Some people take it for granted that when someone gets famous they’re going to be ‘perfect’: likable, charming, charismatic, and empathetic. However, that doesn’t always happen. Unfortunately, some stars—no matter their many wonderful talents—never manage to fully ‘click’ with other people.
Today, Bored Panda’s featuring stories from all over the internet about people spilling the tea about the rudest celebrities they ever had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting and working with. It’s a good reminder that no matter how popular you are, a bit of kindness always goes a long way, especially when you're exhausted.
#1
This is years ago, but the *entire* band Cheap Trick. What supreme a******s.
I was working in radio at the time and our city had a big four-day festival each year with different bands, etc. Our station always sponsored one of the stages so we would have meet and greets for the fans with the performers, intro the acts, etc. I mean - it's a midsize city festival .... we're not getting Beyonce, ya know? But generally smaller up-and-coming bands or bands that were bigger a decade prior.
Well they showed up like it was an alternate universe where it was 1980-whatever and they were the biggest band on the planet. Spent the whole time making fun of the fans that showed up to their meet and greet, dissing the festival, dissing the city, and acting like they didn't belong there. Honey, you guys are lucky you got the gig. Ugh.
For best I'll say Bob Dylan. His hotel was a third of the mile up the street and it was a beautiful day so he just decided to walk on down all by himself to the arena before his sound check for the concert and the poor guy working security didn't recognize him (I know he was young, but come on!!) and told him that he couldn't let him in without the appropriate backstage pass. Dylan just said it was no big deal and walked back up to his hotel and called someone to find out where he could get a pass. The guard was MORTIFIED when he found out and everyone was running around freaking out, but Bob just walked on back. LOL. He was super nice to the guy who didn't recognize him the first time, too, and told him he was just doing his job and he should have had a pass or had someone to meet him at the door. Class act ... 100%.
Image credits: tracygee
#2
Vanessa Morgan is really nice, but her entourage is super snotty and a pain to be around. This is her crew before her current husband.
Adam Levine is terrible. He constantly talks down to people and is super smarmy/smug if you’re not a fellow celeb. I’ve literally witnessed him being a huge diva to network execs, which was super embarrassing.
Image credits: bonsaithot
#3
Edward Norton smashed me against a wall when I was a kid. I still hate him for that 20 years later.
Image credits: fivetenfiftyfold
Legendary pop star, producer, designer, and reality TV judge Pharrell Williams urges everyone to prioritize empathy. “I think empathy is the most important thing. It’s not a natural thing to just literally think of others all the time. It’s just not. You constantly have to challenge yourself to be a little bit more open to what other people are going through,” he told the New York Times Magazine.
Despite what Williams says, the absolute majority of human beings are hardwired for empathy, and its impact and importance can’t be understated. But he's right about us not being used to caring about people 24/7, which can be overwhelming. Empathy isn’t just about being ‘nice,’ social cohesion depends on it. Sarah Konrath, an associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, told CNN that empathy motivates us to take action when we see other people suffering.
#4
My dad’s a pilot married to a flight attendant. They have so many stories. Lucille Ball was notoriously rude, she wouldn’t look anyone in the eye or communicate to staff, so they had to ask everything to her assistant who would then turn to her, ask her the question, and then relay the answer. In contrast, Danny DeVito once turned my step mom’s plane into an absolute party and bought rounds of drinks for everyone around him the whole entire flight.
Edit because I remembered: Michael Jackson did the same thing with an assistant... he actually hid under a blanket most the flight. I kind of feel like with him, it was more of an “extreme social anxiety” thing.
Image credits: such-a-mom
#5
Major plot twist - I met Katherine McPhee and David Foster once. As a fan of RHOBH and power ballads, I know David foster and as a Millenial I know Katherine. I was standing like right next to them at an event and I just said a quick hello and - here’s what I didn’t expect - Katherine was awful and David was lovely. She just scowled at me. David said hi and how are you and we chatted for like a moment and then he said he hoped I’d enjoy the event.
V lukewarm tea but it’s all I’ve got. Every other celebrity I’ve met/interacted with has been so nice.
