Have you had a bizarre/sexual run-in with a celebrity?

January 20, 2005 12:56 AM

I was recently in LA and had a strange run in with a well (-enough) known actor. I'm a native Californian and I don't consider myself too concerned with the goings-on of Hollywood, but this was just weird. The incident was so out there that I have to ask: Has anyone else had a bizzare run in with a celebrity? And when you met them/were run over by them/were propositioned for sex by them, were you starstruck at all, even if you don't consider yourself that kind of person (if you obliged them for sex, feel free to share that too)?
posted by liverbisque to Human Relations (61 answers total)

The other day I ran into this AskMe thread, although it didn't focus on the bizarre/sex angle.
posted by gluechunk at 1:13 AM on January 20, 2005

My girlfriend has had this experience several times, here in the Midwest no less. She is neither starstruck nor particularly flattered.
posted by DuoJet at 1:34 AM on January 20, 2005

Response by poster: whoa, sorry about missing that previous post, apologies! Though do comment if you have anything to do with the whole sex slant...
posted by liverbisque at 1:39 AM on January 20, 2005

You might want to spill your own experience before we all weigh in with ours...
posted by i_cola at 1:40 AM on January 20, 2005

Yeah Liverbisque, are you being coy or are you boasting? Come on, what did the celeb want of you? And who the hell was it? ;)
posted by skylar at 1:43 AM on January 20, 2005

yeah, and yeah, because he's hot in a bad-boy way, and I won't tell you who he is, because his girlfriend is pissed off enough with me already.
posted by dabitch at 1:47 AM on January 20, 2005

IT WAS JARED LETO
posted by LimePi at 1:55 AM on January 20, 2005

Response by poster: hah, found the lj you did (LimePi) !
posted by liverbisque at 1:57 AM on January 20, 2005

u.n. owen has vast encounters with celebrities and is quite forthcoming with the information.
posted by angry modem at 1:59 AM on January 20, 2005

I asked Kate Winslet out in the Astor Place Starbucks in 1997. I received a giggle for my effort.
posted by Captaintripps at 1:59 AM on January 20, 2005

Response by poster: The story: some random day in LA, walking down the street with my friend, stopped by Jared Leto, chatted up sort of half-heartedly and then asked for my number. I complied (whilst struggling to hold in girlish laughter), and then actually got a couple of calls from him. Completely weird... but yeah (if its possible) he looks even better in person.
posted by liverbisque at 2:09 AM on January 20, 2005

My wife tells me she was once propositioned by John Oates (of Hall & Oates): she was not flattered, & declined.
posted by misteraitch at 2:22 AM on January 20, 2005

I would loooove to see this posted at SomethingAwful. Also, I hope you'll make him wear a condom.
posted by DuoJet at 2:37 AM on January 20, 2005

liverbisque, go out with the man, maybe he's really nice as well as gorgeous. :)

Fame-anecdote that I can tell: my Mother caught the eye of Rod Stewart (she is the typical blonde babe he likes, but matches his age exactly) in the late seventies at an airport bar. My older brother tried to keep me away from them as Rod proceeded to chat mum up, as he was a huge fan and just wanted to see if mom could get Rods number, so he tells me: "Whatever you do, do not call Mom "Mom" now. Ok?" I ruin the whole thing by jabbering "Mommie why can't I call you mommie, mommie? Mooom? Whyyyy? Mooom?". Ces't la vie.
posted by dabitch at 3:22 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

ps - poor Jared. The first rule of celebrity dating = be discreet. I mean, maybe he just fancies to hang out with a girl who is not a celeb and rooted in the real world [tm], he took a shine to you, took a risk and here you are, spilling it on the net like all the paparazzi. ;)
posted by dabitch at 3:25 AM on January 20, 2005

When my mother was in her late teens, she had a part-time job at a rental car counter in Boston's Logan Airport. One afternoon, Chuck Berry stopped by to rent a car, and he asked my mom if she'd like to get a drink after her shift. She agreed, they got the drink, and then he took her to his hotel room and urinated in her mouth.
posted by Mayor Curley at 4:38 AM on January 20, 2005 [3 favorites]

My ex-ex-ex (etc.) was once propositioned by Stephen Dorff while walking down the street in Boston.

