People Share Their IRL Celebrity Encounters

This article was originally published on Diynhacks.com

Gustave Flaubert said it best back in 1856. “Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers.” We put a lot of pressure on celebrities to fit into special, perfect molds we create for them. We expect famous figures to be untouchable, immaculate, and always “on.” But as much as we may idolize celebrities, they are simply humans like us. Frankly, some of them are complete jerks! Reddit users recently shared some of their most memorable celebrity encounters on an r/AskReddit thread. Many of these encounters changed people’s perception of a certain celebrity or simply reaffirmed their love for them. As you read through these stories, remember that encounters with celebs are a mixed bag. Some of them are lovely humans, and others are unbelievably rude.

Prince

This encounter wasn’t with Prince himself but with Prince’s manager. The OP’s grandfather owned an electronics store back in the day, and he would often rent out concert equipment for local shows. One day the store was really busy, and this guy walks in, passes everyone in line, and goes straight up to the OP’s grandpa at the front desk. 

The guy demands help immediately because he’s Prince’s manager; he was probably used to getting special treatment. But the OP’s grandpa had none of it. He calmly explained that this “VIP” manager could get in line and wait like everyone else. When the manager tried to name-drop Prince again, OP’s grandpa was a boss and replied, “I don’t care who Prince is, I’m the king.” Boom. 

Bill Murray

This story about Bill Murray does not pass standards in our post-pandemic climate, but remember that it happened decades ago. This person shared that she met Bill Murray when she was a toddler at a baseball game. He was apparently at the stadium conducting press, getting up to some Bill Murray-esque shenanigans.  

Out of nowhere, Bill stopped walking and said hi to the OP’s mother and her. In a weird turn of events, he proceeds to pop the pacifier out of toddler-OP’s mouth and stick it in his mouth! Indignant that anyone would dare steal her beloved pacifier, toddler-OP grabbed it out of Bill’s mouth and stuck it back in her own, where it belonged! That’s one heck of a story.

Adam West

Here we have our first negative celebrity encounter on the list, and some people might be disappointed with his identity. If you are a classic TV or superhero fan, you’ve probably heard of Adam West. He played Batman in the 1960s and toured the comic and horror convention circuits in his later life. Unfortunately, he was known to be very rude and flippant toward fans. 

This person experienced Adam West’s poor manners firsthand when he was at a horror convention many years ago. He politely held open a door for Adam and wanted to say something because he was a fan. In response, Adam turned around, rolled his eyes, and said, “Whatever.” Wow. Our storyteller didn’t back down and retorted by calling Adam a prick to his face. Needless to say, he was no longer a fan after that encounter. 

Beyonce

This celebrity encounter must be a joke because it seems way too good to be true. This person alleges that they were eating at an outdoor cafe in LA, minding their own business. All of a sudden, the queen, the icon, the legend Beyoncé walks straight up to them and asks if they’ve seen her lost cell phone. 

The OP supposedly responded by saying, “If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it.” First off, we highly doubt any mere mortal can say that to Beyoncé and live to tell the tale. Secondly, our queen bee probably has a personal assistant for every task, including searching for a lost cell phone. We can neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of this story, but it would be pretty cool if it were true.