Image credits: Sparkle_bitch
#6
David Cross, he is the biggest a*****e I have worked with by far. He's the only person I've worked closely with that I would describe as a "monster." Absolutely harsh and mean to everyone around him. Really mean to the crew. When he feels like being nice and normal he can pull that off, but otherwise seems like he wants to destroy you for no reason. Everyone is an idiot to him and he will openly mock you while you try to do your job. He is extremely funny in person though, just a freak of nature.
Image credits: classiccoral
Meanwhile, psychological scientist Jennifer Lerner, from the Harvard Kennedy School in Massachusetts, explains that humans need empathetic skills in order to make societal cooperation possible in the first place. According to her, it’s important to distinguish between empathy (perceiving what someone is feeling) and sympathy (compassion).
“[A] common mistake is to leap into sympathy before empathically understanding what another person is feeling.”
There are two main types of empathy: emotional empathy (intuitive, centered on compassion and concern) and cognitive empathy (systematic, more accurate, and focused on imagining yourself in another person’s shoes). Ideally, you’ll have a mix of both.
While many empathetic processes are automatic (thanks, mirror neurons!), you can be deliberately empathetic and activate them. Furthermore, we can reinforce our empathy by socialization and being in an environment where we’re incentivized to care about others and their perspectives. When you depend on other people for something, you’re motivated to understand what they feel.
#7
Sarah Paulson hands down. Before she was major-major on a pilot season with Bobby Canavalle show was Cupid’s I worked wardrobe so it was all wardrobe related drama. Just extremely difficult, mean, the whole season. No reason, everyone bent over backwards. Bobby was a f*****g delight btw lovely guy.
Image credits: unaluna
#8
100% Rod Stewart. I worked at a high-end furniture store with a restaurant a while back. Anyways, his wife Penny called and was told that the restaurant didn’t take reservations (they don’t) and when he arrived he made the biggest deal about it. He even told my coworker who answered that phone that “with a face like yours, you shouldn’t even be in customer service” (she is a WOC). When he came downstairs after dinner, he demanded to know if she was going to be fired. It was absolutely disgusting.
Image credits: LilFourEyes
#9
I’ve met a lot of famous people since I used to wait tables (I actually quit a few months ago because I graduated from UCLA and moved to NYC. Besides the point) at Craig’s in LA. The rudest people I ever had to handle were Rita Ora and Hailey Bieber. They were both so f*****g rude and entitled, Rita acts as if she’s the s**t when in reality no one gives a f**k about her flop music career.
Image credits: stophatinjustsayin
It’s not healthy to idolize and hype celebrities up too much. Yes, they might be in the spotlight and be super talented and successful, but they’re still human beings. At the end of the day, everyone has their strengths and flaws. Some stars might never have learned how to interact with other people in a meaningful way or to forge deep, authentic connections.
Others might struggle with self-esteem issues and believe that they have to create an entirely fake persona or put others down to avoid being vulnerable and getting hurt. Still, others might not even realize the consequences of their own actions until someone calls them out for their rudeness.
#10
Not really my tea and also pretty lukewarm... but my dad has worked in high end hotels for over 30 years. He has always said Princess Diana was one of the most gracious guests, Michael Jackson was one of the worst. Expected his room to be a certain temperature at all times, constantly ordered room service and sent it back, generally just awful and quintessentially high maintenance as a guest.
Image credits: Standard-Spot
#11
Hand to god it was Alan Rickman. I've interacted with a ton of famous figures and both him and his wife were notorious at my business for being incredibly unpleasant and rude. This is also something I don't like to publicize because the Harry Potter stans will not hear it.
Image credits: succcotash
#12
Not me personally but I have a good friend who works in the VIP section of a major airport. According to her, the most obnoxious celeb she met was John Legend. He came with his entourage and mom. His mom requested the wheelchair service and was polite to the staff member. John exuded "Don't you know who I am?!" energy, was constantly complaining and didn't even thank the person who helped them get around the airport.
The nicest celeb according to my friend was Sophia Loren. She's very kind, not pretentious and would even remember the names of people.
Image credits: Melodic-Tune-5686
Developing more empathy and self-awareness isn’t impossible for most people (barring literal psychopaths). It just takes a lot of time and a dash of humility to admit there’s room for growth.