I wouldn't have minded so much, except I was with her at the time, and well.. things felt kind of awkward.
posted by purephase at 4:43 AM on January 20, 2005

Er, you might want to read the Leto-related posts starting here (he's referred to in code as "The Douche"). Not sure this is an unusual event.
posted by yerfatma at 4:54 AM on January 20, 2005

I once had a date with a recording technician who told me that Ashley MacIsaac once offered him $100 to urinate on him (Ashley) while he (Ashley) masturbated.

My date told me he said no, but that for $1000 he might have considered it.
posted by orange swan at 4:58 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

A girl I knew in college met Christopher Walken in a bar. She was 19, and (completely objectively) hot as hell. Apparently he talked about history with her the whole time. Didn't hit on her once. I don't know why, but afterwards I've had a profound respect for the man.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:23 AM on January 20, 2005 [3 favorites]

Bill Blass--if he counts (i was 18, and it was an ewwww moment), and another i won't name.
posted by amberglow at 5:39 AM on January 20, 2005

Howard Rollins qualifies as my "weirdest celebrity encounter" to date. Remember him? He played played Mr. Tibbs in that awful TV version of "In The Heat of the Night". The series was filmed in a town outside of Atlanta. Rollins sat down next to me at a Tina Turner concert and prior to being escorted out by security he proceeded to tell me in explicit detail all the things he wanted to do to Tina Turner which only lead to all the things he wanted to do to me. He was wearing a disguise that consisted of an oversized bushy afro wig and a long trench coat which he was wearing in 90 degree weather. Naturally this only drew more attention to him. He was doped up, liquored up, loud, angry, obnoxious, sweaty, and sad. He truly was pitiful. He died about a year later.
posted by oh posey at 6:03 AM on January 20, 2005

amberglow - with enough drinks, Danny Bonaduce wil hit on anyone.
posted by Smart Dalek at 6:30 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

I hate to do this, C_D, but... An ex's sister was a CW fan, and had written to him often. When visiting her home city, (I'll keep this vague), he called her and invited her to visit him in his hotel room. Not a good idea I know, but he was her hero and she was a starstruck 19 year-old. He proceeded to get her extremely stoned and made a very unpleasant pass at her, and was very, er, reluctant to believe her refusal. This was over 20 years ago, but I still have profound disrespect for the man.
posted by punilux at 6:39 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

I once spent some pleasant moments squished between Sarah McLachlan and a comfy sofa.

I was pushed.
posted by Floydd at 7:01 AM on January 20, 2005

Captaintripps- She's mine! Mine, I tell ya! You'll have to get in line behind me!

I've noted it before, even in the other thread, but somehow I never tire of saying it- Emo Philips hit on my girlfriend.
posted by mkultra at 7:09 AM on January 20, 2005

Mayor Curley made me laugh out out and urinate myself.

I rode an elevator with Stephen Tyler in a hospital and judging by the floor he got off on he was in for a very uncomfortable proceedure.
posted by bondcliff at 7:23 AM on January 20, 2005

Took Steve Buscemi's ticket at a movie theatre.
Waited on Sigorny Weaver at a gourmet food store.
posted by brevator at 7:31 AM on January 20, 2005

Supposedly, Frank from Murphy Brown once proposistioned the mother of one of my friends with the words "Ever have sex in an elevator?" (they were in an elevator.)

And now that you've heard this story 5th-hand, you can continue to spread the news.
posted by sonofsamiam at 7:59 AM on January 20, 2005

Bono offered me a brownie backstage, the first time I won a VH1 Music Award. I didn't offer to go down on him, and he didn't ask.

My brother has seen Roger Ebert three times. The first time, he walked up to Ebert and said, simply, "spoon," flashing a spoon at him, and then walked off. Two years later, having planned things out, he approached him and said "fork," this time presenting a fork. Two years after that, he approached him, reached into his pocket, opened his mouth, and then closed his mouth and walked off.
posted by waldo at 8:01 AM on January 20, 2005 [4 favorites]

My mom went out with Warren Beatty when she was in college. She thought he was boring.

