Being a celebrity has its pros and cons. While you get showered with praise and gifts at every turn, all that attention can get really tiring. For the average joes, meeting a celebrity can be a glorious occasion. Trying to get that rare photo op or having something signed is often a seminal event in every fan's life. While some celebrities are simply the best, others come off harsh and disinterested, even downright rude. That kind of behavior doesn't only happen during fan events, either. It can happen on a movie set or backstage at a concert.
Real people took to the internet to share their stories of horrendous run-ins with celebrities. There's a good chance some of these stars were just having a bad day. Some, however, seem to have a consistently bad attitude that just doesn't go away. Whatever the situation, one moment managed to ruin how someone viewed them forever.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#1 The King Of Jerks
Kevin James. A friend of mine worked as a crew member on the movie set for Sandy Wexler. Before they started shooting, there was a briefing where the whole crew was instructed not to speak to Kevin James. During the whole production, he was running down production assistants, nagging about the food. After one scene, some people applauded because he delivered a great performance. But then Kevin screamed, “Can someone tell these people to shut up?”
#2 Staying In Character?
I worked closely with Aubrey Plaza on a film and she just bothered me. She was pretty much in character as April Ludgate the whole time but she seemed serious about it. At first, I figured it was just her humor but it quickly became obnoxious. I don't think she smiled once. To her credit, she wasn't necessarily rude (although some of her comments came off pretty hurtful, even if it wasn't her intention). She always showed up on time and did her job. I was that angsty goth girl in high school, but I still had a personality. She didn't.
#3 Rock The Dragon
Sean Schemmel, the current English voice actor for Goku from Dragon Ball Z. When I met him the first time, I was kind of freaking out. I asked him to say, "Its over Frieza," one of Goku's famous lines, and he just said, "You paid for me to sign something, not say something." I was honestly disappointed especially when Christopher Sabat (the voice actor for Vegeta) signed multiple things and said, "It's over 9,000" for me. He was as nice as can be.
#4 That's So Raven
Raven Symone was a jerk to me when I was a kid. I was super excited to see the Cheetah Girls on a morning show and I took a picture with her. Then, I came back to get an autograph for this Disney wallet I had because she was still there, but she rolled her eyes at me and rudely said, “Didn’t you already get something?” Then, while signing the wallet, she peeked at one of the other Cheetah Girls and said, “Why are you actually signing your name? Just scribble something.” I was eight.
#5 Not A Lively Encounter
Blake Lively. My mom used to work at a movie studio and Blake was in one of their movies. She was an absolute pain to deal with as she had very complicated requirements for the hotels she was to stay at. She also was stubborn as she always tried to get out of the press arrangements even though they were in her contract. She had a pleasant personality, though.
#6 A Stand Up Looking To Sit Down
Judd Apatow came into the restaurant I work at before a stand-up show. It was a fully booked on a busy Friday night. The hosts didn’t recognize him and told him that he was welcome to sit at the bar, but there was no way we could free up space in our dining room that night for anybody. He ended up opening his stand-up bit talking about our restaurant! He wasn’t really arrogant, but come on! If you’re that important, get someone to make a reservation for you!
#7 Not The Wright Way
I met Ian Wright at my local golf club, which was in Cornwall. Being an Arsenal fan, I asked him to sign my golf bag. Before I got to him, his friend was nudging him, laughing, and Ian was rolling his eyes I didn’t really want his signature after that but didn’t feel like I could turn back either. He then sarcastically asked where he should sign it and he ended up picking the smallest spot of black fabric on my mainly red bag. The sharpie was black. Thanks, Ian, I guess.
#8 Up In Smoke
Zac Brown. I don't want to judge him completely based on this one incident, but I once saw him at a Firehouse in Lancaster County, PA when they were a new "national" band (Chicken Fried had just been released). It was an outdoor concert with barricades set up about six feet in front of the stage. Zac Brown stopped the show to yell at a guy for being completely inconsiderate and disrespecting him as a singer, all because the guy was standing BEHIND the barricade taking photos. I know that can be distracting, but Zac was a complete jerk about it. It just seemed like an arrogant move to me, especially for someone who wasn't well known yet.
#9 No Staring Contest Tonight
I work at a venue that hosts a lot of concerts. We have had a lot of divas come through, but one of the most absurd requests was by Barry Manilow. He actually had a statement included in his contract that no one but his own staff could make direct eye contact with him. It didn’t matter who you were or what your job was, if you looked him in the eye, you would be removed from the building.
