Spoiler warnings are a common thing in 2021. Not only do media outlets put warnings above pieces that might spoil specific plot points in films and TV series, but just the general public knows spoiler etiquette. Basically, don’t spoil twists in films and TV series until well after it’s been released. Why would you want to ruin the fun for a new viewer, right?
Well, back in 1999, spoiler warnings weren’t much of a thing and perhaps the biggest spoiler incident happened on national TV during Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show, where she completely revealed the twist ending to David Fincher’s “Fight Club.” And for years after, that incident stood tall in the Spoiler Hall of Fame, as the cautionary tale of what you don’t do. Now, more than 20 years later, O’Donnell is finally apologizing for spoiling “Fight Club” for millions of people.
For those that don’t remember, in 1999, Rosie O’Donnell had the most popular talk show on TV. Millions tuned in daily to hear her takes on pop culture and watch her interview celebrities. And immediately after seeing “Fight Club” in theaters, O’Donnell took to the airwaves to voice her dislike of the film and spoil the big Tyler Durden reveal at the end. Don’t forget, she did this the week the film was released, in an era where spoilers weren’t all over the place and the Internet was still in its relative infancy.
Why would she do that? Well, she was “annoyed” by the movie. Speaking to the Jess Cagle Show, she recently said, “I was just talking because I didn’t think [‘Fight Club’] was good and the ‘Sixth Sense’ was out. I don’t know. It just annoyed me, the movie. So I was saying the ‘Sixth Sense’ makes sense, but this one doesn’t make sense because of the thing at the end.”
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As you might imagine, people involved with “Fight Club” were livid at the news that the nationally syndicated talk show host spoiled a major plot point of the film immediately after it was released. How mad were people? Well, on the DVD commentary for “Fight Club,” released in 2000, Brad Pitt said, “I guess that is OK she hated it. She was saying, ‘This movie disturbed me,’ she could not sleep for nights. It hit a nerve. It struck some nerve whether she wanted to look at it or not. But the deal was, she gave away the ending on national television. That’s just unforgivable.”
One of Pitt’s co-stars, Holt McCallany, who would go on to work with Fincher in the recent “Mindhunter” series, was also upset when he saw O’Donnell spoil the film.
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“I just remember being absolutely flabbergasted,” said McCallany (via THR). “I remember being infuriated by her remarks and wondering why she felt the need to do that.”
He added, “I had met her once or twice in New York City at events, and I had no reason to dislike her, but when you start to willfully damage the commercial prospects of the work of other artists, you have to expect that that is going to inspire a very dim view.”
So yeah, during the aforementioned Jess Cagle interview, O’Donnell finally talked about the incident and offered an apology…of sorts. It doesn’t seem like she’s all that remorseful for what she said on TV, but she’s more upset that she “ruined it” for the people who worked on “Fight Club.”
“No one said jack shit to me for a good three, maybe even four years,” O’Donnell explained. “And Courtney Love on my show says, ‘Oh, my God, Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are so mad at you for what you did.’ I was like ‘What did I do?’ It was three years later! People sometimes ask me on the internet whether or not I did it. And I did. I didn’t have, like, ‘Oh, my God. I want to hurt these people.’ I just had my normal blathering on about feelings about the movie.”
She added, “So, apparently I was loathed for a long time by the men in that, possibly still. I guess I ruined it for the people who worked so hard on it, and I should be more careful with what I say in a negative way about a movie. If you don’t like it, just don’t mention it. That would have worked better.”
You can watch O’Donnell talk about the incident below:
