Celebrities and Their Unpleasant Behavior
Celebrities, like all of us, are entitled to have bad days, especially when they’re feeling overwhelmed by the public or overworked. However, some celebrities are downright nasty for no reason, particularly to the “normal” people who’ve worked with or alongside them.
A Redditor named u/JustAFly2729 asked, “People who’ve worked with celebrities, who was the worst one you’ve encountered?” Hundreds of people who were unfortunate enough to deal with a celebrity’s “diva” behavior shared their encounters, and the stories are nothing short of shocking. Here are 17 of their most shocking tales:
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift was the rudest, most entitled human I’ve ever encountered in my life. I worked at a very fancy restaurant in Malibu as a server, and she was in with a group of like five people, including Calvin Harris and her security team. This was 2016, so she was famous but not as much as she is now. She made a point to be seen, but it was 3 p.m. on a Tuesday, so it was dead.
Jennifer Lopez
When I worked in the business, I had a tendency to get along with celebs who were supposed to be ‘difficult.’ So I was fully prepared to be pleasantly surprised when I worked with one of the most famously difficult people in Hollywood, Jennifer Lopez. I was not.
Mike Myers
Mike Myers tipped me a stick of gum on a $500-plus check back in ’94. He was with Chris Farley, and Farley came back and tipped me fairly.
Mario Lopez
Mario Lopez is an arrogant, narcissistic, lazy, entitled POS. When we were filming in an old school Italian neighborhood, a grandmother invited him over for Sunday dinner, and he agreed.
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion was a complete *** to me, not once but twice. I tried to write it off the first time, but the second time I just knew he was an ***.
Gene Simmons
I worked at a concert venue for many years, and part of my workload was setting up the handicap section near the stage. This section had folding chairs that we had to put up and take down for each concert, since it was easier for people to access. A couple of others and I would do this before every show. It often occurred during the sound check. Mind you, this was never an issue, but KISS was playing this night. They came out for their sound check without makeup or costumes on. Well, apparently Gene Simmons didn’t like us being there for this, so he complained to his tour manager, who came over and told us to leave (Gene wouldn’t even speak to us directly).
Paul and Stella McCartney
I saw Paul and Stella McCartney at her graduate fashion show. There was a perception that he was a working-class lad made good, who’d stayed humble. He definitely wasn’t humble and saw himself as a big star deserving of all the attention, noise, and cheering. But this wasn’t his show; it was a graduation show for all the students.
Jack Nicholson
A guy I worked with had a personal security company in LA in the ’80s and ’90s. He was very tight-lipped about his clients and wouldn’t even tell people who his team worked for…except Jack Nicholson.
Dr. Phil
I was on a Match.com advertising campaign with him 20 years ago. He showed up on set and literally started directing the DIRECTOR.
Kristen Bell
There’s nothing like curating an image of humility and relatability only to behave the opposite. I worked at a very popular upscale restaurant in NYC that was standard for having ‘famous’ guests. This incident occurred on a Wednesday around 9 a.m. I was standing at the hostess stand, waiting to welcome and check in guests per usual. Since it was the morning, our location was empty. Usually, studios would come in to tape interviews for morning or evening news segments. One of these instances was a promo for Frozen 2. No fans or media (like paps) were present at the restaurant, just the usual crew that had set up where the interview would take place.
Keke Palmer
I work at an upscale restaurant in LA, so I meet celebrities on the regular. Not a complete horror story, but one who stands out for presenting herself as humble, when she is absolutely not, is Keke Palmer.
Katy Perry
I didn’t work with her, but I have a Marine buddy who was part of the show stage for Katy Perry on one of her USO shows, and they said she was incredibly dismissive of all the soldiers she worked with.
The Friends Cast
Lisa Kudrow? Nice, humble, and ‘older’ than the others, so more mature and just kind. Courtney Cox was quiet, but not mean. Matt LeBlanc had natural charisma and wasn’t rude. Matthew Perry was dealing with his addiction, but wasn’t mean. Now, Jennifer Aniston? Entitled. I was used to celebs being ‘fake nice,’ direct, and demanding, but she was at the height of her fame and lost in it. She was just mean and treated the staff like **** — catering and other service workers basically didn’t exist to her. I’m chalking it up to youth, fame, and lack of tact, but I truly hated her for years.
Brody Jenner
I waited on Brody Jenner and his entourage at a fancy, trendy restaurant in Chicago (Brody was there for a DJ gig). The owner wanted everything perfect for Brody, so when he ordered Jager bombs for the table, the owner had someone go across the street to buy Jager at a convenience store because we didn’t have it. Brody was generally nice but lived up to the douchey vibe. At the end of the night, of course, he left no tip.
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton was a ** to the waitstaff at a restaurant I worked at decades ago. I distinctly remember it because he did the whole ‘don’t you know who I am’ thing, except everyone who waited tables there (it was a beachside place) was in high school or college, half of us didn’t know who he was, and the other half thought he was a Beatle.
Sarah McLachlan
I was the executive director of a performing arts center for many years, and quite a few performers graced the stage and green room. Most were decent human beings, BUT Sarah McLachlan, the ‘Arms of the Angels’ singer, was an absolute disgrace. I don’t know if she was having a terrible day or what, but she was in a horrible mood from the time she got off her tour bus until she left.
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Wilson was a known a-hole in the community — nearly everyone in town had a story where they spotted him in the wild (this was during the end of The Office), and he rudely rejected or flat-out ignored them. Once, a whole theater even corroborated that he yelled at a ‘normal’ person to leave him alone.
Did any of these stories surprise you? Have you ever worked with or alongside a celebrity who turned out to be a nightmare? Feel free to tell us in the comments or answer anonymously using the form below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
