Fan encounters or interactions with celebrities aren’t always pleasant. It can result in awkward or embarrassing reactions. It’s easy to get excited and nervous when meeting your idol in person. After all, it’s usually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and fans want to make the best of it.
Having said that, some people can forget that celebrities are humans too. They aren’t objects. We’ve seen plenty of occasions where fans would cross the line when it comes to celebrity interaction. Here are just 10 examples over the past few years.
Tom Holland, Anthony Mackie, and Sebastian Stan dealing with toxic fans from ACE Comic-Con
ACE Comic-Con was an event held in Seattle, Washington featuring Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, and Tom Holland. The three MCU actors were in a panel together on the second day of the comic convention when it was time for a Q&A session with the fans. Before that was a casual banter between the three cast members.
However, the Q&A session was filled with toxicity as fans were being rude to the Marvel stars. The most notorious part was how Anthony Mackie got constantly shaded by Holland’s fangirls and their act of favouritism towards the British actor. Luckily, the Falcon star clapped back at them with great comebacks to keep them silent.
Will Smith slapping a Ukrainian reporter who kissed him
“Men In Black” actor Will Smith was not having it at the Moscow premiere of the third entry of the franchise. The star was met with an awkward exchange with a reporter who allegedly tried to peck him on the lips while Smith walked down the red carpet. The controversial Ukrainian reporter Vitalii Sediuk was known to pull pranks or stunts on celebrities. He stated that he was Smith’s biggest fan and wanted a hug, but then pulled the actor’s face close for a kiss.
Smith angrily said, “Come on man, what the hell is your problem, buddy?”. The actor said this as he slapped Serdiuk’s face lightly and then moved on somewhere else. Smith also mentioned to the journalists and his fans that Serdiuk was lucky that he wasn’t punched by the actor. He then savagely stated, “Oh, I said that on camera! It’s all good”.
GFRIEND’s Yerin catching someone with a hidden camera
On 31st March of 2017, GFRIEND (여자친구) held a fan sign event in Seoul, South Korea, and was met with a creepy incident with a fan. The girls were clearly in a good mood. But then some of the girls spotted a fan wearing glasses with a tiny hidden camera installed on them.
One of the members, Yuju (유주) was first to notice it, but then ignored it and possibly told Sowon (소원) and SinB (신비) about it. But Yerin (예린) took the next step and asked the fan to take his specs off to examine them. The Korean idol noticed a small camera on the glasses, leaving her uneasy. When the fan left, she informed the manager about the fan secretly filming them. This incident was very controversial as spy cams were a common thing in South Korea, with men secretly filming women without their consent.
Miley Cyrus dealing with pushy fans in Costa Rica
On a Costa Rican TV station, a video was filmed showing Miley Cyrus getting asked by fans wanting a photo and autograph from the American artist. This all happened when Cyrus was on her way to a helicopter during a vacation with Liam Hemsworth. She obviously wanted privacy when someone called her an “a**hole”. The celebrity then turned around and responded, “What the f*ck? Are you serious?”.
Cyrus then tweeted about the whole incident by stating, “Been trying not to tweet & just enjoy the holidays but just to clear something up I would NEVER swear to a fan. When someone yells something so rude making me look like an “a**hole” in front of fans who I am more than happy to take a picture with, I can’t tolerate that kind of rudeness”. The former Disney star had multiple run-ins with paparazzi in the past, but this was surely one of her most memorable and savage clap-backs to misbehaved fans.
Adele asking a fan to stop filming her during a live show performance
Adele certainly has a strict policy for fans attending her concert. The British singer clearly wished for no recording while she sings on stage and that everyone watches her instead. And no, not with your camera lens, but with your eyes.
In 2016, the 32-year-old artist was seen in a video singling out a woman at a concert. She requested to her fan, “Could you stop filming me with that video camera? Because I’m really here in real life, you can enjoy it in real life rather than through your camera”. She continued, “This isn’t a DVD, this is a real show”. Honestly though, recording while you’re at a live performance seems like a waste of time and Adele clearly shares that same sentiment.
SEVENTEEN and the rude fangirl
Back in 2015, a video circulated showing a very rude fan throwing a tantrum with the K-Pop group SEVENTEEN (세븐틴). The fan in question appears to be a girl in a pink coat hurling albums at the members before leaving when an employee went to check what happened.
It’s sad to see how shocked the members were by the look on their faces. They don’t why it happened nor they knew how to handle the situation. Some people have allegedly pointed out the girl taking an album from Seungkwan (승관) and threw it at Joshua (승관), saying she’s “done with him. Looks like she had beef with the American-Korean K-Pop idol. To this day, we don’t know why.
Justin Bieber gets almost hit by a thrown water bottle
Popular Canadian singer Justin Bieber was performing at the Summerburst Festival in Stockholm, Sweden in 2017. At one point, a water bottle was seen thrown at the 26-year-old singer after he told the audience that he refused to sing Despacito.
Luckily, he dodged the flying bottle that almost hit his head. The Canadian heartthrob said to his audience, “I can’t do Despacito, I don’t even know it”. Bieber was clearly calm about the situation, pleading with his audience to not throw things at him.
Rami Malek telling one of his fans off
“Bohemian Rhapsody” star Rami Malek wasn’t having it with one of his fans. The fan named Xan Black wanted a selfie with Malek but then asked the actor to give her friend a shoutout which he declined. It was indeed a cringe-inducing moment not just for the fan, but for anyone else witnessing the situation.
Fans were quick enough to criticise the Freddie Mercury actor for being selfish, but Malek clearly doesn’t care. He clarified that he’s perfectly fine with engaging with fans, but wishes for them to be clear about what they want. Malek explained, “I just want to be aware of what people are doing at the moment. When someone films you automatically, it’s a bit intrusive”.
Jackson Wang kneels and begs fans to leave him alone
It was a very difficult moment for GOT7’s (갓세븐) Jackson Wang (왕잭슨) when the K-Pop idol was mobbed by fans at the Beijing International airport. He was forced to kneel down and beg for his fans to leave him be.
Sasaengs are clearly not just a Korean thing, but it does happen internationally as well. Jackson at that time was garnering a lot of attention worldwide. An incident such as this was bound to occur at one point, even though most of us wished it didn’t. For the love of God, give these idols their personal space.
Tzuyu insulted and asked to shut up by rude fans at a fan meeting
During a fan sign event in 2017, female K-Pop group TWICE (트와이스) was wishing their farewells to their fans. However, when it was Tzuyu’s (쯔위) (子瑜) turn to speak, fans shouted at the Taiwanese idol, “Just don’t say it!”. One of them even asked Tzuyu to shut her mouth and close it.
Feeling embarrassed, she then asked Jeongyeon (정연) to speak instead. Netizens were furious with the fan for making an unnecessary and rude remark towards the idol. The fan then apologised and acknowledged his wrongdoing. Apparently, he blurted out the word just because the fan sign was going to end and didn’t want to wish goodbye to the idols. Might be a sketchy apology, but at least he wasn’t silent about it.
