EXCLUSIVE: Johnny Carson Kept Secret List of 'Banned Guests' — Including The One He 'Despised' for Being 'Phony'
Johnny Carson's secret 'banned list' is now under the spotlight.
Oct. 22 2025, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Johnny Carson is believed to have kept a secret list of "banned guests" which he kept handy during his 30-year run on The Tonight Show, Radaronline.com can reveal.
According to Mark Malkoff's new book, Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend. In fact, the list even included one guest. who turned Carson's stomach.
Was The 'Banned List' Real?
Uri Geller was one guest Carson is said to had 'despised.'
"Sometimes, if the difficulties were caused by a guest, the offending party was banned," Malkoff writes in his new book. "Despite persistent rumors, Tonight Show insiders long claimed that the show never had a list of guests who were banned from appearing with Carson."
Malkoff explains: "But the ban list was real. My sources for this are the Tonight staff and crew, NBC employees, and even guests themselves. This includes Peter Lassally, Carson’s producer of twenty-two years.
According to Malkoff, "the list wasn't a physical one kept on paper, though, Burt Reynolds and Rich Little both claimed to have seen a hard copy – there were more than thirty big-name guests whom Carson nixed at some point, though sometimes a banned guest could still appear when a guest host was on duty."
One of the guests who was eventually said to have found himself "banned" was mentalist Uri Geller, who, according to Malkoff, the late-night icon "despised." Geller appeared on the show in August 1973.
'Phony' Uri Geller's Failed Appearance
Geller's appearance on the late night show was a huge fail.
The author writes: "Carson hated mentalists (like Geller) who claimed to have psychic and supernatural powers, for duping gullible people. And he secretly planned to use his platform to expose Geller as a fake."
During Gellar's appearance, Carson, who "hated phony," went out of his way to debunk Geller, calling up his friend, magician and debunker, James Randi. Geller was set to bend several items, including nails and keys, with only his mind.
"My instructions were that no one, especially Geller, be allowed to touch any of the items involving Geller’s appearance," Randi told Malkoff.
The night turned out to be a failure for Gellar, who was unable to bend any of the items, famously telling Carson, "I don't feel strong."
Carson also dealt with death threats while hosting his iconic show.
However, Carson didn’t rub it in; instead, joking, "I don’t want you to feel bad about tonight. My monologue doesn't work every night, either."
Years later, while speaking to Malkoff for his book, Geller appeared to still hold a grudging, raging, "I didn’t know that Johnny was an amateur magician. I also didn't know that he was a skeptic. I was humiliated. It was my first major TV show in America. By the end of the show, I was devastated. I thought to myself, 'Uri Geller, you are finished.'
"I went back to my hotel and was so drained, I fell asleep. Next morning, the phone rings and someone says, 'I have Merv Griffin on the line. 'Uri Geller,’ says Merv, 'I saw you last night on Carson. I want you on my show this week.'"
Another guest Carson welcomed to his iconic show led to death threats.
Carson Vs. Death Threats
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Author Paul Ehrlich cause plenty of controversy when he appeared on Carson's show.
Carson and his crew were left terrified after author Paul R. Ehrlich, the writer behind the 1968 book The Population Bomb, which warned readers of the brutal effects of overpopulation, appeared on the show.
Even with the death threats, Malkoff writes the show's talent coordinator, Paul Block, told him, "Johnny remained determined to help America understand urgent ecological and environmental issues, including the need for population control."
However, according to Malkoff, Carson's crew demanded they be protected, and "thirty New York cops showed up and took positions all over the studio."
During Carson's monologue, the TV star told the potential killer, "You might as well do it now. I'm dying anyway."