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#10 The Science Jerk?
Bill Nye the Science Guy is a jerk. His head is enormous. He did a presentation on 'going green' at my middle school and there was a meet and greet after where the kids could come up and say hi. I told him how much I loved the show and how my sister and I would always dance to the intro. He looked at me like it was the stupidest thing he had heard all day and just repeated: “Danced?” Like yeah, dude, it was the catchiest theme song of '90s television.
#11 A Sucker For You
Probably an unpopular opinion, but Nick Jonas was a jerk to my little sister. We were at a wedding and Nick Jonas was one of the attendees (his girlfriend at the time, Olivia Culpo was friends with the bride). My little sister went up to him and asked if she could take a picture with him. He rolled his eyes, didn’t smile, and my sister snapped a selfie on her bad quality flip phone. It came out terrible and blurry and she asked if she could try one more and he just said “Nope” and walked away.
#12 An Olympic Fool
Shaun White is the most arrogant dude in the history of snowboarding. There was a kid at one of his contests who waited all day with a pen waiting for a signature from him. When Shawn walked by, the kid asked him for the signature. Shawn just let out a "Pfftttttt!" and walked off. The kid was in tears. It's sad to think that moment will stick with him for the rest of his life.
#13 Ungrateful State Of Mind
Alicia Keys. I worked security at a local concert venue for over ten years and she was the biggest diva that I ever rubbed elbows with. One night, I was asked to stay late and work a meet and greet in the catering room after her show. I stood next to Alicia and her assistant at the time while she met a group of fans one by one. Each fan gave her gifts and probably had 30 seconds to say hello.
Being so close, I was able to hear every word she said to her assistant and it wasn't pretty. She basically bad-mouthed the entire group—she had something negative to say about almost everyone's outfits and appearance. Considering how long ago it was, I hope that she has grown up since then. She's not someone you'dd expect to be a diva.
#14 Cutting Them Off
I don't actually think this makes him a jerk, but it's a funny story. My friend met Patrick Stewart in a pub during his bachelor party. Since it was a bachelor party, they figured they should make it memorable, so his friend approached Sir Stewart and said, "I'm sorry to ask this but..." Stewart interrupted him mid-sentence and said, "Then don't." His friend then sheepishly walked back to the party. Tickled me anyway. It was everything you expected from Patrick Stewart.
#15 Whole Lotta Dumb
Jeff Daniels, the guy from Dumb and Dumber. He lives right next door to my cousin and is very disliked in their community. He always assumes everyone will mob him and ask for autographs or whatever, so he won't interact with anyone. He's lived next to my cousin for at least 15 years and has only talked to them once or twice.
One time, my grandpa sat next to him in a bar and tried to strike up a conversation. Jeff Daniels was a prig and left. The bartender told my grandpa not to worry about it, assuring him that Jeff Daniels just doesn't like to talk to fans and my grandpa was like, "Wait, who the heck was that?" It turned out my grandpa had never heard of Jeff Daniels, he was just trying to be friendly.
#16 Not Much Love In The Club
I met Usher at a party once. He's one of the rudest and most diva-like people I have ever met. I made small-talk with him about his time in the country (we were both visiting the UK at the time) and mid-conversation, he asked what made me think I could approach him. Keep in mind we were both guests of a mutual friend, the dress code was black tie and he rocked up in a t-shirt and hoodie.
Another dude asked for a picture with him and he was like, “How about you go get another drink instead” and walked off. If this was on the street then sure, but again, this was at a party where literally everyone was taking selfies. The guy who threw the party found out and had a few words with him. He stayed for about 30 minutes and then left. Like bro, just don’t show up if you’re not going to have a good time. I’ve since spoken to more people who have met him and this seems to be his normal behavior.
#17 Not Performance Art?
Shia Labeouf is arrogant. I worked security for a company that did movie screenings, as well as security details for actors that came to do Q&A's. I also worked with him on his movie, Man Down, and we all walked out on him and left him on his own. He was very verbally abusive and constantly yelled and cussed us out.
#18 What's The Deal With These Interviewers?
Jerry Seinfeld came into a restaurant I bartended at for an interview. He was a regular for us. When he came in, he acted like someone of his caliber would — he just wanted to eat as soon as he could and duck out. When people noticed him, he’d wave and keep it pushing. No one ever bothered him because everyone knew him from the neighborhood.
He came in to do his interview and he told his server, the same girl who always served him, to go away when she came by to do her “How’s everything goin’ for ya" spiel. She’d only come up that one time after the food had been dropped off. The interview stopped there. The interviewer got up and left. Seinfeld threw up his hands and left shortly after. Nothing appeared to be off before, during or after in terms of his behavior. It took everyone by surprise— including Ron Howard who had just finished his meal. I had a front seat to this entire ordeal.
#19 Degrading The Staff
Will Ferrell: When filming Talladega Nights, he dined at a Charlotte restaurant with some of the production crew, including John C. Reilly. Apparently, whenever Will was addressed by the waitress, he would refuse to look or speak to her. Instead, he would look at someone else and say, “Tell the girl I’d like this...” John was apparently mortified and tried to overcompensate by being extra nice to the staff. It broke my heart to find this out.
#20 Million Dollar Monster
Hilary Swank. Don't know if she's got a reputation for being nice, but she came into our store and was super aggressive, interrupting me while I was talking to another customer and stuff. I remember literally thinking, "Man, who is this really mean woman who kinda looks like Hilary Swank." Then she handed over her credit card and I was like... Oh.
Turns out, she had a reputation for being a monster there, always trying to return items she couldn't and stuff, to the point where we had to ban her from returning things.
#21 Slater's Gonna Slate
Mario Lopez came into the bookstore I worked at to grab lunch from the attached coffee shop. The cafe worker was flustered and accidentally rang him up for two sandwiches. She had to ring a manager since she didn’t have the ability to remove items herself. He acted pretty priggishly about the whole thing, even though the barista apologized a bunch. It was the most undeserved sense of self-importance I’ve ever witnessed in person. You’re in town shooting a Hallmark movie no one is ever gonna see, Mario. Cut the extra sandwich into three pieces and split it between all your fans.
#22 Probably Should've Grunted
Tim Allen. He came into a coffee shop I worked at and he was very rude to me and the customers. I didn't recognize him at first (he looked older and had a beard growing) so when I asked his name for the order he said, "Seriously? Tim..." Then, it hit me who he was and I got a little flustered. I forgot that he had ordered a breakfast sandwich and repeated his order back: "Okay, so just the latte and the K-cups for you?" and he said, "Wow we are on a roll this morning aren't we? No... I asked for the ham and swiss too."
I apologized and finished the order. There was a customer in the store who was SO excited that Tim Allen was there and he asked for a picture with him. Yes, I know it is probably annoying to be repeatedly asked for pictures in public but honestly that's a consequence of being in movies. In the picture (the customer showed us baristas), Tim's face was angry and blurry because Tim couldn't stand still long enough to take the picture even after saying yes to it.
#23 Martha Stewart Living... Like A Beast
Flight attendant here: Martha Stewart is miserable. She bought the entire first class cabin out on a 737 to New York for her crew, which of course meant they thought they ran the show. She pre-ordered a meal and when I gave it to her, she said: “What’s this?” I replied, “Your meal that you ordered?” She then snapped back, “Take it back, it's disgusting.” On top of all that, she went to the bathroom BAREFOOT. Twice.
#24 Pray You Catch Me
Beyonce. I worked as a stagehand, setting up and breaking down concerts. She had 20 semi trucks worth of gear— we worked for hours on end. At the end of the night, her security guards held up flattened cardboard boxes and told us to look down. Beyonce didn't like to be looked at by stagehands. I've hated her ever since.
#25 Skiing Into Entitlement
Lindsey Vonn. She has a very positive public image for being the most dominant female skier of this generation, but she is the complete opposite when the cameras are off. I have a friend who is related to a men's U.S. ski team racer. He went to skiing schools that would train in the same places as the women's ski team in the offseason (most of the time in Argentina). He said that she is the definition of selfish, whether it be on the hill not waiting in line behind people in the gate or off-mountain meet-and-greets that she would refuse to go to because it would be a waste of time.
#26 Don't Stop The Music
DJ Tiesto. I have a friend who works security for a high-end hotel in a big city, which has its own private club. One night, my friend was guarding the rear entrance to the club, which leads directly back into the hotel where Tiesto is staying. My friend wasn't familiar with EDM and didn't know what Tiesto looked like. At one point, Tiesto, tipsy as a skunk, walked towards the rear exit, and my friend got in his way and said: "Sorry sir, you can't go out this way." Tiesto replied, "Do you know who I am?" My friend, not knowing who was, replied, "No. Who are you? Jesus?" Yeah, hotel management was a little chapped with him, but I laughed pretty hard.
#27 The Unwanted Streak
Jim Kelly. I went to a Superbowl meet-and-greet when I was a kid and there were a bunch of players there. When I asked for his autograph, he was a huge jerk about it. The following year, he began to lose Superbowls and I was very happy.
#18 Meat Is Murder
Morrissey. I worked security for one of his shows years ago. Some guy who worked for him pulled everyone who was working on the stage and the dressing room aside and told us not to speak to him or make eye contact with him. He just seemed so arrogant. Other artists I had worked for seemed pretty cool, but Morrissey was definitely memorable and not in a good way.
#29 Jenny From The Block
Jennifer Lopez. Back when JLo and Ben Affleck were an item, a friend of my brother's was a blackjack dealer in Vegas. Ben Affleck and his crew were at his table for a few hours. JLo came down to get Ben to go somewhere. Ben threw down a $500 chip as a tip for my brother's friend and before it even stopped spinning on the table, JLo picked it back up said: "That's too much." She then replaced that $500 chip with a $50 chip from Ben's winnings stack.
#30 You Played Yourself
DJ Khalid. I hung out with him pretty often in LA since I knew him before he blew up. He likes to eat at expensive places. One time, he asked if my friend and I wanted to go out and eat, but we were broke and trying to save money, so we declined. He said, "Don't worry, I got you guys," so we agreed to go. When the check came and he didn't see us pulling out our wallets he asked, "Am I the only one paying?" We ended up paying for our own expensive meals.
#31 Say It Isn't So
I'm not sure if anyone outside the UK would know of him, but Gareth Gates. A few years back, he starred in a pantomime in my home town, and the Wetherspoons I worked in happened to be right next to the theatre. He would come in talking down to the staff, making crazy and unreasonable demands and acting like a hotshot star despite being a years-old one hit wonder. The pantomime was on for a month and a half, and we saw him just about every other night during that period. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon!
#32 Fall From Grace
Topher Grace (Eric Foreman) came to my university to do a talk or something. All of my friends who worked the event said he was a self-entitled guy. This is years after That 70s Show ended and he hadn’t done anything at all since.
#33 (Not) Nice To Know You
Brandon Boyd from Incubus. Incubus is my all-time favorite band. I got to randomly meet them during my very first concert when I was 14. I was supposed to go to that concert with my brother, but he passed away months before the concert and the only reason I went was that everyone told me it's what my brother would have wanted.
Every band member took the time to ask me my name and signed my ticket (it was all I had for them to sign since my shirt was black). When I got to Brandon, he didn't even look up at me. He scribbled his name, slid my ticket and waited, with his head down, for the next fan. It broke my heart into pieces. If it weren't for devout fans like myself, people like him wouldn't become famous. They should at least look and smile. Oh well.
#34 Hot And Extremely Cold
Katy Perry. She was performing one night in downtown Cleveland. My friend's mom worked at the venue and was in charge of asking if she would meet a Make A Wish kid. When they asked her, she said, “Will I be paid?” When they said no, she DECLINED TO MEET THE KID! How self-centered do you have to be to reject a Make A Wish kid?
#35 Written Out Of The Equation
I met Warren Ellis at Comicon back in like, 2007. He was at a table all alone except for his assistant and he could barely contain his disdain for me and my buddy. We literally walked up to say hi and ask for an autograph on one of the 20 books of his I bought that day. It was a long time ago so I can't remember details; just remember that was the last time I bought anything he wrote.
#36 Sorry Not Sorry
Demi Lovato. I had a friend who met her at a meet-and-greet after a show once and she said she was lovely, but here was my experience. At a pretty big stadium baseball game, I was about six seats away was Demi. At some point in the game, my sister went over to her to tell her she loved Demi on Disney and would love a photo.
I kid you not, Demi looked up and just snarled, "Do I look like I want to do that for you? Go away." My sister was devastated and just went back to her seat. Even though Demi saw her crying, she didn't do anything and just sat there. I tried to make her feel better by just saying that she probably doesn't like getting seen in public. I get stars are people and don't want to feel like an animal in a zoo, but she totally could have been nicer.
#37 Live And Let Die
Paul McCartney. I've been in the casino business for about 11 years now, as a dealer, then a supervisor, then a surveillance operator. I started at a new casino and Paul was the act for the Grand Opening. My boss came up to me and said, "Just deal the cards, don't talk to him, he doesn't want any conversation." I said, "Yeah, okay, no problem."
