyric reading is Diane's feeble attempt to embarrass Janet. But like the icon Janet is, she doesn't flinch. Diane even asked if she read these lyrics to her mother. Girl, why would she?" one person wrote on Reddit.

The singer was interviewed by ABC's Good Morning America anchors Sawyer and Charles Gibson, which was her first live television performance since her infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, which saw Justin Timberlake tear off part of Jackson's clothes.

Sawyer was slammed for comments she made during the interview.

"I'm so glad you put something around you," Sawyer said. "I was feeling guilty that I had a coat on!"

She continued: "I gotta ask, if you could go back two months, to those seconds, how much would you pay to do it differently and what would you do?"

Jackson was also asked about "the serious issue of how to protect our kids" and her "secret wedding plans."