- 5 months ago
From on-set tantrums to impossible demands, Hollywood's most challenging personalities make collaboration a nightmare. Join us as we count down the celebrities who've earned reputations for being notoriously difficult to work with! Which demanding diva or temperamental talent shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00four million more than you ever even dreamed of more than we ever ever did together welcome to
00:05watchmojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most contentious celebs known for making
00:10collaboration way more challenging than it needs to be are you not entertained are you not entertained
00:16number 30 christian bale the dark knight star is often seen as a textbook example of a method actor
00:24although he denies it he goes to extreme lengths to bring his characters to life however in the
00:29process he is known to cross ethical lines he once snapped at the director of photography on the set
00:35of terminator salvation after being interrupted his american psycho co-star chloe sevigny was
00:40unnerved by his approach to acting and wished he had been more generous i think their undisputed
00:44masterpiece is hip to be square a song so catchy most people probably don't listen to the lyrics
00:50but they should because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of
00:54it's also a personal statement about the band itself hey paul bale himself admitted to keeping
01:01his distance from his co-actors for the sake of his performance however in an interview with gq he shut
01:06down rumors of being difficult claiming he simply had high standards for his craft nuclear enough to
01:13level this place cover it number 29 jimmy fallon he's known for being one of the friendliest talk show
01:22hosts on tv but found himself at the center of a toxic workplace controversy in 2023 i just remember
01:29i liked you and he was like not now um i'm married now um but he was like oh well you can be i mean
01:38several staff members working on the tonight show alleged that he created a hostile environment on
01:50set it was apparently so extreme that it caused employees to tiptoe around him and they even
01:55struggled with their mental health because of it according to their claims jimmy was reportedly
02:00entitled unpredictable and even showed up to work appearing intoxicated the fact that he once wore
02:05blackface on snl did not help his image either fallon has since apologized for both issues it's
02:11embarrassing and i feel so bad number 28 jean simmons the demon from kiss has an unholy reputation
02:18to say the least when he's off the stage he's best known for his promiscuous nature unfiltered language
02:23and questionable political opinions he was accused of sexually assaulting two women including his bandmate
02:29ace fraley's wife i'm a powerful and attractive man and what i'm about to say is deadly serious
02:35men are jackasses from the time we're young we have testosterone not validating it or defending it
02:42he was also called quote obnoxious by npr journalist terry gross for his inappropriate
02:47remarks toward her the rocker even got banned from fox and friends after he allegedly acted
02:52indecently in front of fox news staff jean's wife shannon tweed tolerated his infidelity for years
02:57she once even walked out of an interview on the joy behar show because she was tired of him
03:02joking about his womanizing ways personally or professionally jean simmons doesn't seem to be
03:07great company it's a joke where are you going what are you doing she's done with you it's so rude for you to joke about it
03:14i was i was i was just joking because she's a comedian here exactly on it suits you
03:20number 27 william shatner the canadian actor's feuds with his star trek co-stars are legendary he was
03:27allegedly envious of leonard nimoy's popularity and stole spock's lines to give his character captain
03:32kirk more importance the two actors had a hot and cold friendship for years michelle nichols who played
03:38uhura reportedly considered quitting the film series over his conduct but martin luther king jr
03:43inspired her to keep going he also clashed with george takei aka sulu for decades you'll arrest the
03:49husband because a denny crane wants you to however shatner's unsavory behavior apparently does not stop at
03:55his co-stars one reddit user claimed he allegedly mocked a tall security guard for his height until
04:00he almost got assaulted for it although this is just a rumor it doesn't help his so-called difficult
04:05reputation
04:06number 26 tommy lee jones the oscar-winning actor is undoubtedly a hollywood icon however people in the
04:18industry do not seem to have the easiest time dealing with him jim carrey once famously revealed
04:22that jones refused to quote sanction his quote buffoonery while they were filming batman forever
