Brooke Shields says her “maddening” Barbara Walters interview was “practically criminal”
At 15, Brooke Shields led a series of highly controversial Calvin Klein commercials
Brooke Shields still has some thoughts on the fallout from the Calvin Klein ads she made as a teen and which made her a star. At age 15, she became the subject of a controversial and highly sexualized series of CK commercials that feature Shields asking the camera: “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” In the early 80s, this all led to a “maddening” interview with Barbara Walters that she calls “practically criminal.”
On Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Shields spoke frankly about the commercials. And while the ads were their own media frenzy, she tells Shepard that the Walters interview was “not journalism.”
Both the ads and the interview are pretty gross to watch. The infamous tagline caused a public outcry, restricting the commercial to airing after 9 p.m. In another ad, an adult man puts his face inches away from the 15-year-old and waxes philosophical. “I always thought beauty must be as isolating as genius,” he says. “When people look at you, they’re so dazzled you must never know if they actually see you, the deep and complicated person you really are. I felt that about you instantly.” “Mama warned me about guys like you,” Shields replies.