He was playing high-limit blackjack; average bet $200 a hand by two hands, so $400 a hand. I came to the table and the first thing he said was, "Hey Brian (my supervisor), you got any toilets for this kid to clean?" Forget that guy. Also, I took all his money, I will not say how much, but suffice it to say it was enough to balance his karma.
#38 Mad About You
I worked with Helen Hunt and it was one of the worst experiences I had in Hollywood. She was slightly bigger then (about ten years ago) but many years after she should’ve been able to get away with that stuff. I was kind of excited to work with her because I figured she would be really cool, but nope. Diva all the way.
#39 Have A Nice Day!
Mick Foley, a WWE wrestler in the 2000s attitude era that wrestled under the names Mankind, Cactus Jack, and Dude Love. Everyone always said how much of a great, genuine, down to earth guy he was, but he made my brother cry at an autograph signing once after he had to wait in line for nine hours. Total arrogance. Maybe he was just having a bad day, but don’t take it out on your child fans.
#40 Thank You, Next
My cousin was a huge Ariana Grande fan and one time she met her at a concert. She showed Ariana her homemade t-shirt that she made especially for the concert, and Ariana just laughed in her face and said, “What is that?” It made my cousin feel awful about herself. It crushed her that her idol laughed in her face.
My sister wasn't the only one who experienced this. A lot of other people have reported instances of Ariana being rude to fans. She’s not that “sweet” girl she pretends to be.
#41 If You're Nasty
Janet Jackson. I worked in a restaurant in the Mall of America, which had just opened so there were always a lot of celebrities making appearances. I got selected (along with another server) to be a private server in a dressing room for Janet Jackson. Her bodyguard told me, “Do not speak directly to Miss Jackson. Any and all communication with Miss Jackson goes through me. Do not look directly at Miss Jackson, or stare. Do not call Miss Jackson ‘her;' only ‘Miss Jackson.’" She really enjoyed ordering me and the other server around, but we laughed privately that she was such a complete jerk.
#42 A League Of Her Own
Geena Davis was really not nice when I met her. She was at a local film festival years ago that was hosted at my high school, so select students from our high school drama class were chosen to run the event. Her assistants came first and demanded a private space plus several other requests (specific brands of water and whatnot) that we had parents run out to get for her. Once she arrived, she proceeded to freak out over all the staff running about. She nearly canceled her appearance at the show because of her disgust.
#43 A True Animal
Not that it's a surprise given all she's been through, but Kesha. I help out a buddy building stages when he has high profile jobs that need more guys and she was by far the most rude and hostile performer I've met so far. During sound checks, she wouldn't acknowledge the stage crew standing right next to her. She waited for her assistant to repeat the exact same sentence to her before she would respond. Just over the top rude to people trying to make sure her performance doesn't tank whereas most others are extremely friendly and thankful.
#2 Not One For Small Talk
Nora Roberts. I was a huge fan. I went to a writers' convention many years ago, when I was young and still into that kind of thing, and was there a little late to see a lecture with a panel of best-selling authors. I ended up standing in the hallway for well over half an hour because once the lecture started, you couldn't go in. As an aside, I was dressed in office professional attire, if that makes a difference.
Nora Roberts walked up waiting to speak at the next lecture. I didn't make a fuss even though she was one of my favorite authors at the time, I kind of acted like I didn't recognize her. After about five minutes, I made a general comment about the heat in the hallway. It was the same thing I'd have said to anyone in the same situation; it's the South. We love to talk to strangers when we're stuck in line or a hallway.
She looked me up and down like I was dirt on the bottom of her shoe, turned away and never said a word. I don't know if she was PMS'ing that day, or just a jerk in general, but it took me over ten years before I'd read anything she wrote again. Also, I did not sit through her lecture. I'll never forget it, probably because I was so young and impressionable. Now, I don't follow celebrity; I don't care who you are. You could be the Leader of the Universe and I will not treat you any differently than Jane Schmoe down the street.
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#45 Never Meet Your Idols
Chris Daughtry, though I guess his fame is dependent on if you care about his music. I used to be a huge fan of his on American Idol and loved that he was from the same state as me. He seemed like a down to earth, humble guy who really deserved the fame he earned.
Well, forget that. I literally saw him shopping in Target one random evening, doing his best to disguise himself. Baseball cap, hoodie, the whole nine yards. Well, I knew better than to cause a scene, so I casually just kinda ended up on the same aisle as him and mentioned that I really enjoyed his music. Dude completely flipped out on me, told me to never get in his face again and then stormed off.
