Building on the "Dell Kid" thread, let me ask if any of you have had bad experiences with celebrities. Here's mine involving Joe Theismann-- A few years ago, my wife and I are flying into DC-Dulles. We get off the plane, get our luggage, and make our way to the rental company's spot for van pickups. There's 5 or 6 other folks waiting at the clearly marked sign, so we sidle up to the area. A few minutes later, Joe Theismann comes out of the terminal in a full length fur coat with about 5 big bags. He looks at us in disgust and moves about 50 feet down the road in the direction the van will be approaching. The van comes down the road and Joe tries to wave him down. The van doesn't stop for Joe and proceeds to where we're waiting. As we're getting on, Joe comes running down to the van all red-faced. He pushes his way past an elderly lady and jumps in the driver's face screaming obscenities at the very elderly van driver. The jist of his conversation was "Didn't you see me waiting? Don't you know who I am? You're an idiot!" When the driver is finally speaks, he says, "I'm sorry sir, but I'm only allowed to stop at my marked space." This throws Joe into another tantrum, with the basic message being: "Backup so I can get my bags you loser." The driver, though intimidated is starting to get pissed off and finally answers, "No, I can't back up here because I'm not allowed to do that and it would be unsafe with all the traffic." Joe was so out of control, several of us thought things might turn violent. He was definitely in this old guy's face and getting redder by the minute. I made eye contact with another big guy and we nodded about doing something should it get any worse, though neither one of us is excited about the possibility due to the frenzy Joe was in (It seemed like the PCP power trips cops talk about). About this time, Joe senses that the rest of us are not on his side and he finally relents and goes to get his bags. The sight of Joe carrying about five bags and running back toward the rental car van with a reddened face and incredibly pissed off look on his face was priceless. He gets on and essentially throws everyone else's bags out of the way so he can put his crap in the best spots. He continues to curse and mutter to himself during the whole trip. By the time we make it to the rental offices, he seems to have calmed down a bit, but the first thing I do is go and talk to the manager and relay the whole episode so that if Joe complains, maybe the old driver won't get chewed out. Two things stand out about this. One is the absolute rage Joe displayed. The last time I saw something like that was in high school. The fact that it was directed at an elderly man who was just doing his job made it more egregious. Second, what the hell is Joe Theismann doing going through a budget rental car agency. Doesn't he have people? Bottom line: Joe Theismann is a total jerk and I can't stand watching him on TV.
Seems like Joe Theismann really snapped at that van driver. He must have really been heartbroken. Everyone there seemed to have a leg up on the situation... I tell you, If I had been there, I would have cracked up.
I got the "Shaq treatment" from Darryl Hannah of the Spurs at a charity game back in '98... Like I wanted her autograph anyway...
I once saw Shaq coming out a terminal at Minneapolis/St Paul Airport, I think I was 14 years old, I was kind of in shock, He had on the hugest slippers I had ever seen. I think Glen Rice and maybe Tyronn Lue were there too, Rice was pretty tall but he looked normal next to Shaq. The guy next to me said "Wow he's a big guy ain't he". Its not really a bad celebrity experience but I wished I would have had the guts to just say "Whats up" or something instead of standing there dumbfounded. He probably would have blown me off anyways, Lakers suck.
Darryl Hannah played for the Spurs? Huh. I thought "The Spurs are a bunch of b****es" was a metaphorical statement.
I've never had a celebrity be rude to me or anything, but I do think that lady from MASH (Loretta Switt, from the TV series) was perhaps a little disappointed that my Dad didn't recognize her when we saw her in New York walking a big dog. My Dad saw the Dog and approached. She stops, apparently thinking a fan is approaching, perhaps to ask for an autograph. Upon reaching Ms. Switt, Dad leans down and starts petting the dog and says "Great dog". He then walks away. After we got about half a block away, we asked Dad if he knew who that was. He had no clue. He said he didn't even look at the woman. I got the feeling that Ms. Switt was under the impression she was about to have an encounter with a fan of hers, instead her dog got a fan encounter of sorts. Not exactly a funny story, but a story nonetheless.
rimrocker: I guess it was safe to say that no one asked for Joey T's autograph! That would have been hilarious if someone had done that or if they had told Theismann to shut up or they would "Lawrence Taylor" him.
Let's just say I know someone who was working the hospital the night Richard Gere had you know what pulled out of you know where. It's all freaking true. Talk about a bad celebrity experience. I've written about that before. However, he is a nice guy. My mother met him too, strangely enough, when his mother was sick in Syracuse. She too is a nurse, and Richard was very nice and stayed by her bedside the whole time. I Passed by Brandon from 90210 last year on Venice beach. The dude was buff too. Seemed cool. My cousin lives right next to the Who want's to mary a Millionaire woman. She is supposedly real nice. My cousin also is best friends with the Stamos family. They are both pretty cool, but at the time, John couldn't get Rebecca pregnant. Perhaps that has changed. My Sister hung out with Aerosmith in G-town. She said the drummer was an ass, but that everyone else was cool to her. Even buying her stuff.