04:27he went like to hug me and said i hate you he is also known to be tough to interview since he has
04:35no interest in offering flowery answers however several of tommy's colleagues have defended him at
04:40times his men in black co-star will smith asserted that he thoroughly enjoyed working with him even
04:45josh brolin told entertainment weekly that tommy made the set quote uncomfortable but in an intriguing
04:50way similarly hillary swank and samuel l jackson can vouch for his sense of humor so is he difficult
04:56it depends on who you ask pellets slime in their veins instead of hot red blood
05:02you are more reptile than man george so low and flat that the foot of man is incapable of crushing
05:10number 25 katherine heigl stop it i mean it stop talking there is nothing to talk about do you understand
05:19me there is nothing to discuss the gray's anatomy star has a bad rep for being quote ungrateful and
05:26quote unprofessional in her own words however any fan who has followed the actress through the years
05:31knows that the industry vilified her for having strong opinions she called out knocked up for its
05:35sexism criticized gray's for allegedly enforcing unsafe working hours and advocated for a raise on the
05:41show she was also misunderstood for years just because she didn't submit her work on the medical drama for
05:47consideration at the 2008 emmys a young heigl reacted by retreating from the public eye however
05:52now she's back and better than ever i think that's when i got really comfortable with my role as the
05:57villain you know it's really enjoyed it number 24 mariah carey i'm still always going to be a diva in
06:03certain ways and i don't mean that in the bad sense of the word the songbird supreme wears her diva
06:08title like a badge of honor being self-made she is proudly high maintenance however the people around
06:14her seemingly have a hard time keeping up tmz once reported that mariah was quote a nightmare on the
06:19set of american idol in another instance journalist amon holmes said he had to wait hours to interview
06:24her and was ultimately told she was too tired to proceed even more peculiar are the rules she said to
06:30implement on her personal assistants they allegedly can't date during their first year on the job and
06:35aren't allowed to shed tears in her office she has also been sued by her former staff members including
06:40assistants and her children's nannies reportedly over payments yikes can you say three nice things
06:46about nikki minaj can you number 23 russell crowe if you've given me the opportunity i'm extremely
06:58sorry for this whole incident and i regret um everything that took place and um you know i've
07:06apologized to my wife there's not many things that scare me in this world but i'm absolutely terrified of
07:10disappointing the gladiator actor is infamous for his anger and for a long time that was all he made
07:15the headlines for on the one hand his career was soaring on the other his image was deteriorating
07:21he regularly came under fire for allegedly getting into brawls once throwing a telephone
07:26at a hotel concierge and chiding a bbc producer for cutting his bafta acceptance speech in 2002
07:32there were rumors of him being violent toward a photographer at one point but he denied them claiming he
07:38used some choice words to tear people down instead crowe's rampages became so common that even south
07:43park had to parody them he fights his directors and he fights his fans it's a problem no one
07:48understands if there's two things he loves it's fighting and fighting around the world the oscar winner
07:54now regrets his rash actions number 22 terry hatcher say you're sorry let me go the desperate housewife
08:01star reportedly didn't have much of a friendship with her co-stars in real life word on the street was that
08:06while actresses nicolette sheridan eva longoria marcia cross and felicity huffman were pals
08:11hatcher didn't mesh with them in fact when eva marcia and felicity gave farewell presence to the
08:16show's crew after it concluded they did so with vanessa williams who was only on two seasons terry
08:22was not involved her already damaged reputation took an even bigger hit when a staffer on the abc show
08:28patty lynn claimed that the writers avoided eye contact with her when she comes back here i'm gonna
08:33shove this picture in her perky little mug and once she's not make a scene even her lois and
08:37clark co-star dean kane admitted to her being difficult at times although he emphasized that
08:41working with her was quote amazing number 21 marlon brando this legend was an eccentric genius
08:48always known for playing by his own rules his classmate entertainment executive alan shane once
08:53said that he was quote impossible to work with and his apocalypse now co-star dennis hopper revealed
08:58brando didn't want to be on set with him how did things ever get so far i don't know