What’s the rudest or most confusing encounter you’ve ever had with someone famous? On the flip side, what’s the most positive celebrity experience you’ve had, dear Pandas? How do you think you’d treat your fans if you became a star overnight? Tell us all about it in the comments!
#13
I did a fashion show back in 04 for seventeen magazine and Kelly Osbourne was one of the performers and she was wildly rude. I said to her “hey Kelly” and she turned and looked at me with the most disgusted look and was like “don’t talk to me” I was only 17 at the time and I was pretty hurt by that.
Image credits: Afarinnadiya
#14
My friend is a pilot and flies a lot of private jets, sometimes for rich and famous (obviously). He told me a story about when he flew once for Dr. Phil. He calls him the worst encounter he’s ever had. An insanely arrogant prick. I can share the full story if anyone’s interested.
Image credits: anon
#15
Ok this isn’t actually that bad, but of all celebs I’ve had an interaction with, this one always stands out: Back when I was a server in like 2015, Cody Simpson ordered a well-done burger, took one bite, said it was over-cooked and that he couldn’t eat it. I offered him a new, rarer burger and he laughed and said something like “hah - uh no I think I’m done.” He was with Gigi, who couldn’t have been sweeter.
Image credits: 5bazwap9
#16
Hayley Williams when Paramore was in their prime. She was playing a show in Cleveland with my friend’s band in the mid or late 00s. I went backstage to hang out and she was... very rude. Looking back, I think she liked my friend and was annoyed he had me there, like I was in the way he was “hers” (even though I’m pretty sure she was in a relationship?).
She seems to be a lot kinder now.
Edit: I left this comment without really thinking about it and just wanted to be clear that I have no bad feelings! Just one story from one day in a famous teenage rockstar’s life more than a decade ago. She didn’t owe me pleasantries, as I was on her turf, at her place of work. Hoping she’s well now, as she appears to be doing great.
Image credits: high-jinkx
#17
I met Leighton Meester at a meet and greet with her band when she was trying her hand at being an indie singer. We were so excited to meet her, waited in line for an hour after her gig, and she was such a brat - no desire to be there and ruined our entire experience. Don't have a meet and greet if you dont want to meet your fans.
Image credits: clue_liss
#18
Madonna. She was difficult. I lived in LA during the entire decade of the 90’s and worked in restaurants and country clubs that celebrates frequented. And Madonna would come in and try and take over the restaurant. Once she came in and one of her songs happened to be playing, totally by chance. As she walked by me she said out loud, “their playing one of my songs. That’s so annoying.” About ten minutes after that I caught her assistant in my office trying to change the music. I told her to get out and she said that we needed to change the music because “she” doesn’t like what we are playing. I changed the music to keep the peace. Then when Madonna felt it was time to go, she stood up and said, let’s go! I saw her assistant, in the middle of dessert, drop her fork, mid bite, on her plate and stand. Another time after a video shoot, the director showed up first. He said Madonna was on the way. I asked if he wanted lounge or dining room. He said we better wait until she gets here. Good idea. I had two large tables ready when she arrived. She chose dining room. Ten minutes later the assistant comes to me and says, she wants the lounge instead. I said too late, I already sat the lounge. She said, can’t you kick those people out? Tell them you have a reservation for that table. I said she made her choice and that’s it. We treat all our guests with respect. She cringed and looked worried haha.
Many kept to themselves. But the cool ones? Mel Brooks (wanted to open a restaurant with the same food right across the street haha), George Clooney, John Travolta (Hi, I’m John), Quentin Tarantino, Alice Cooper, Willy Nelson, Daryl Hanna, Playboy TV (but that’s another story). Once we had Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Neil Peart, at one table!
Image credits: Steven Peinetti
#19
I didn’t meet him, but I have seen Jared Leto be an absolute nightmare in person. Kicked fans out of a show because they didn’t jump when he said to, yelled at the audience and said if the front rows didn’t step up he’s bring the back rows up and “send us to to the back to take a f*****g nap”. There’s more. Absolute nightmare. That’s not even taken into consideration the countless countless underage rumors I’ve heard about him over the last 10 years.