Somewhere around '93, the Black Crowes played in Houston and there was a big scuffle with security -- the Crowes thought the guards were being overzealous and the show was cut short. To make it up to Houston fans, the Crowes came back later that year and played a much more relaxed show at the Sam Houston Coleseum. Members of the media were invited backstage before the show for a small press conference. At the time I was the entertainment editor of the UH paper, so I was invited. The band came into the room. Chris (the lead singer) looked scary as hell. He had white face makeup, black lipstick and a giant top hat. After a few other people asked questions, I took a turn and asked about the earlier show. I mentioned that security guards had said they were just doing their jobs. Well, Chris freaked out on me and started saying how the guards were liars. He asked if I was on their side and then began comparing them to Nazis. Ummmmm....okay..... Long story short, Chris was a nut job, but Mr. JB and I stayed for the show and had a great time anyway.
Yeah kind of like his leg snapped when Lawrence Taylor sacked him in New York. The guy is an egotistical jerk who thinks he is the best QB to ever play the game of football.
Just another urban legend. According to snopes.com: Like similar legends such as The Promiscuous Rock Star , this tale has been applied to various public figures who are known or believed to be homosexual, and it has stuck with one in particular: Richard Gere. Although the legend homed in on various targets when it first appeared (including a Philadelphia newscaster), it has clung tenaciously to Mr. Gere's name since at least the mid-1980s. Rumors that he had an emergency "gerbilectomy" at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in California have spread far and wide, and countless doctors and nurses claim to have participated in, been on hand during, or heard from a reliable colleague about, the procedure. (Cedars-Sinai is apparently the best-staffed hospital in the world, since several hundred different doctors and nurses were reportedly on duty at the time Mr. Gere was allegedly brought in for treatment.) The rumor's spread was aided by an anonymous prankster who, not long after the film Pretty Woman led to a tremendous increase in Gere's popularity, flooded fax machines in Hollywood with a phony "press release" purportedly issued by the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, claiming that Gere had "abused" a gerbil. But, as a reporter from The National Enquirer found when he attempted to track down the gerbil story, there were no facts to be had.
My former mother-in-law swore that her friend's son got his kidneys stolen in New York. She also swore that she saw JFK get shot on live TV in 1963.
So, has anybody else received thier $1000 after forwarding that email by Bill Gates? I'm still waiting for mine...
How about the Tony Roma coupon...that's the one I've been hit with. For the record, those emails, as well as any other chain mail letters go straight to the trash folder.
I really enjoyed meeting Hakeem and getting his sig., very pleasant, but when I worked at the airport, I have to say meeting Robert Horry was most unpleasant, he gave me that "look" just from me saying hello...Hell with him... Another cool encounter comes to mind, before he got bigtime, Luis Gonzales was walking through, and I just busted a "Hey Gonz", as if I knew him or something and he smiled, said: "Hey, How's it going?", as if he knew me...real cool... Other cool encounters: David Robinson...though he still wanted to be left alone (I could tell...wrote a biblical ref. under his sig..) George Foreman...real nice guy. Other "bad" ones: Mario Elie...he signed, but looked pissed for some reason... Dikembe Mutombo Alonzo Mourning...not me, but a co-worker said he was just plain "mean"...(I didn't actually meet Zo..)
I met Sam Cassell at Randals a few years back and he was pretty nice and I met Mario Elie at K-Mart and he was pretty cool too.
More good ones than bad. Stood right next to Arnold at Planet Hollywood Houston a few years ago. Even at 14 years old (I think) I was as tall if not taller than him! Met Hakeem of course, everybody's met him. He reeks of class. Seriously, something about him says, "I'm wealthy." Shara Fryer, I guess she's a celeb, is a good friend of our family's. Darren from the Hunger is a good personal friend of my best friend's, he's a cool guy, really funny. Now he's met some cool people. Now for the bad ones, or the bad one I should say. I was at a Rockets game earlier this season, I got there early so I could watch shootaround. Saw Murph, said "Wassup Mista Murphy!" Though no one else was in the building, he just glared at me, didn't say anything, not even a smile. Yarrhhh!
i met kenny thomas once in chicago i was like 'hey kenny he was like' whats up' and then he signed an autograph and left. a bad one was juwan howard. he seemed nice we were all kinda standing there waiting for autographs (me, my buddy and about 15 other people) and he signs about ten peoples and then the last five people (including me adn my friend) he just ignores and walks away. what an ahole.