09:07we're so unfortunate francis fort coppola explained that marlon was just different however his excellence
09:14did not justify his behavior he allegedly turned up half dressed on the set of the score and degraded
09:19director frank oz he also reportedly refused to learn his lines for the island of dr moreau the most
09:25ridiculed of his supposed antics was rejecting interviews using his dog's name dr tim you might
09:30think it was him being funny but there's no denying that it was deeply offensive this is the most
09:36outrageous spectacle i have ever witnessed look at yourself i understand that i must be shocking to
09:44you number 20 tyra banks kenya hill denny evans brooke burke what do these people have in common
09:51they've all worked with tyra banks and they've all said that working with her was difficult for
09:56you how dare you learn something from this a number of words have been used to describe banks
10:01including queen bee and diva and one former contestant on america's next top model called
10:07working with her quote psychological warfare yeah i have nothing but love for my girls another source
10:13who worked on dancing with the stars verified these claims telling the sun that she was a quote
10:18nightmare who quote made wild demands and was quote disrespectful to the crew turning the general work
10:24environment quote toxic banks left the show after only three seasons i think it's time to graduate from
10:32the dance floor to the stock market floor number 19. hugh grant we know hugh grant is everyone's
10:38favorite british heartthrob but if the rumors are to be believed it's actually kind of a dink make sure
10:43you massage his cloven hoof girls i'm suddenly feeling a pain in my heart grant is notoriously
10:49misanthropic and refuses to talk about his personal life making him a very difficult subject
10:54to interview what are you wearing tonight then just my suit but that is nothing compared to what
11:00his co-workers endure director mike newell claims that quote his tongue is maybe too clever for its own
11:05good and many co-stars have reported that grant is a perfectionist often demanding countless retakes to
11:11get a scene exactly right and some stars have literally called him a pain in the you know what
11:16including jerry seinfeld and john stewart who labeled grant the worst guest in his show's history
11:22did you have a clip with you what what do you mean a clip number 18 noel and liam gallagher
11:28there are few people as hated in the music industry as the gallagher brothers at least professionally
11:33today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you both have terrible reputations known
11:41far and wide for their confrontational personalities and general disdain for humanity noel gallagher has
11:47arguably got it worse publicly feuding with the likes of damon albarn jay-z and phil collins but no
11:53one hates the brothers more than they do each other don't like each other the two have a painfully
11:58tumultuous relationship and it's a wonder they managed to write and record music together arguments
12:03were very frequent and some eventually led to physical violence including headbutts and thrown
12:08chairs it was no surprise when the band eventually split and oasis has not released a studio album since
12:152008. however they did announce plans in 2024 to reunite the next year for a world tour number 17
12:28jared leto jared leto has turned in some unforgettable performances from the spectacular to the disastrous
12:38as a die-hard method actor he's endured a lot to do his job and so have his co-stars
12:44as a method actor he's insisted on some sets that his fellow cast only address him by his character's
12:49name and he's often refused to break that character to an unreasonable extent most famously he embodied
12:57suicide squad's twisted joker role by allegedly sending co-workers nasty gifts in the mail i don't
13:03want no beef you want no beef you don't want no beef you don't want no beef he's both lost and gained
13:10weight for films with his part as mark david chapman in chapter 27 eventually requiring him to move
13:15around by wheelchair his dedication might be admirable but the friction it's caused among his
13:20colleagues makes him one tough collaborator would you die for me
13:27yes that's too easy would you
13:31would you would you live for me meanwhile the fact that the actor and musician faced several
13:39sexual misconduct allegations in 2025 doesn't help his rep number 16 madonna madonna certainly has
13:46accolades and dollars to spare but it seems like many people have a bone to pick with her
13:51fashion music tv you name the industry and someone in it has a problem with madonna let's give some
14:04examples fashion georgio armani has called her quote very difficult music both share and rufus
14:10wainwright have labeled the pop legend quote rude tv the hosts of the view called her quote disrespectful