I have met a bunch of musicians, but the ones that stand out in my mind are John Lee Hooker (who was pretty drunk, but a nice drunk), Michael Hedges (who took the time to look over the autographs on my guitar and treated the instrument as if it was made of glass), Steve Vai (who was really energetic and sounded honestly interested in our conversation), Laurie Anderson (who was flabbergasted that I had made an electronic violin she owned), Maurice Andre (very nice man), and Dizzy Gillespie (kind of a prick).
As for others, Douglas Adams stands out. He did a presentation at Oberlin and a bunch of students invited him out for pizza and beer. It was terrific.
posted by plinth at 8:06 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

In the early seventies, RFK Jr. drove a jeep into my front yard, almost hitting me and my brother. I was only a few years old.

My mother worked on one of George Wallace's presidential campaigns. He hit on her. Everyone, altogether now: ewwww.

Something about my family and politicos; don't know what it is. In the late seventies, we had one of the princes of Saudi Arabia living just up the street. (He was in town to attend the Maxwell AFB Air War College). And until just this moment, when I googled the appropriate terms, I didn't know which prince it was: Bandar, the current Saudi ambassador to the US and, if I'm not mistaken, the public face of SA's post 9/11 damage control efforts. Anyway, my brother, who was maybe nine years old, breached the estate's security (okay, he used a tree trimmer thingy to cut through the wire fence) and met the prince, who was out on the tennis court.

John Updike came to one of my undergrad classes to give a little lecture and do some Q&A. I asked him how seriously he took his critics. With reviewers, he explained, he was somewhat concerned that they like his stuff. But literary critics... "Well," he said, looking over his shoulder at my Yale educated, Hemingway-and-Lawrence-criticism-writing professor, "they have to make a living." Then, in his next novel, he made a not-very-complementary reference to my university.

A few days before the election, I heard (and saw) Ralph Nader speak. Asked him whether he thought, given George Soros's efforts and the noticeable slack the media have been cutting some of the leftier elements, corporate America might have some misgivings about the war. He thought probably not, given the oil they hoped to reap from the deal.

My last celebrity is, paradoxically, someone you probably haven't heard of. She's an actress and she gets regular gigs, but her only lead role so far was in a sitcom that lasted half a season. I knew her a while back when she was still basically a teenager. I worked at a video store for a number of years and she used to hang around a lot. She was obsessed with films. She watched more of them and knew more about them and just flat out loved them more than anyone I've met before or since. She'd find a shelf of movies that interested her, sit down on the floor in front of it, and read the covers one at a time. People would stare at her, but she either didn't notice or didn't care.

One time, she rented a movie called The Reflecting Skin and was both freaked out and perplexed by it. She kept after me to watch it so that I could tell her "what it means." Eventually, I did watch it (and was very glad I did. One of the best films ever made.) and I remember she caught me at on my way out of the the store one day, like the day before Thanksgiving. I'd worked too long without eating so my blood sugar was dropping and my head was pounding, I was sick on top of that, and the place was a nightmare. I had my hand on the door when she walked in. And... I don't know. It's just that she was so intensely interested in this movie; like trying to figure it out kept her up at night. For some reason, obsessions like that make me feel better about being a member of the human race. So despite being half dead, I stopped and told her what I got out of the movie (sort of a Heart of Darkness/"the enemy is us" concept). She listened intently to every word. Still one of my fondest memories from that job.

A year or two later, after she'd gone to Hollywood and gotten some gigs, she came home for xmas and showed up at the video store with a boyfriend in tow. He seemed really pissed off to be there. She told me about a recurring role she now had on a show. But she immediately got embarrassed and uncomfortable because she felt like it came off as, "wow, look at me, I'm on TV," and apologized. I tried to reassure her that I didn't take it that way and that I was looking forward to catching the show. And I meant it. But it really disturbed me that before she'd seemed so incredibly at one with her film geekery, and now she seemed really uncomfortable with herself.

It's now five or six years later and I'm guessing she's made her peace with the entertainment industry. At least, I hope she has.
posted by Clay201 at 8:27 AM on January 20, 2005

Plinth: I am insanely jealous right this very moment.
posted by hughbot at 8:35 AM on January 20, 2005

My mother-in-law was hit on by Chazz [redacted]. And a friend of mine once snuck on to the set of a movie with [mediocre black comedian] to grab some catering treats. He approached her, thinking she was one of the crew, and outright asked for a very specific favor. That must work at least some of the time for all these celebs to be so bold about it...

This however is my favorite celebrity story (not mine).
posted by Gortuk at 8:47 AM on January 20, 2005

Jared Leto's band was about to play at a local club, but after getting on stage and discovering that his vocal fx unit was broken, he yelled at somebody and cancelled the show. He seemed like a real twerp.
posted by hartsell at 8:55 AM on January 20, 2005

I met Dave Matthews in '95 at a little club he played in Portland, OR. One of the guys with us had been in his fan club for years and he spent a good 10 minutes chatting with us while some groupy chick stood next to us begging for him to come "party" with her. He totally ignored her - it was awesome.

Once I went to see Pulp Fiction high and waiting in the concessions line, I turned around and saw Chris Farley breathing on my head. I couldn't bring myself to do anything other than grunt an acknowledgement. He came into the mostly empty theater by himself (he had the Jumbo size popcorn I noted) and he paused in front of his seat and then basically fell backwards into it - like an SNL skit.
posted by brheavy at 9:11 AM on January 20, 2005

I hit on Sarah Brightman once at a benefit we were both performing at.

I didn't know who she was, just that she was quite fetching, could sing pretty good, and we'd had a few minutes of witty banter. She was gracious about it and backed out, and left it to about 800 other people to explain to me who her (then-) husband was.
posted by chicobangs at 9:21 AM on January 20, 2005

Dave Matthews works out at my gym. He's very nice and chats with anybody that talks to him. This being Seattle, that's not too many people.
posted by glyphlet at 9:27 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

John-John Kennedy hit on my then girlfriend repeatedly at a party (they were both Brown grads and it was some kind of alum thing). He was very insistent and became increasingly un-subtle. Meanwhile, I'm clearly with her and getting more and more angry. We had to leave because I was getting close to punching him in the spleen. What was really aggravating was that my then gf wasn't really complaining at all; I think she was not-so-secretly star-struck and flattered. I'm pretty sure she would have done him if I hadn't been there. She was otherwise completely monogamous. It gave me real insight into the mind of the celebrity; they think that the world belongs to them and nobody is willing to tell them otherwise. What an arrogant little twit he was.
posted by TimeFactor at 9:33 AM on January 20, 2005 [2 favorites]

Dan Aykroyd has a serious rep in Kingston, Ontario (his hometown) for cruising the student pubs and asking girls to <ahem> discuss politics <ahem> in his limo. Several of my friends have been had this experience.
posted by krunk at 9:59 AM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

mkultra, you're welcome to Ms. Winslet. It was 8 years ago and she's married.
posted by Captaintripps at 10:24 AM on January 20, 2005

My aunt dated Steven Stills (of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame) when they were first starting out. My dad knew practically all the Shuttle astronauts (one of my most prized possessions is an autographed picture of Michael Smith, pilot of the Challenger. My dad met him a few days before the launch and all he talked about was the problems with the toilets). I know a bunch of old members of the mob.

I hate to do this, C_D, but...

I guess my friend just wasn't his type. Luckily.

Bono offered me a brownie backstage, the first time I won a VH1 Music Award.

You won a VH1 Music Award? Which one? Was it a "special" brownie?

Oh, and Mayor Curley, that was awesome.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:24 AM on January 20, 2005

Just to bring up Jared Leto again -- for those who don't like him, note that Hollywood cast directors don't seem to either:

Panic Room -- burned and disfigured; brains blown out
Fight Club -- beaten to a bloody pulp; permanently disfigured
Requiem for a Dream -- has his arm cut off
American Psycho -- chopped up with an axe.
posted by Aknaton at 11:52 AM on January 20, 2005

I bought a CD from Colin Meloy and told him that I cover his songs a lot. He gave me a temporary tattoo. I'm seeing him again this weekend.

My little brother was working the lighting or somesuch at his high school when Bill Clinton came to speak (this was last year) and got to be introduced to him and shake his hand.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:01 PM on January 20, 2005

Aknaton- I always assumed that was his own choice, actively seeking out roles that play against his "pretty boy" physique.

Mayor Curley- That was a joke, right? Right? Please?
posted by mkultra at 12:01 PM on January 20, 2005

Ages ago, at a filmfest, a girl I was chatting up, offered to fix me up with her friend who was appearing later. I was more interested in her--and was bit crestfallen that she was shutting me down, and still wanted to impress her. So, I said no. She insisted we'd be a great couple. But, when I found out the other girl smoked, and sounded a bit posh for me, I still said no. That night I found out it was Helena Bonham-Carter. Sigh.
posted by Duck_Lips at 12:05 PM on January 20, 2005 [13 favorites]

In the late 1980s I was working as an extra in a film titled Gleaming the Cube (starring Christian Slater). The director needed a skater extra to speak a line (Quick, dial 911!), and he picked out this scrawney kid next to me, who just couldn't get the line right. So he came back and picked me and got the scene in two takes. My acting career was born.