On a happier note: the Jonas brothers, taking back Sunday, Jim and Tom from Jimmy Eat World, Josh from you me at six were all incredibly friendly and very very nice. I can’t really go into it, but the Jonas brothers from what I know, seem to be genuinely great people.
#20
As per my friend who met them at her work, Vanessa Hudgens and her sister Stella are like b****y young Karens and a total pain in the butt.
#21
MGK. called me a b***h and said I didn’t deserve to work for him (one day outside hiring company to work the meet and greet) because I didn’t properly answer a question that he asked his tour manager name and everything and said I should’ve assumed it was for me because I’m the girl. He then proceeded to curse out his assistant in front of the meet and greet for not picking up his pain killer prescription the very minute it was called in. His tour manager explicitly said that they don’t typically hire LBGTQ+ (my co worker) if they know better, and they repeatedly called her stupid and a dyke for sending her conflicting text messages on what to do. Never again.
Image credits: briaelena
#22
Did cheap, lukewarm tequila shots with Demi Lovato in 2012 and their behavior left a worse taste in my mouth than their attitude (which shouldn't have been possible: the shots were truly terrible!) *shrug emoji*.
#23
I was a waitress at a popular nyc bar and Russell Simmons always came in and only drank water and was very flat affect. Not rude but definitely not nice and had a “I only talk to other rich people” vibe.
#24
Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt were the rudest celebrities I’ve worked with. Actually...add Russell Crowe to that list for the top three worst.
#25
I didn't meet her myself but my cousin is a celebrity stylist (like at an agency, not a personal stylist) and she's always said Anna Kendrick is a major b***h to people. She also said Anne Hathaway refused to give her real height that they needed for the length of her dress and it was as if she was hiding that she's shorter than the internet lists her as. She didn't say Anne was rude though just that instance is super weird to me lol. Still love her though. Anna however I can't look past the rudeness.
Image credits: Sarahzzzzz8
#26
Claudia Schiffer was lovely but her boyfriend David Copperfield was a douche.
#27
Sean Patrick Flannery (Boondock Saints) was super rude & dismissive to the entire bar & wait staff at a nightclub where I used to work at when the Superbowl first came to my city. Tommy Lee Jones is about the same, lol. On a positive note, John Goodman & Alfonso Ribeiro are exactly how you would imagine them to be - those two are both a treasure :).
#28
Dr. Joyce Brothers. This actually happened to a friend of mine who is a flight attendant, but it certainly affected my opinion of her.
Dr. Brothers was on one of her flights. She asked, “Dr. Brothers, is there anything I can get for you?” No answer. So she asked, “Dr. Brothers, is everything all right?”
Dr. Brothers’ personal assistant answered, “Dr. Brothers doesn’t speak to the paid help.”
And she got her wish. Everybody completely ignored her for the remainder of the flight.
It makes a person wonder what kind of psychological advice she would have for a person who is self-absorbed and sanctimonious?
The moral of the story here is that irrespective of who you are or what you do, you still have to grab the can of Glade before you leave the bathroom.
#29
Warwick Davis was really rude when I worked as a company manager on a show he was in London, proper diva to the point his wife was apologising on his behalf.
#30
Bella Thorne. Yes, the living meme herself. Anyways, so this was years ago, and I don’t remember how or why I got to meet her. I remember I waited hours at the local mall to meet her with my best friend.
When we finally had got to the table to meet her, she didn’t acknowledge that her and I were there. She was talking to her friend Pia Mia, a singer.
You see, I’m a pretty shy person, and I had become extra shy obviously, since she was the star of one of my favorite Disney shows, Shake It Up.
I managed to get a “Hi” out.
She didn’t even do anything or say it back. Nope, she just continued talking to Pia.
I took one of the pictures she had to sign, and she just snatched it and literally scribbled her signature without looking.
I get it, it must’ve been a long day of seeing screaming fans and whatever, but that was just straight up rude.
And yes, I still have that picture.
#31
A beloved lead actress in an extremely popular Netflix original series.
I was working on a film last year. I probably shouldn’t say which one, but you can probably figure it out since she hasn’t been in too many films. Anyway, we’re preparing for a scene, and Katherine Langford, who plays Hannah Baker on 13 Reasons Why, arrives on set. I’m supposed to walk behind her in the shot, but when I do, she says, “These extras are getting way too close. They need to stay in their vicinity.”
