Do you have a favorite celebrity? Imagine having the chance to meet them in real life, only to be disappointed by their completely opposite personality. In a bad way. These stories from discontented fans will make you think twice about these beloved stars.
All stories are edited for clarity.
“Obviously Nothing”
“I was a cocktail waitress at a popular restaurant in Waikiki.
Jimmy Buffet came and played a free solo concert there. He was so sweet and a joy to be around. That same day, Bruce Willis came in to watch the concert with his entourage. There were maybe four bodyguards with him. All of the cocktail waitresses were extremely excited to meet him, including me. When I built up the courage, I walked over to him and said, ‘I just wanted to let you know that I am one of your biggest fans!’
Then Bruce Willis said, ‘Oh yeah, well what are you going to do about it?’
Stunned, I looked up and saw a look on his face like he had just smelled garbage.
‘Obviously nothing,’ I retorted and stormed away. Then he said to his entourage, ‘You’re all fired,’ pointing to his bodyguards. At the end of the night, Willis even tipped one of the bartenders a quarter!
He was an absolute JERK.”
“She Was Her Favorite Author”
“I have met quite a few authors while chasing book signing events. I once went to a JK Rowling event in England when she was promoting her first non-Harry Potter title. I was with my two sisters, one of whom has severe cerebral palsy, and is wheelchair-bound, and my mother. While my sister and mother sat in the seats in the center of the auditorium, I snagged a spot in a section for wheelchair-bound individuals.
JKR was in the middle of being interviewed on stage when my sister started to cough in her wheelchair. As she got older, my sister’s breathing, swallowing, and gagging got worse. Her coughs got louder and more frequent to the point that an usher approached us and asked if my sister wanted some water. When the usher left to get some, my sister’s coughing got even louder and uncontrollable.
Suddenly, JKR stood up and stormed to the edge of the stage and shouted, ‘Is somebody dying over there???’
She looked right at my sister as she said it. JKR was only about twenty feet away, so she could plainly see the coughing was coming from a disabled person having a moment. Then, without an apology, JKR stomped back over to her seat on stage. Her question seemed more in annoyance, than a genuine concern for the welfare of another human being. The entire auditorium was looking at my sister who was feeling extremely embarrassed.
Maybe I was being over-sensitive, but when it came to the signing, there was no, ‘Are you ok now?’
I handed JKR the book my sister wanted to be signed which was ‘Beedle the Bard’, but JKR refused to grab it from me.
‘Sorry, not signing any Potter books. Just my newest book.’
So my sister, already feeling humiliated in front of a crowd of four-thousand people, didn’t even get her book signed by her favorite author.
There were people there in that room who were weeping openly because they were in the same room as JKR. After the way she treated my sister, all I saw was a woman who was completely devoid of a sense of basic compassion.
This was several years ago, but it affects my sister to this day.”
“Hit Me With Your Best Shot”
“Samson was a friend of mine that was a manager at a fancy restaurant in Atlantic City. They had A-list celebrities dine with them on a regular basis. This meant they weren’t at all intimidated by them.
One time, Pat Benatar came in and reduced one of the waitstaff to tears with a tirade because of her ‘incompetence’. Samson went out to see what the problem was.
‘How can I help you, Ms. Benatar?’ Samson inquired.
Pat Benatar scowled at him. ‘I don’t want any of your annoying staff coming up to me while I’m eating. I just want my own personal waitress. And I don’t want anyone else coming up to me either. Can you f***ing MAKE THAT HAPPEN, please?’
Samson, without missing a beat said, ‘Sure.’ He then called the head chef and repeated Benatar’s request. There was a brief pause before Samson added, ‘Yeah, it’s Benatar. She’s the one that had a couple of hits back when we were in about, oh, fourth grade or so.’
Pat Benatar’s head snapped up as soon as the words left Samson’s mouth.
Samson, still talking on the phone then said, ‘Yeah, well, she doesn’t want to be bothered. She only wants her own waitress at her table. Can you let the staff know?’ There was one last pause before Samson made one last blow.
‘I’ll ask,’ Samson said before looking at Pat Benatar. ‘The head chef wants to know if you can get him Stevie Nick’s autograph?’
Enraged, Pat Benatar snatched her purse up and stormed out of the restaurant.
Served her right.”
“Bill Cosby Is A Huge Jerk!”
“In the late 1960s, I was editor of my high school newspaper. My high school was in a somewhat affluent area west of Los Angeles which gave me access to local Hollywood celebrities.
One time I accepted an invitation to a meet-and-greet for Bill Cosby. We met in a smallish room on the side of the theater where the band was waiting to play. In walked Bill Cosby wearing a white mink floor-length coat that I mistook as a robe. He was bedazzled in gold and crystals and wore a big white hat and sunglasses. We all watched as Bill Cosby walked up to the podium and asked the small group of reporters what questions we had for him.
I don’t recall the questions everyone had, but I do recall how all answers he had were about him. Even if the question had nothing directly to do with him, Bill Cosby found opportunity after opportunity to brag about how successful he was. At some point, Bill Cosby stepped from behind the podium to show off his jewelry and fancy clothes.
‘See? If you’re successful you get to wear all this stuff,’ he said in a condescending tone.
I thought he would have had words of inspiration for young students hoping to become famous like him. The Bill Cosby I knew at the time was well-known for his support of education and equality issues in low-income areas.
But not this time.
Bill Cosby was a real jerk. I would tell people about this episode with Bill Cosby in later years and they couldn’t imagine him being anything other than Cliff Huxtable in real life. When everyone was stunned by the assault charges against him, I felt like the only one who was not surprised.”