People Share Their Delightful And Unpleasant Encounters With Celebrities

Growing up, we all have our childhood heroes.  Most of the time, these people are celebrities: pop stars, musicians, actors, comedians, and famous personalities. We look up to these people during our formative years and hope to meet them one day. Oftentimes, the impression we have of our idols is largely based on the public image they portray of themselves in the media. In some cases, such image is true-to-life, while other times, it is the complete opposite. People from around the world took the internet to share their delightful and unpleasant encounters with celebrities. Read on to see if your favorite celebrity is on the list:

The views and opinions in this article do not reflect those of Humaverse Inc. or its writers.

Wikimedia Commons

Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!

#1 Two Opposites

I was sitting in the lounge of a big music studio in Hollywood. Bruno Mars walked up, looked at me, and asked rudely, “Where the heck is my cab?” I looked at him and said, “Who the heck are you?” I really had no idea who he was. But the dude did act like an absolute jerk.

The nicest guy ever? Billy Ray Cyrus. The studio had a policy that you’re never supposed to touch the food that the artists order or bring in, and you’re especially not supposed to take any home. As I was leaving, he slipped me two huge meat and cheese trays out the door when no one was looking. As an intern trying to make it as an audio engineer, that sustained me for almost two weeks.

#2 Out Of Character

#3 Big Diva

I used to work at a Hard Rock Hotel. Mariah Carey was the absolute definition of a diva. She used a bunch of employee passageways and we were instructed that if we looked her in the eyes, we would get written up. We were also told that we had to immediately vacate any room that she entered, even if we were in the cafeteria on break or in the bathroom doing our business. She's a jerk.

#4 Mixed Theatre

Back in the '90s, I worked on the stage musical production of Beauty and the Beast. The guy who played the talking clock is an Australian celebrity by the name of Bert Newton. He always used to say hi and make conversation UNTIL he found out I was one of the lighting crew. After that, he wouldn't even glance at me. Now here's something slightly related. On the same show, I used to hang out with the dude that played Gaston at the stage door. I only recently discovered that it was Hugh Jackman! Really nice dude.

#5 WWE Vibes

Probably 10 or 11 years ago, I was working behind-the-scenes of a WWE house show. My job was to find the contest winners and introduce them to a couple of the bigger stars. My immediate report went to Ricky Steamboat, who was incredible. I had a question for him (which I don't remember), but he was standing there talking to Chris Jericho.

Not wanting to be rude, I stood to the side, waiting for their conversation to end before I interrupted. Jericho stopped mid-sentence, looked at me and said: "Are you freaking lost?" When Ricky turned around to see who Jericho was talking to, he recognized me and was super pleasant. He answered my question, but Jericho was upset and thought I was a groupie or something.

#6 A Basketball Legend

In the mid-'90s, I worked at a golf course that was so “exclusive” not even Michael Jordan could be a member. The day was very rainy and the course was closed to everyone except the foursome Jordan was in. He ran late, the other three started without him. When he arrived, they loaded his clubs on the cart. I was standing probably 50 feet away as he was getting ready to leave and meet his group. No one else around.

There was nothing for me to do since no one else was on the course or the driving range. I wasn't gawking or anything, just kind of marveling at how tall he is (they don’t look so tall on TV). He called me over. “How can I help you Mr. Jordan?” “Can I have that towel?” “Of course sir.” “Thanks, I knew you were good for something.” Nice.

Wikipedia

#7 A Total Jerk Move

Cuba Gooding Jr. cut in line ahead of me and my sister for a pretzel at Disneyland. We were 10 and eight years old, respectively. A friend of mine also met him once at a cast-and-crew wrap party which was at his usual bar... They just finished shooting End Game. He was relatively polite to me and even helped me prank a friend, but openly admitted he was just out looking to score. He ended up leaving with a girl that also frequented the same bar. He's married, so I thought that was a jerk move.

#8 A True Top Gun

Tom Cruise is actually one of those weird celebrities, but I don't think I have heard him being "a jerk." Like, people hate on him for all that wackiness and Scientology stuff, but honestly, I think if you take all that out, you have a guy who is crazy committed to his work and seems pretty nice. A friend of my brother and her family met him once when he was on vacation in New Zealand, staying in the house next to them. He came over, introduced himself, then they went jet skiing together for the weekend. Top bloke apparently.