Later that day her young, attractive male costar was chewing a piece of gum, then for some reason took it out of his mouth and was playing with it. She says to him, “You better throw that away before the extras try to sell it on ebay.”
In the passing days, I also noticed that while the entire cast and crew were using the same entrance and exit as the extras, she went out a private entrance. And once, the PAs told her to pantomime (pretend to talk without making noises) with her costars at a lunch table, and all the cast did it except her. They told her a few more times before she said, “Oh, you want US to pantomime?” Since that is typically done by extras, and how dare she be classified as such.
Who knows, she might be a nice person in general, but it sure does say a lot about you the way you treat those under you on the ladder.
#32
By far, the worst celebrity I've ever met was Zsa Zsa Gabor. I was about 12 yo and I saw her in the grocery store. (Go ahead and be impressed that I knew who she was. ) I walked up to her and told her how pretty she was. She replied by saying that if I got a nose job, I might be able to be as beautiful as her. What a b****! Who says that to a kid?
#33
It was a few weeks back I was travelling with my family from Delhi to Mauritius for a vacation. We had a connecting flight to Mauritius via Mumbai. Spotting a celebrity is very common at the Mumbai airport. While shopping at the duty free I spotted the Bollywood actor Mr Rishi Kapoor. Obviously I got excited and decided to approach him for a Photograph. I waited a little .
After few minutes I went and stood next to him while he was deciding on which brand of whiskey to buy.
I finally spoke in a very low voice and said a simple "hi". He turned towards me and yelled at me like a mad person for having disturbed him while he was shopping! "Can't you see I'm shopping , you don't disturb someone when they are shopping!"
God knows how embarrassed I was at that moment. What did I do afterall which made him so furious. Nobody gave him the right to be rude to me for no reason. I stood there with my parents for a few minutes with my back turned towards him. Probably Mr Kapoor had finished shopping till then so he turned and yelled again "Now, where is that girl?" I turned back and said nothing though I wanted to yell at him too that being a celebrity doesn't give him the right to talk to anyone in such a manner. He shouted "what did you want?"
What did I want?! Seriously!? For sure not his money! Anyway, I didn't say anything my mom replied that I just wanted to say hi .
He said " OK. Hi. But you don't disturb anyone when you see they are shopping." having said that he walked away. So did I .
As I was walking away I thought to myself at least I have a story to tell now which certainly works better then a simple picture on social media. :)
#34
My daughter & son both worked at a Whole Foods in a very well off part of Dallas. My daughter worked in the deli. Matthew McConaughey was a steady customer & the girls all fought over who would wait on him. He was always super nice & friendly. Troy Aikman the ex Dallas Cowboy was a regular customer and was well liked. He was always patient and kind even though he was mobbed every time he came in. The person they hated waiting on was Steve Harvey. He always had an entourage and they would always begin by telling the employee waiting on them they were not to speak to Mr. Harvey. My son worked as a cashier & he would always get Susan Powter the weight loss lady. She was always nice to my son but was always yelling at her kids.
#35
I used to work at a chain coffee shop in Santa Monica CA. There were a lot of celebrities that used to come in since I suppose a lot of them live around there or have things to do or errands to run around there. Most of them just wanted to not be noticed at all and, if someone recognized them, most times they were a little embarrassed, but nice about it.
However I’ll never forget how much of an a**hole Jean Claude Van Damme was. He came in and ordered a drink as I was working the register. We were instructed not to accept bills over $50 because obviously that would take up almost all of the change in the till. Mr. Van Damme ordered a $4 drink and wanted to pay with a $100 bill. I asked him if he had a smaller bill because I could not accept a $100 bill.
He proceeded to scream in my face and make a scene about how s****y this coffee shop was. He told me to f**k off and take his bill. I said I was sorry, but that I would get reprimanded by my manager if I did that, and that he would leave me without any change for the other customers. He yelled at me to tell my manager to f**k off and said he didn't want his order any more. Then he gave me the finger, turned around, and left.
I had dealt with many a**holes and weirdos at that job, but never anyone like that guy.
#36
In 1962, Susan Maughan had a hit in the British charts with Bobby's Girl. It had, indeed, been her only Hit; a one hit wonder.
