It's been pretty widely reported that the only two people Carson refused to have on the show as guests were Ralph Nader and Richard Ney. Nader I can understand -- he's pretty much a jerk. But what did he have against Richard Ney?
shareIt's a good question. One wonders what it was, exactly, that Ney had done for Carson to absolutely refuse for him to ever be on the show. Maybe it was something as mundane as the guy wasn't much of a star. But it's interesting that he's specifically singled out, along with Nader, whereas other lesser celebrities weren't known to be permanently banned by name.
Except for maybe Joan Rivers, that is.
Richard Ney was very critical of the stock market and every large corporation, like NBC, are heavily into the stock market. The New York Times, another large corporation, refused to review his book or run ads for it.
George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.
Hmmm...I guess I can kind of understand that. It seems a bit odd that that there would be so much animosity over one person's opinion of financial matters though. Maybe NBC was afraid he would say something negative about them if he was on The Tonight Show and told Carson he couldn't have him as a guest. Anyway, thanks for the answers.
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Besides Ney and Nader, neither of whom were ever on the show, what about those guests that were on the show at some point (sometimes many times) and, for some reason, were banned from ever appearing again?
It's not a very long list:
Uri Geller (Carson just didn't like because Geller wasn't a good illusionist)
Charlie Callas (may have shoved Carson on-air while bombing on the couch)
Barbara Streisand (failed to appear with Beverly Sills after being heavily promoted)
Honorable mention should go to Jane Fonda, who came very close to being banned when she put her children in seats at the Academy Awards (Carson hosting) that had been reserved for Carson's wife and refused to give them up. Because a quick thinking usher was able to find better seats and Fonda personally apologized profusely to Carson at a party later after the awards, she was given a pass, although she may not have appeared on Tonight for many years after the incident. She did definitely make at least one more appearance years later, when she famously asked Carson on-air about the Zsa Zsa Gabor 'pussy petting' incident.
Callas is interesting because, while it's disputed whether he actually shoved Carson or not, it also appears he was never on the show again, either.
MrBlondNYC is more knowedgle about why he didn't have Richard Ney or at least close to it
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