#9 Kardashian Truths

My uncle works at a Vegas casino. None of the Kardashians or the Jenners tip anyone. Ever. He was with them for over three hours and he didn’t receive a dime. He was treated like total garbage. Scott Disick, however, is a great tipper and great guy all around... which is surprising since he comes off as the biggest jerk on TV and media.

#10 Celebrities Are Human, Too

This goes both ways. I ran into Kirstie Alley 25 years ago, when Veronica’s Closet was on. She was quiet but sweet. People came up and wanted photos, but she was with her kids and politely declined; citing her kids. Nearly everyone acted like she had slapped them and turned them down, but she was calm and gracious. Kind of made me sad.

#11 The Ultimate Diva

I had a friend whose elderly father was a lifelong Barbra Streisand fan. Her father ended up with terminal cancer, and in his last year, his adult children contacted Streisand explaining his situation, hoping to get a signed picture to surprise him with before his passing. A letter was sent back on Streisand’s behalf explaining that she simply has too many fans to accommodate requests like that. My friend would never watch one of her movies again.

#12 Misconstrued Sarcasm

I met Woody Harrelson at a health food store. I didn't realize it was him. We were talking in line. At first, I thought he was being a jerk, but it turns out he is actually a really cool guy. He has a way of talking that sounds like he's being condescending and sarcastic. I've noticed it in interviews but he isn't actually being a jerk.

#13 007 Is A Softie

I ran into Pierce Brosnan while on vacation in Hawaii before Daniel Craig took over the role of James Bond. He was in a gift shop and we bumped into each other. Out of nowhere, I pulled out my finger gun and shot him in classic Bond fashion, right in the gut. He staggered back and held his stomach, slowly falling in this gift store in front of me. As a 12-year-old, it was the coolest thing ever.

#14 A Bad Tipper

When I was a waitress working in California, Gary Coleman (the actor from Different Strokes) would come in the restaurant pretty regularly, despite nobody ever wanting to wait on him because he was a bad tipper. People would always say he expected to be attended to as if he were royalty. This was years after his show had been canceled.

#15 The Cold Stare

Don King. I didn’t recognize who he was, so I asked for his ID before checking him into the hotel. When I looked up from the computer screen, the look he was giving me made me turn completely cold. I genuinely thought we were seconds from this guy reaching out and grabbing me for daring to not recognize him. I am not a big person and he is a very tall man—fortunately, a coworker who DID recognize him intervened and took over the transaction, giving him what he felt was the proper amount of ego-stroking.

After that point, as far as he was concerned, I no longer existed. Super rude, but the anger and malice in his expression when I hadn’t recognized him just left me grateful to have him turn his attention away. I think he did say something along the lines of: “Don’t you know who I am?” But I honestly don’t remember it. I just remember the look on his face—I’ve dealt D-list celebrities and plenty of sports stars who pull the “Don’t you know who I am” card all the time, and I’m generally just amused by it. This was something else altogether. He creeped me the heck out.

#16 Too Good At... The Cold Shoulder?

Sam Smith. One of my female friends works security at the local arena, and her entire crew was told something like: “When you’re working with Mr. Smith, he doesn’t want any of you to look directly at him when you’re close to him, understand everyone?” Apparently, he absolutely lost his cool with one of her colleagues because he had the bare-faced cheek to look in his direction while he was walking down a corridor.

#17 Holding A Grudge

Alec Baldwin. Oh, how I now despise that man. Back in 2002, I was at an event for work and he was a special guest. He appeared to be somewhat intoxicated and as he walked past me. He plowed into me, spilling my entire drink down the front of my outfit. He never said excuse me, or I’m sorry, or anything. He was just a total jerk. To this day, I will not watch anything if I know he’ll be in it. So yeah, I still hold a grudge.

#18 Nothing But Hostility

Jennifer Lawrence was by far the worst celebrity I ever encountered. She showed up an hour late to a cinema premiere because she decided to visit a friend beforehand. It delayed all of us, then she complained about people shouting at her while she was walking the carpet. At some point, she snapped her high heel while walking down the stairs and, for some reason, that was also our fault. Nothing but hostility from that woman.

#19 Unexpected Billionaire Behavior

I met Richard Branson once. He was at the airport where I worked to welcome the inaugural flight of Virgin America. He had brought these really pretty models to the press conference so I went there to look at them. Then I see this tall, really tanned guy in faded jeans and the most wrinkled shirt I'd ever seen wandering around.