In 1993, she boarded a ship - on which I was the band leader - as guest cabaret 'star'.
We had a band call. This is where the cabaret artist wants to go through his or her set with the resident band to make sure everything will run smoothly.
She decided she was going to hate our drummer who was a brilliant guy as well as musician.
We got a few bars in to her first song and she stopped us.
'Oh, no, no, no, no darling. That sounds simply awful.'
Then there were other snide comments:
'Have you ever actually backed a vocalist of high caliber before, darling?'
Etc etc etc.
My patience ran out. I asked her, 'Excuse me, may I ask, if there is no band, how do you perform?'
'I don't understand. Darling.’
'Let's say, for arguments sake, if we were to suddenly come down with food poisoning, how would you perform?'
'Why, I'd use my backing tracks of course, darling.'
I then said: 'We've all suddenly come down with food poisoning, you're on your own.'
I went straight to the cruise director, and having told him how she'd spoken to us, I had his full backing.
#37
I was Kendall Jenner’s assistant
I’m anonymous for the obvious reasons , I left the job as her assistant 2 years ago and I’m very thankful for it .
She’s a huge brat , whatever she wants , she wants it within the next 5 minutes, if not she humiliates her staff .
One day she asked me to bring her a herbal tea , I was on my way to the kitchen that her dog starting barking at me ( I was new at that time ) and it took me some time to calm that dog by giving him a chewy toy . I was late by maximum 15 minutes and when I gave her the tea , she spit the tea on the floor right by my side and called me a useless pig .
Her whole family is like this , I’ve seen them closely for months , she doesn’t even care to talk politely with her mom , she scolds her and calls her names every once in a while .
Once she told me to make a strawberry smoothie for her , she didn’t like it , she put fish in the smoothie , blended it and made me drink the WHOLE smoothie , she’s a very mean person who needs to know her true place but we common people just can’t do anything , can we ?
#38
Kim Petras (D-list pop star who kinda blew up like two years ago) was unbearable. She kept rolling her eyes whenever fans would walk away from her and honestly just gave me bad vibes.
On the contrary, Neve Campbell (Scream/Party Of Five) is by far the sweetest celeb I have ever EVER met. Couldn’t have been any nicer.
#39
I had a friend who served Priyanka Chopra once in a Toronto restaurant while she was attending TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). She was SUPER snarky and did not care to even greet or respond to my waiter friend. She said PK was super annoyed with people staring at her when she was eating lol (you're a celebrity OFC; they're going to stare). Anywho, she tipped a decent amount; nothing to "Ohhhh AHH.".
#40
It was Katrina Kaif. Some weeks back, I was at an upmarket hotel in Los Angeles with my extended family. I & some of my cousins were hanging out at the pool and the hotel's gym was right next to it. Through the glass wall, we saw Katrina Kaif working out inside. My 10-year-old cousin is a huge fan of hers for all the mass-y, masala movies he watches. He was very excited to go & meet her but we didn't want to disturb her or be rude. So we asked him to wait till she was done to approach her. After a couple of minutes, she was done with her workout. She was sitting, having juice & chatting to another white girl [May be she was her sister, I'm not sure]. We finally couldn't hold back our cousin any longer, so he grabbed his phone & ran to her. He told her he was a huge fan, told her she looked very pretty, & asked if he could get a selfie with her. Her reply? She looked at him with dead eyes said"Umm.. No"Then banged her juice glass on the table, turned back to the girl sitting next to her, mumbled something inaudible with a disgusted expression & they walked away.Who talks to a child like that? We would have understood if she would have declined firmly or simply ignored. We were prepared for that. We weren't prepared for her to treat a 10-year-old fan like vermin. The tone & expression with which she talked to my cousin was of utter disdain. I could literally see heartbreak on my cousin's face after she did that to him.Luckily Varun Dhawan & Parineeti Chopra were also there. [I think some Bollywood award function was being held in LA]. I don't know if they saw Katrina being rude to my cousin or they were just leaving the gym, but they came to the entrance of the gym where my cousin was standing all numb & heartbroken. Varun lifted my cousin in his arms & asked him if he recognized them. Both Parineeti & Varun talked very sweetly & nicely to him, like Parineeti told my cousin he looked very cool in his orange trunks, Varun told him that he has such a manly body that he should give Varun gymming tips & that he shouldn't become an actor or all actors will go jobless. Parineeti even ordered brownie & ice cream for my cousin, & we weren't billed for it so she was obviously so thoughtful about such a little thing that she must have paid for it herself. Thanks to them & no thanks to Katrina, my baby cousin was extremely cheerful. It is now such a happy memory for him that he has narrated it a hundred times to all his friends & family.
