On a good day, major celebrities have something of a symbiotic relationship with their fans. You can see this when excited fans get to meet their fans in real life. The fans are usually jazzed by the interaction, and the celebs understand it’s important to be nice to the fans who helped make them famous.
But things don’t always work out that way. Sometimes, fans get face time with their favorite celebs only to learn that the celebrities are insanely rude. Which celebs are the worst offenders, and how did we discover just how rude they are? Keep reading to learn the answers!
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Like many celebs, Cuba Gooding Jr. often has fans come up to him and ask for a picture. But things went south real quickly when photo-hunting fans approached the actor while he was dining at a New Orleans restaurant. Reportedly, he began cursing at the fans, and the incident ended with the actor actually having a warrant out for his arrest!
Sean Penn
We don’t know a lot about Sean Penn’s personality, but one thing is for sure: the man really hates fans taking pictures of him with their phones. On one memorable occasion, Penn grabbed a fan’s cell phone while they were in the hotel lobby, smashed it into the ground, and angrily asked “do we look like f*** zoo animals?”
Rihanna
Most of these rude encounters happen face-to-face, but Rihanna actually beefed with one of her biggest fans online. After a 16-year-old fan was inspired by the singer to create a bat-winged pantsuit as a prom outfit, Rihanna ended up posting the pics online and making fun of them. Honestly, Rihanna…that’s just low!
Lea Michele
These days, Hailee Steinfeld is a major star in her own right, especially after appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But she was simply a gushing fan when she met Glee star Lea Michele and asked for an autograph. Michelle allegedly ignored the young fan, which is something Steinfeld ended up dwelling on for a long, long time.
Jared Leto
You know those online quizzes that ask how well you really know your favorite songs? We’re guessing Jared Leto is a big fan because one time, when he was singing in Brazil, he ended up flipping a fan off. The reason? Allegedly, it was simply because the fan didn’t know all the lyrics to Leto’s song!
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe is a very gifted actor, but we get the impression he isn’t very fun at parties. On one occasion, he was playing a song on a television show when the fans began to clap along. Annoyed at their apparent lack of rhythm, the movie star told the audience if they couldn’t clap on time, then they simply shouldn’t clap at all.
Kanye West
Given Kanye West’s very public descent into antisemitism, it’s maybe not that surprising that he’s known to be rude to fans. One infamous incident was partially caught on camera, showing Kanye screaming while hovering over a fan. Allegedly, the singer struck the man down after this fan asked for an autograph (maybe this is that “school of hard knocks” Kanye sang about).
James Corden
James Corden is famous for being a funnyman and late-night host that wins people over, but that doesn’t always happen when the cameras aren’t rolling. The most recent incident involves the Balthazar restaurant in New York, where the owner ended up banning Corden from coming back after the celeb was reportedly rude to the wait staff and kept throwing what could only be called tantrums. Corden and the owner eventually reconciled, but it’s mind-blowing to imagine a celebrity acting like this in public.
Justin Beiber
One of Justin Beiber’s craziest moments of being rude to fans is one that he and his lawyer spent no time disputing. Originally, some fans claimed that Beiber went to his hotel balcony and began spitting on them. Beiber and his lawyer claim he didn’t spin on anyone and that there were no fans down there, leaving us to wonder just what the hell Beibs is doing in this photo.
Christian Bale
Movie buffs may remember the infamous incident where Christian Bale began screaming at the crew during the filming of Terminator: Salvation, but it turns out he is rude off-set, too. According to his former publicist, Bale has a reputation for angrily lecturing fans he thinks are rude until they break down in tears in front of him!
Bad Bunny
Some of these wild celeb interactions with fans leave people wondering exactly who to root for. For example, musician Bad Bunny once had a fan get in his face while he was simply walking in the Dominican Republic, and she was on a one-woman mission to get a selfie with him. It didn’t take long for Bad Bunny to grab her phone and throw it into the water, and after he tweeted about how someone getting in his face with a phone was a sign of disrespect, some fans couldn’t help but agree that they would have done the same thing!
Christina Aguilera
As it turns out, many celebs are fans of other celebs, and being mutually famous doesn’t mean one person won’t be rude to another. For example, actor Valerie Bertinelli was excited to meet singer Christina Aguilera for the first time. When Bertinelli praised Aguilera for her awesome singing voice, the musician allegedly said “yeah, whatever” rather than properly acknowledging the compliment.
Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson has been in many movies with legions of fans, but none have been more influential than Twilight. However, he seemed taken aback by the number of Twilight fans discussing the movies and books online, and once publicly grouched about these fans having nothing better to do but sit on the computer all day and dish about their favorite franchise.