I thought he was part of the setup crew because he was badged, so I asked him what he was looking for. He said he was hungry and wanted to know where the vending machine. I told him where to go. That night, my boss called me and tod=ld me to turn on the local news. There he was, standing in front of the models in the same jeans but he'd put a sport coat over the wrinkled shirt. Closest I'd ever been to a billionaire. Totally not what I expected.

#20 Unnecessary Attitude

The Sandman at ECW in the late '90s. He threw his beer can, way before Stone Cold Steve Austin, and I ended up catching one. After the show, he was signing autographs and I caught up with him. I said, "I caught your can, could you sign it?" He looked at me dead in the eyes and said, "I'm not signing your freaking can, kid" and walked away.

#21 Cover Blown

When I was about 5 years old my dad took my brother and me to the Seattle Science Center. A fellow by the name of Kevin Bacon happened to be in line with his wife and kid. My dad attempted to lowkey point out to us that it was Kevin Bacon, but subtlety is not his strong suit, so everyone else in the vicinity started to notice. Kevin tried to stay incognito, but too many people were aware of his presence at that point, so he left. Thanks, dad.

#22 The Pomposity

I met Amy Schumer at a hotel bar. The bar was crowded, and I had no idea it was dominated by her and her friends. I sat down next to one of her people and ordered. Amy leaned over her friend and said, " What exactly makes you think you should be here?" I shrugged and said the open seat was my first hint. She looked so insulted, and her friend who I was next to gasped. The bartender went to put my drink on the bar for me, and Amy put her meaty hand on his arm, saying, "No, don't serve this jerk, he needs to go."

Some dude in a black polo came over and said that I was bothering Miss Schumer, and needed to leave. I told him I had no idea who this lady was (at the time I had never heard of her and her stolen jokes). He grabbed me by my shirt collar with one hand and gave me the whole macho "Easy way, or the hard way" bit. I told him that that line sounded good coming from Stallone, but not from him. Amy then screamed, "Just get the heck out!!!" So I beat feet. I didn't see any "reserved" sign on the bar, and I wasn't trying to chat up her friend. Weirdo.

#23 Used To Have A Little, Now I Have A Lot

Jennifer Lopez was banned from one of the casinos I worked. She famously told upper management she didn't want "poor people" looking her in the eyes and wanted any staff that went near her to look down. She also demanded a new mattress in our villa (a custom made bed) at 3 a.m., then tried to get the casino to essentially break into a mattress store for the mattress she wanted them to buy.

#24 Regular And Grounded

My sister was at a wrestling match in South California when a guy by himself sat next to her. He hardly said a thing the whole time, except cheer for his son. After a while, he asked her who she was there to see and she said, without looking at him, that she was there to watch her boyfriend. As she was going to ask who his son was, she looked at him and saw that it was Nicolas Cage in a ball cap. She was stunned and couldn't talk. He smiled and basically read her mind, then pointed out his son with a proud-dad smile. She got very nervous so HE asked HER if she wanted to take a picture with him, to which she said yes. Not sure if Nicolas Cage is a bad person or anything, but this encounter made him seem so regular and grounded, being at a public school to proudly watch his son wrestle. I don't understand how she didn't recognize his voice.

#25 Her Childhood Hero

Once upon a time, when I was a small military brat, my father volunteered backstage at a USO show. At this particular USO show, Jennifer Lopez was performing. I was about 11 and I was absolutely obsessed with her. Since my dad worked backstage, he was able to get me a pass to go back and meet her. Before the show started, my dad took me backstage and told me to stand over by the stage entrance. I stood there for a hot minute and then I saw her walk by. I waited until she was near me and I mustered all the bravery I had to ask her to sign the very sweaty composition notebook I had been monkey-gripping. She looked at me like she just saw a dog vomit then said nothing and just walked away.

#26 A Kind Soul

I met Geoffrey Rush when I was working reception at a small hotel when he was filming The Daughter. I lent him my umbrella and recommended a cafe in town, rather than catch the bus right outside he decided to walk the 45 minutes into town. He came back and blew me a kiss as he returned my umbrella and said he liked the cafe. Reminded me of my late grandfather. He can rock a pink business shirt.

#27 Celebrity Savior

My dad was a limo driver and often chauffeured celebrity clients. One day, he got Mick Jagger. The limo got mobbed by screaming fans. They were on all sides, pounding on the glass, climbing on the hood. My dad had never dealt with anything like that and started to panic. Mick reached over the seat from the back, patted my dad on the shoulder and said, "It's alright mate. Just slowly take your foot off the brake. They'll clear off." Mick Jagger soothed my dad through a panic attack.