#41
Bill Nye.
My mom took me to a quite large math and science conference several years back, where Bill Nye was the keynote speaker.
We were on our way to another workshop, so we entered an elevator, as these big conference halls aren’t easy to walk through.
Well, who is in there, waiting, except the man himself?
We didn’t say anything to him, but other people did, understandably.
He basically told them to not talk to him, and turned into the corner, and sulked.
Whenever someone tried to speak to him, he either didn’t respond, or asked them to not.
Granted, he may have been having a bad day, but he was at a math and science festival where he was bound to be idolized, and where he was the keynote speaker.
A little bit disappointing.
#42
I remember being 11 years old when the WWE (F back then) came to my hometown (about 1990) A member of my parents church owned a gym where many of them would workout before a show, and he invited me and a friend to come hang out on the day they were in town.
The big “good guy” at the time, Hulk Hogan, and at the time my personal favorite, was there. We waited for him to finish his set of reps when we approached him for his autograph, but before I could even finish a sentence he looked at my friends dad and pointed at his face, and said “buddy, you need to keep your snot-nosed f**king kids away from me.”
i was crushed, here was my idol telling me to say my prayers and eat my vitamins basically telling me to beat it. Oddly enough, a bad guy at the time and a guy I loved to hate before this day overheard, and he was taking a break from his reps, Mr. Perfect came to me and my friend and initiated conversation. “Hey, kid, show me how much you can bench press.” He even spotted me as I lifted maybe the bar and two 5–10lb weights.
#43
Ken Griffey Jr.
I was 12 years old. I was at a game, right above the Dugout. I saw him and so I asked for an autograph. He asked me if I had $80. No, I do NOT have $80, I was a 12 year old kid. He told me to go see my mommy, get $80 from her, and he’d give me an autograph.
Weeks later, a school friend of mine lived in a neighborhood near his and we were walking down the Baseball Players street… we didn't know we were anywhere near his house. His Porsche flies by us and pulls into a driveway, which is when we recognized Griffey. My friend had a Ken Griffey Jr. Rooky Card, which he had just taken to a card shop to see what it was worth.
So, I tell my friend that Griffey’s a d**k and not to bother asking for an autograph, but my friend does anyway. He approaches Griffey, and Griffey yells at him, telling him “get lost you little piece of s**t”. This caused my friend to cry, which Griffey laughed at and went into his house.
Dude’s an asshole. I don't care how great he was/is at baseball… he’s an a**hole.
#44
Let’s see…
The rudest was Bo Derek. I was an officer in the Navy stationed overseas and asked to escort Ms Derek around the base when she visited with a USO tour. My job was to ensure she didn’t get lost, was safe and didn’t go anywhere civilians were not allowed. Celebrity is not really my thing, but it was my collateral duty, so I promised my CO I’d do the job well. I did think it would be cool though, considering she was kind enough to volunteer her time with the USO and visit us stationed away from our families, and I remembered her as a pin up long (long, long) ago. Unfortunately, she was a rude, petulant brat - shocking considering her age. She travelled with her sister and hangers on and was more interested in people fawning over her than actually visiting with the military personnel. Her sister and her fought constantly. At one point, after fighting over the headphones to their discman, she turned to me and rudely said ‘You need to go get me a headphone splitter.’ Here I was trying to be cordial and a good host, so I was taken aback at her rudeness and said ‘Excuse me?’ She barked “i want a headphone splitter so we can both have headphones plugged in. You need to sort that out.’ I calmly told her that I was ordered to escort her around base for safety and base security and was not her go-for. I also told her that she was on an overseas military installation, not a mall where she could slip into a Radio Shack and pick up whatever she wanted. She said ‘Oh, you’re useless’ and went to tell on me to her manager. She continued to be demanding and dismissive to everyone she came into contact with unless they were somebody of great import (i.e. COs or high ranking military officers), at which time she became charming to them.