14:17and he said you know what you're just too caught up in yourself why don't you do something for other
14:21people um that has nothing to do with what you're going to get out of it so i mean no one ever suggested
14:27that to me before no the reasons for this reputation are many including a generally mean demeanor often
14:34acting spoiled and entitled ignoring people at events and having a fierce penchant for being late
14:40so you know take your pick
14:41number 15 axl rose bandmates managers the fans if you want to count them as co-workers
14:51any and all have had run-ins with axl rose
14:57the guns and roses singer has long been famous for his bad boy image known for wild mood swings and
15:02violent confrontations
15:03he was once sued by an audience member he physically attacked and he's been sued by band
15:12members slash and duff mckagan over songwriting credits basically it was just that i you know
15:17i'm done i think that was who said that i did he was later sued by another band member chris pitman
15:23over unpaid wages oh yes he was also sued by a former band manager who took rose to court over nearly
15:29two million dollars in unpaid fees we're starting to see a pattern here
15:40number 14. joss whedon despite a long and very successful career in hollywood joss whedon's
15:46reputation took a major hit in july of 2020. the revelation of joss whedon's alleged bad behavior
15:52continues to surface as former talents come forth about their accounts of harassment and the creation of
15:58a toxic work environment all at the hands of one of hollywood's most sought after directors
16:03this is when he was accused of workplace harassment by ray fisher who played cyborg in
16:08justice league fisher accused whedon of quote gross abusive unprofessional and completely
16:13unacceptable behavior and his statements were backed up by jason momoa who claimed that quote
16:18serious stuff went down on the set you really are out of your mind this opened the floodgates
16:24and numerous co-workers admitted that they had a poor time with whedon he is reportedly very mean
16:29has made numerous co-workers cry with nasty comments and tormented buffy actress charisma carpenter
16:35making fun of her religion and even asking if she was going to keep her baby you must just look back
16:40on that and cringe number 13 alfred hitchcock he may have been a legendary director but he was an absolute
16:47pain to work under good evening and thank you for being so prompt i detest being kept waiting by all
16:55accounts hitchcock was notoriously terrible to his actors despite drawing from them some amazing
17:01performances he once famously said that quote actors should be treated like cattle and james mason who
17:07starred in north by northwest said that he treated actors like quote animated props has anyone ever told
17:13you that you overplay your various roles rather severely mr kaplan hitchcock fiercely prohibited
17:19performers from improvising or giving him creative suggestions saying that they should stick to
17:24acting and not be involved in the writing and directing processes and that is not even mentioning his
17:29abusive and borderline obsessive relationship with tippy hedron who eventually stopped working with
17:35hitchcock after marnie having found him too creepy he told me he'd ruined my career i said do what you have
17:41to do i don't care i'm out number 12 ellen degenerous how the mighty have fallen i'm happy to see you
17:50i'm happy you're here i'm happy you're in a good mood ellen degenerous was once an icon a very popular
17:55talk show host and a trailblazer for lgbtqia plus acceptance in mainstream media now degenerous is widely
18:02known for being a tyrant it all started in july 2020 when former employees of the ellen degenerous show
18:09accused the host of creating a toxic workplace environment toxic phony hypocrite liar that's what
18:14she is the reports were many including instances of quote racist microaggressions ignoring employee
18:21accusations of sexual harassment and firing people for taking bereavement leave and setting up go fund
18:27me's for medical bills some have even accused degenerous of letting people go simply for looking
18:32her in the eyes comedian kevin t porter called degenerous quote one of the meanest people alive
18:38welcome to our very last show number 11 kanye west even ignoring yay's countless controversies outside
18:45of the music industry he's still an incredibly difficult man to work with you've been putting
18:49up with my it's just way too long in 2024 yay was sued by a security guard who claimed that the rapper
18:58often screamed at him treated him poorly for being black and forced him to cut his dreadlocks even
19:03though they're a part of his muslim fate frequent collaborator big sean has also admitted that yay is
19:08a nightmare telling the million dollars worth of game podcast that he is quote very hard to work with