#28 Self-Centered

Vivica A. Fox. I used to be a bartender at a hotel, and she came in with a guy late one night after an event. He ordered a drink for himself and a house red for her, so I turned to her and asked if she preferred cab or merlot. She gave me the DIRTIEST look and flounced off to a table without answering. He said, “Just give her red, whatever,” and left a zero tip. They ordered four rounds, no tip each time. They also complained that someone else came in and sat at a table near them and tried to get me to make them move. The other guests didn’t even try to approach her or talk or anything, she was just mad that they dared to sit at a neighboring table.

#29 The Good And Bad

William Shatner. I paid for a meet and greet. I fumbled for my ticket to give to the security guy. It literally took only three seconds of fumbling, yet Shatner still yelled, "Hurry up, will you?!" He clearly did not want to be there. He took a photo and shoved me aside.

The best celebrity was Ron Perlman. I met him on the same day. A girl in a wheelchair was in front of me and he got down onto her level to ask her if she was enjoying herself. It really gave off the vibe like he genuinely cared. He came up to me and firmly shook my hand with a big smile, then gave me a one-armed hug and said, "Thanks for coming by!" The dude's a saint.

#30 Cameraman Observations

Not me, but my dad. He's a cameraman, and he worked with Russell Crowe on a shoot. He said he was the biggest jerk to the crew and acted a bit like a diva. Mind you, this was easily 15ish years ago, so I don't about him now.

#31 Real Classy Fellow

My brother told me this happened to his friend in high school: She went to go see John Mayer live and she was super hyped because she'd opted for the VIP tickets that let her meet him after the concert. After the concert, John Mayer came out of his room only to say, "If you're not going to sleep with me, you might as well just go." Real classy fellow, that John Mayer.

#32 Slim Shady Is Super Shady

I wrote to Eminem but he never called me back. I even left my pager, my cell and my home phone at the bottom. I sent two letters back last Autumn but I don't think he received them. I went to his concert and he didn't speak to me. I wished he'd signed an autograph for my brother Matthew—he's only six years old and we waited for him for four hours, just to be turned away.

#33 Too Bothered

In the late eighties, I was in a bar in DC called the Fifth Column. It was late, close to 2 a.m., and I was at the bar trying to pay my tab. This dude sort of jostled me as he tried to get a bartender’s attention. It was Mickey Rourke. The woman next to him did a double take and said, “You’re Mickey Rourke! Wow!” or words to that effect. He glared at her and ordered a drink. About 30 seconds later, the bouncers came over and escorted the woman, me, and a couple of others out of the bar, saying we had “bothered Mr. Rourke,” and, OF COURSE, I had already paid my tab.

#34 Football Head

I attended and bartended at Ohio State. When Ezekiel Elliot came into the bar I was working at, I was trying to make small talk trying to be friendly with him while serving him his drinks and he was a complete jerk. He was very rude and it was as if he almost expected me to give him free drinks because he was the star running back for OSU.

#35 Snarky Simmons

Saw Richard Simmons at Toronto airport back in 2011. Mary Murphy was there too, but I'm not sure if they were traveling together. This caused a small crowd around them in the baggage claim area. One woman tried to talk to Richard—she was quite excited and really wanted to chat with him. She said nothing to provoke what he said. The immediate words out of his mouth were, "You know, just because it's an all-you-can-eat restaurant, doesn't mean you have to eat it all." Everyone was pretty shocked. She was a little bigger than average, but nothing to suggest she drove restaurants out of business.

#36 "Nope, I'm Set"

I was at a Beach Boys concert and the person in front of me was wearing a big coat and hat. He looked a lot like David Spade. As the show started, this person had snuck in a few flasks and proceeded to get pretty tipsy. It ended up actually being David Spade. I said hi to him between bands and asked if I could buy him any more to drink. He just pulled out another flask and said: "Nope, I'm set." Seemed pretty low key and just wanted to enjoy some good music at The Greek.

#37 Breaking The Hostess

Paramore. The band came into the restaurant I was working at and the hostess had a panic attack from being completely starstruck. This was in New Mexico a few years back. The hostess found me and said she wanted to take a picture with them, but didn't have the confidence to ask. I told her I'd go ask, and proceeded to do so. The band at their table obliged, so I headed back to the hostess to give her the thumbs up. As the hostess headed over, the band eloped the tables, breaking the hostess's heart. I've talked poorly of them ever since.

