Lily Tomlin Walks Off TV Show After Sexist Comment, Resurfaced Clip

by Ellen DurneyBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffHi, I’m Ellen!

You know Lily Tomlin. She’s an Emmy, Tony, and Grammy award-winning actor, comedian, writer, singer, and producer, who’s appeared in beloved movies like 9 to 5, Nashville, The Late Show, and All of Me, just to name a few.

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And if she hasn't already given us enough to love, fans recently unearthed this 54-year-old clip of her walking off The Dick Cavett Show in response to her fellow guest, Medical Center actor Chad Everett, making a sexist joke about his own wife.

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

So, during a discussion about animals, Chad said, “I have three horses and three dogs. And a wife.” After a few audience members laughed awkwardly, the host gave him a chance to reconsider.

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

“You wanna think about the billing order there?” Dick said, to which Chad replied: “No, no, [my wife] is the most beautiful animal I own.”

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

At this, Lily rightfully let out a disgusted gasp and said, “You own?! I have to leave.” Then she got up and calmly walked right off the set, as Chad smugly waved her off from his chair.

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

If you watch the full clip here (this convo begins around six minutes in), you’ll see that the two men then chat awkwardly for a few moments before they realize that Lily was being completely serious and wasn’t coming back.

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

“Gee, that was a disturbing thing to do,” Chad said, looking at the empty chair beside him. “I’m sorry she did that.”

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

Well, if one thing’s for sure, Lily certainly wasn’t sorry. The moment made headlines, and a few years later, when asked about it during an interview with the New York Times, Lily said: “It was a perfectly pure act. I felt angels walked me off.”

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Now, resurfaced footage of Chad's “disgusting” comment is making the rounds on Reddit, and people have been reminded that Lily is a “fucking boss” who “has never been one for the BS.”

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“Fuck this guy. Lily is a badass,” one user wrote, echoed by someone else who said that this moment perfectly illustrates “why she’s a legend.”

Someone else pointed out, “If he was so comfortable saying this stuff on air, imagine what women had to put up with behind the scenes.”

Fans also noticed that Chad seemingly made a thinly veiled comment about Lily’s sexuality, which was somewhat of an open secret in Hollywood at the time. (Though Lily never had an official public “coming out” moment, per se, she's been with her now-wife, Jane Wagner, since 1971, a year before this interview took place.)

Ron Galella / Getty Images, David Crotty / Getty Images

After Lily walked off, Chad said, “[My wife] is very happy being taken care of by a man. And she has no, uh, aspirations to be taken care of by a woman. But that’s her kind of woman.” The last sentence he said with a smirk, while subtly gesturing his hand toward the side of the stage where Lily had just departed.

ABC / The Dick Cavett Show / Via youtu.be

Reflecting on this “nasty” comment, one Reddit user said: “It very much feels like [he was] punching down at Lily’s identity.” Someone else accused him of “complete bigoted asshole-ery,” speculating that “he was outing her without outing her.”

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Well, before writing this post, I had never heard of Chad Everett. Lily Tomlin, on the other hand? Solidified icon. Need I say more?

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