19:13and demands perfection
19:20even nike executives have gotten in on the action having warned adidas that doing business with
19:25him was an arduous and punishing task run away fast as you can number 10 bill murray is this some
19:35radical new therapy bill murray has had a long career making great comedies and managed to segue
19:43into dramatic roles as well unfortunately over that long career he's also managed to accumulate a long
19:49list of people with unpleasant stories about what it's like to work with him gina davis has written
19:53about murray forcing a massage device on her and yelling derogatory things at her on set richard
19:59dreyfuss said that a drunk murray threw an ashtray at him while filming what about bob and a producer
20:04on that film has talked about murray throwing her in a lake following a disagreement lucy lu has also
20:09talked publicly about the quote inexcusable and unacceptable language murray directed at her on
20:14the set of charlie's angels alex you okay she's having trouble with her secret identity pause
20:20all right we all scoot number nine shia labeouf no no no no no though he got his start in hollywood
20:30and kids shows and blockbusters shia labeouf's growth into an artist and filmmaker surprised many
20:35over the years he's made more than a few controversial remarks engaged in what some would call publicity stunts
20:41and according to some he can also transform into a bit of a jerk okay here's the dream your b minus
20:48dream gone shia is notorious for his temper and belligerent attitude even leaving the broadway
20:53production of orphans he was slated to star in due to constant bickering and fights with his co-stars
20:58especially alec baldwin now baldwin just recently responded via the new york times
21:03stating he was very disappointed and regarding of what people feel about the events that happen you
21:08expect communications to be private because everyone wants this process to be as collegial
21:13as possible according to some however labeouf was just straight up fired no sacrifice no victory
21:21number eight edward norton edward norton is one of the finest actors in the industry so it comes as no
21:28surprise that he takes his craft extremely seriously quit your crying i can't understand a goddamn word
21:33you're saying you little sissy you make me sick we repeat extremely seriously in fact norton has a
21:40reputation for shadow directing if you come near danny again he sat in on the editing for american
21:46history x because he didn't trust tony k and often clashed with the studio during the incredible hulk
21:51over creative differences while the people behind the film said the dispute was blown out of proportion
22:01in the media and a promo tour was planned for the movie norton didn't do any promotion following its
22:06release so yes by all accounts he is that one employee who tells everyone else how to do his or
22:11her jobs you look at me when i'm talking to you number seven jennifer lopez why don't you just get
22:18yourself straight and we can put this whole thing behind us while 2019's hustlers was very well received
22:24lopez's earlier work didn't do wonders for her reputation huh
22:32although she's known as a very hard worker jenny from the block has been called out in the past for
22:37her so-called diva behavior you did not just poke me don't you touch me you too bad tramp
22:45she's been said to often make ridiculous demands like numerous five-star hotel rooms to stay in and
22:50her own private plane so she can travel in true diva style all on someone else's dime of course she
22:55was supposed to be going to india to perform but she asked for a private plane she also asked for an
23:01exorbitant amount that's what they're saying of hotel rooms for her huge entourage and the kicker
23:06she refuses to perform if her demands are not met we guess it's too bad her demands were met in the
23:11case of geely what number six steven seagal the police are looking for you but i'm gonna have to
23:21kill you first it seems increasingly difficult for seagal to find credible work these days lord knows it's
23:26been a long hard minute since the last time he had a box office hit that may have something to do with
23:32the fact that he's supposedly a nightmare on set not only is seagal cited as being highly critical of
23:37others he's also been known to physically intimidate cast members and he aikido'd me against a brick wall
23:45knocked all the air out of me i was like what what he purportedly slammed comedian john leguizamo
23:53against a wall simply for laughing at him because you know comedians aren't allowed to be funny
23:58we'll put it this way henry rollins has stated he'd rather drink latex paint than work with seagal
24:04if you thought you could save the world but nobody would know it and you might have to give your
24:10life in doing it would you do it number five leah michelle
