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Barbara Walters was known for getting the most information from her interviewees throughout 64 years in the public eye as a journalist. However, there were times when she received a little too much attention from certain celebrities. One of these moments included when Walters was the recipient of an unforgettable lap dance from Oscar-nominated actor Hugh Jackman.

Barbara Walters is photographed at MoMA on October 28, 2013 in New York City.
Barbara Walters | Mireya Acierto/Getty Images for Ralph Lauren
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Barbara Walters was known as a no-nonsense journalist

Walters died on Dec. 30, 2022, seven years after retiring from her work as a journalist. She previously appeared on The View before ending her television career in 2015.

Her publicist Cindi Berger released a statement upon the news of Walters’ passing. “She lived her life with no regrets; she was a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women,” reported Fortune. She said Walters died peacefully at her New York home.

Walters supplemented her reputation as a no-nonsense journalist with interviews that displayed a tenacity for the truth. She was unafraid and unapologetic when asking tough questions to American presidents, world rulers, royalty, entertainers, and everyday newsmakers.

Walters was the first female nightly news anchor in 1976. She was known for pushing for tough interviews with world leaders. These leaders included Fidel Castro, Vladamir Putin, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, and Bashar al-Assad.

However, Walters balanced her more serious interviews with major celebrities from every area of the entertainment industry, including one Oscar-winning actor who happily gave her a lap dance.

Which Oscar nominee gave Barbara Walters a lap dance?

In 2009, Walters sat down to talk with the star of Broadway’s The Boy From Oz, Hugh Jackman. This interview occurred before the Academy Awards he hosted that same year.

The actor and entertainer rose to fame in 2000 as Wolverine in the film X-Men, and his career skyrocketed. Dozens of notable screen and stage roles later, in 2013, Jackman was honored with an Academy Award nomination for his role as Jean Valjean in the motion picture Les Misérables.

Jackman gave Walters a lap dance during one of her infamous Oscars specials. However, this was not the first time he turned up the heat on the journalist.

Once, during a performance of The Boy from Oz, Jackman brought Walters and actor Matt Damon up on stage. He told Variety, “I brought up Barbara Walters and Matt Damon and made Matt Damon give Barbara Walters a lap dance, which turned into me giving Matt Damon a lap dance.”

Jackman recreated the moment during the Oscars special, as the actor promoted Walters to look directly at him as he gyrated over her body. In the end, both laughed and embraced, showing that the veteran journalist was a good sport.

Walters brought a sense of humor to each story, even becoming a Playboy Bunny for a day in the early 1960s

When Walters was a reporter at NBC’s Today Show in 1962, an early assignment included producing a story about the then-new Playboy Club in Chicago. To better understand the experience of being a Playboy Bunny and server at the Playboy Club, Walters became a Playboy Bunny for a day.

Walters got the full bunny treatment and training at the Playboy club, including donning “a too-tight satin bathing suit and black leotard” and a fluffy white tail. “Are most of the girls embarrassed when they put these costumes on?” she asks. “I feel ridiculous!”

She perfected the “Bunny Dip” from her fellow servers and tried to serve customers herself. “I felt pretty awkward, but at least I didn’t spill anything on the customers,” she said in the investigative piece.

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