#38 Tardy And Inconsiderate

I met Russell Crowe one time while working for a newspaper company in Sydney, Australia. I got sent to a hotel with a photographer to watch him do an interview. Russell showed up 45 minutes late, with no warning, walked into the windowless apartment and started chain-vaping. I'm asthmatic. I had to step outside. I talked to his security guard though. Really nice Polynesian guy.

#39 The Best Kind

Not bad, just a sweet story if you love Sheryl Crow. She came to perform at my home town casino. It was summer break so she had her children with her on her tour bus. It was the day of her show and she took her kids out for a bicycle ride. They were riding all over the place to find public access to the lake, so she stopped some random guy cutting his lawn to ask for directions. He had no idea who she was. His house was on the lake and he invited her and her kids to use his property.

It was a hot day and she obliged. His wife came outside after seeing the kids playing and brought watermelon and drinks for them (still not knowing who she was). Sheryl hung out at this couples house for hours. The guy took her kids fishing out on his boat and Sheryl hung back with the wife in a Muskoka chair.

When she went to leave, she asked for their phone number and told them they would be getting a call shortly. The phone rang about an hour later, it was the casino letting them know that they had front row tickets to her show. I was sitting right behind this couple at her show that night. She shared the story with the crowd and made the couple raise their hands. They were so embarrassed (they were about 65 to 70 years old), but they were the cutest couple ever. She invited them backstage after the show and they got some really good pictures!

#40 Sticking It To The Terminator

Once, I worked for a large movie company. I was grumpy all day, so when I saw an open elevator not crowded with folk as I was leaving, I quickly got in and pressed my floor number. That's when I heard a thick voice behind me, sounding a bit far away, saying: "Hold the door." I pretended not to hear it, given my bad mood. The doors were closing and I turned. That's when Schwarzenegger's angry off face appeared behind the slit between the ever closing doors. "I asked you to hold the doo—" Then, they shut in his face and the elevator went down. I'm so sorry T-800.

#41 Never Forgotten

This was quite literally me asking for it. I was in an elevator with Joan Rivers. I told her I was an amateur comic, and nothing would make me happier than her roasting me the rest of the elevator ride. She smiled at me and said that she was surprised the elevator wasn’t headed towards the basement considering my fat bum, and that the last time she smelled someone that bad was when she was washing dog doo-doo off her heels. I was so thrilled I practically kissed her!

#42 "Do You Know Who I Am?!"

A family friend of mine used to work for TSA in Orlando. Adam Levine has just played there or something and just started walking straight through the security checkpoint. She stopped him saying, “You have to wait in line just like everyone else.” He replied, “I’m not everyone else! Do you know who I am?!” I don’t recall what she said back but he got super upset and walked to the back of the line.

#43 Film Extra Stories

I was an extra on the film Revolution. It starred Donald Sutherland and Al Pacino. Sutherland (who is also my favorite actor) was cool as heck, ate with us and enjoyed just chilling around when not filming. Pacino, on the other hand, was just an ignorant, arrogant twat for the entire eight weeks. I can't remember him actually speaking to any of the plebs.

#44 Crushed Nickelodeon Heart

I was at a Kid's Choice Awards after-party. I was like, eight years old or something. My friend and I approached Keke Palmer—not even to get an autograph—just to say hi. She gave us a dirty look and then proceeded to ignore us and talk to her friends. Yeah, that crushed my little Nickelodeon-watching heart. I don't know if she is still like that, but what a terrible thing to do that to a kid.

#45 Drama At The Chinese Theatre

I was there when Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Jerry Weintraub got their hand prints done at the Chinese Theater. Brad brought his new girlfriend at the time, Angelina Jolie. Well, the people in charge told him there was no way in hell he could bring her out there to watch it. The press would eat it up and poor Jerry would be ignored. This was probably going to be the biggest thing to ever happen to Jerry in his life. You can't over shadow this nice sweet old man with your latest squeeze. So Brad said he wouldn't get his dang handprints done then. But Angie was like no, go do it and I'll wait in the Limo. So she was sitting in the Limo behind the theater and never made an appearance. But Brad was so upset when everyone was giving their speeches and when it was his turn he just said thank you and handed off the mic. He left as soon as it was over.