24:24don't sit there and assume the cast of glee reflected its show's name when the cameras were
24:29not rolling rather leah michelle who played one of the singing stars rachel berry apparently took
24:34on the cutthroat mentality of a real high school diva when it came to her behavior on set don't use the
24:39fact that jesse and i once had feelings for each other as an excuse for my inevitable win according to
24:43reports michelle was rude to all involved with production making the cast and crew stand around and
24:49wait extensively until she was ready to begin shooting crew members also claim michelle refused to speak to
24:54junior members of the glee staff on top of that in 2020 glee co-star samantha ware said michelle made
25:00her first television gig quote living hell and described repeated instances of traumatic microaggressions
25:06towards the black actress she got better press in her recent broadway appearance but was that a
25:11real change or just damage control
25:20number four sean penn sean penn you rude dumb rude and full of farts
25:26you stanky sean real-time stanker when it came out in early 2016 that infamous mexican drug lord el chapo
25:33met and interviewed with actor sean penn the most reasonable question asked by the public was
25:39why what qualifications does penn have forget about blame we're gonna put all our focus
25:45all our energy all our billions of dollars on the bad guy well if he were to respond to that question
25:51we probably wouldn't be able to publish it due to explicit language and its overall awful message
25:56though known as a great actor he is also famous for allegedly being incredibly rude and an overall jerk
26:03well i'm not going to do that and although they are indeed serious we won't even discuss the
26:09allegations of domestic abuse lobbied against him and instead we're just going to focus on his very
26:13real identity as a nightmare to work with my own little daughter and i can't even cry for it
26:19allegedly hostile and intimidating he's not someone you want to share the screen with
26:24number three mike myers we're not worthy we're not worthy pick your jaw up off the floor we weren't
26:33expecting it either but apparently this funny man is not nearly as fun as his characters
26:42the austin power star has been constantly called quote moody and temperamental and many complain about
26:47the degree of control mike myers feels he should be able to exhibit over the cast and crew right now
26:53we've got freedom many executives in the industry have simply refused to work with him and rumor has
26:58it he even had a crew member fired for looking him in the eyes on a particularly bad day not groovy baby
27:03well that's where i see things just a little differently contractor no i will not bow to any sponsor
27:10number two klaus kinski listen the children of the night make their music
27:18even the most difficult of actors tends to make a few friends in the industry
27:22and even if they don't sometimes you can put up with the worst of the worst if they're simply
27:26that damn talented and then sometimes you have people like klaus kinski who was reportedly so
27:32difficult that nobody gave him a second chance though not a household name the german actor appeared in
27:42over a hundred films throughout his long career despite that extensive list kinski only ever worked
27:48with one director on multiple occasions all the others refused to deal with him again to put it
27:54bluntly kinski has been described as insane prone to frequent blow-ups there really is no comparison to
28:01his madness before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
28:14about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them
28:19if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications
28:23who hasn't chevy chase pissed off kindly regarded as perhaps the biggest grump
28:37in hollywood chase has been described as an indefensible cruelly vicious put-down artist
28:45as early as his snl days chase was burning bridges with the likes of john belushi
28:50bill murray and the writers he's talked serious smack about most big names in the industry
28:55some notables include will ferrell howard stern kevin smith and bill maher
29:00more recently chase destroyed the one good thing he had going with the cult classic show community
29:05chevy how are you feeling about the dan harman stuff the what den harman who's that he heavily
29:11criticized the series and showrunner while he was still a cast member and was known to have
29:17extremely offensive on-set tirades we can't imagine chase has many friends left every man should be
29:23punched in the face it's a rite of passage do you think any of these stars are actually misunderstood
29:28share your thoughts in the comments i think that's when i got really comfortable with my role as the
29:33villain you know it's really enjoyed it you
Be the first to comment