Anyhow, I was waiting for him to come over so I could tell him to ‘eat a dick’ (I was fed up babysitting this idiot at this point) but he never did. He must have been used to her tantrums.
#45
Harrison Ford. Hands down. We were at a hotel and he was in the lobby. He was standing in a small group, it looked like they were getting ready to leave - a few small cases were on the floor near him. From what I could gather they’d been there a little while, maybe they were waiting for a car or something. One of the hotel staff came up to the group and offered them something to drink while they were waiting. I can’t repeat what he said, or let’s say I’d rather not. But it was so rude that the poor guy physically flinched. I was horrified and the rest of his group was so embarrassed they wouldn’t look at him. Conversation just died. By then I was up to the desk and by the time I looked around again they had wandered off.
The second worst was William Shatner. I was working a convention he was attending. His contract specified a white limo to pick him up at the airport. None were available (anywhere!) so we made do with the fanciest black limo we could find. Not good enough - he pitched a screaming fit at the airport, at the hotel and for most of the evening after he checked in. He got on stage and told a very nice story about a horse, left the stage and went straight back into toddler mode. Sheesh. Some people.
#46
Hugh Grant
I moonlighted as an events waiter in London in 2003 and worked at that years Elton John White Tiara Ball Party. I was offering canapes during the garden reception and came across Hugh Grant who simply stared at me as if to say who the hell are you to be in my presence. One of his a*s kissers eventually answered on his behalf, because it was obviously beneath him to do so. I just thought what an ignorant a**ehole.
Most celebrities that I encountered at such events such as Sir Michael Caine, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush Lulu, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela were in fact exemplary in their politeness and class. Especially Orlando Bloom who seems a charming guy.
#47
Sheryl Crow. Hands down.
Can't get into exact details but back in the mid 2000s my company hired her for a private concert. We invited about 50 of our best customers to attend. She and her band made something like $700,000 for two short performances and a meet-and-greet.
The events were fine. She isolated herself from all of us but that we kinda expected.
The meet and greet was the kicker. Her people told her that we could line up 20 people in a row and leave a gap between person 10 and person 11. When all were in a line she came out from where they were hiding, stood in that gap (putting one arm around the person on either side), the photographer took 4 or 5 quick shots, and she disappeared. Like, gone. Back to the hiding place. Maybe spent 20 seconds in sight of the customers, including transit time. For that kind of money, she could have at least acknowledged our customers. But she literally snuck up from behind to take her spot in the middle and just like that she snuck out again. Boom.
(I watched from a distance. Only those 20 people were allowed to be in the room. Not us. Even though we paid the big bucks for it from our budget.)
I've met many wonderful famous people but she will never make my list.
#48
Rudest: Kanye West
This was back in 2007. There are free concerts at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk every Friday evening. Big names would often play for free as we all sat on the beach in our chairs. Kanye West was set to perform and never showed up to his set. My cousin Joel, at the time, saw Kanye walking to his tour van and asked him if he was going to perform tonight. West tells him “If I’m not getting paid, then fuck no. Peace.” He jumps into his tour bus and bails. Everybody was dissapointed and Marisa Miller decided to take over the show and apologized to all of us for waiting so long. Fuck you Kanye.
Nicest: James Franco
Super humble down to earth guy. Ran into him in San Jose area at Whole Foods Market. Even offered to get a picture with me and I told him I was a huge fan of his role as Harry in the Spider-Man series and he was hilarious in Pineapple Express. I could vibe with this dude and he said if I’m ever in Palo Alto area he would be down to get a coffee or kick it. I was beyond stoked and he is very humble, wearing casual clothes practically dressed like a bum. Super cool guy for sure.
#49
Yes that darn Rob Lowe. It was 2003 at O’Hare and we were flying off to Marine Corps boot camp and someone said, “Hey that’s Rob Lowe” and he came over to talk to us and thank us for what we are about to do and was just an overwhelming good human being.
He behaved badly by talking to us which pissed off airport security.
