Drew Barrymore Admits Her Infamous Kamala Harris Interview Was “The Scariest Conversation” She’s Had On Her Show

Drew Barrymore was well aware that interviewing vice president Kamala Harris was no small feat — and felt the weight of their conversation’s potential influence on the presidential candidate’s reputation.

The Drew Barrymore Show host spoke to the experience at the Paley Center for Media’s “An Evening with The Drew Barrymore Show” event on Monday (Sept. 9), telling moderator Nate Burleson that she strove for the interview to be “a more personal experience,” per Entertainment Weekly.

“I want to disarm,” she explained. “I want to take the armor off. This isn’t about talking about issues. This is not the place for that.”

While Barrymore clarified that she “did not have a crystal ball” and that “none of us could have imagined the path” that Harris would take to helming the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential election, one thought consumed her.

“All I kept thinking was, if you do one thing to screw up this woman’s path — and you are the clown to do it — and if you do one thing that makes her look bad or becomes a gap or just does something…,” she recalled considering.

Barrymore deemed her interview with Harris “the scariest conversation” she’s conducted in “the entire show’s history,” reiterating that while she wanted their discussion to be “fun” and “disarmed,” she feared that she would “tarnish” Harris’ image.

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“I was like, what if I do one thing that’s goofy and she plays along, and I’ve led her down a bad path?” she shared. “That was making me so sick to my stomach, but I wasn’t going to give up trying to… The good news was she came without the guard, and I didn’t have to do any gimmicks.”

Barrymore’s sit-down with Harris invoked some online opinions, as critics slammed her for telling Harris, “We need you to be Momala of the country.”

However, Barrymore told Burleson on Monday night that she felt she and Harris had “an electric connection,” referring to their conversation as “one of the most ignited, exciting experiences” of her life.

At Monday night’s event, Barrymore also gushed about the support of Adam Sandler, whom she revealed would send her pictures of himself watching her show at home, and whom she described as “one of the biggest supporters of this gosh darn show.”

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. Check out their website for local airtimes.