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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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!”
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?”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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?”
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.”
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.”
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 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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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?”
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.'”
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.”