Oh, that scrawny kid was Spike Jonze.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 12:27 PM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

Mayor Curley- That was a joke, right? Right? Please?

I don't know if he was joking, but Mr. Berry is indeed supposed to be into that kind of thing.
posted by pmurray63 at 12:42 PM on January 20, 2005

My wife was walking up a staircase at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. Robin Williams was walking down. As they passed, he grabbed her and, SMACK, kissed her right on the mouth. So, in an indirect way, I've kissed Robin Williams too.
posted by crapples at 1:32 PM on January 20, 2005

Mayor Curley- That was a joke, right? Right? Please?

It was an embellishment. My mother waited on Chuck Berry at the rental counter but he didn't ask her out.

I'm confident that my story as described didn't happen. And more confident that the story wouldn't have been related to me if it did.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:46 PM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

That night I found out it was Helena Bonham-Carter.

D'OH! I'd kindly like to smack you upside the head on behalf of all men everywhere.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:09 PM on January 20, 2005 [1 favorite]

Hardly shocking, but back in the 60s, Ted Kennedy once propositioned my mother (who was quite the looker) in the airport in Denver...
posted by Heminator at 2:09 PM on January 20, 2005

as a teen i pumped gasoline into automobiles driven by alice cooper (rock star), sugar ray leonard (boxer), bil keane (family circus cartoonist) robert mccall (space painting artist), fritz sholder (native american artist), and johnny carson's mom (nice old gal).
posted by RockyChrysler at 2:25 PM on January 20, 2005

Ted Nugent: just stuck to his usual routine because he was doing a book-signing and I was shoving a TV camera in his face. However, his manager was a mullet-headed weasel that didn't want me to interview him.

Mickey Rooney and his (current) wife. She was nice, he was an old prick. They were on a musical tour, but he refused to sing for me. Perhaps you've seen them recently on a life insurance commercial.
posted by MrZero at 3:21 PM on January 20, 2005

RockyChryslers post would me much funnier minus the words "automobiles driven by"
posted by idontlikewords at 3:28 PM on January 20, 2005

I did forget to mention in the other celeb encounters thread that I have shaken Bill Clinton's hand. And, holy crap, when people talk about his charisma, they aren't kidding. The guy really does have it. It's almost surreal.
posted by litlnemo at 6:11 PM on January 20, 2005

This should be fun... :)

When I was three and a half or so, I got bitten by Bob rae's dog (Bob Rae was premier of Ontario for a while, but at the time was just running for election.) My father was working on the campaign, so took me to the office. I bent down and said 'nice doggy' and had to have something like a dozen stitches.

I met Sharon, Lois, & Bram (Canadian children's entertainers) when I was on their show. Eric Nagler, too! They're all absolute dolls.

Meeting DJ Keoki, though... gah. The man wouldn't stop hitting on me until I finally said "Yeah, sorry, but I'm not a DJ whore." This was after about half an hour of shooters after the club closed (I worked there, he came to spin), and me having to continually move to escape his rather more than friendly hands.

Ran into Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood, Greg Proops, and Drew Carey at Pearson airport last year when the ex and I travelled to North Carolina. Holy cow, what a group of incrredibly friendly, nice people. Except Greg Proops... he's rather a dick.

But probably the most surreal is drinking with Mark Holmes at the club he owns here in Toronto. Now that's some strange stuff.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 7:11 PM on January 20, 2005

My (wheelchair bound) mom has had Bill Clinton pat her on the shoulder on over 150 occasions. He went to our church. A very witty fake letter to Miss Manners was penned. It concluded with:

"... should I just spin around and slap him on the ass?"

Another half-inch was added to my mother's FBI file.
posted by blasdelf at 5:30 AM on January 21, 2005 [1 favorite]

I guy I've gamed with off and on went to school with Pamela Anderson (he was a year younger (or older can't remember anymore)). It was so surreal when the playboy spread came out.
posted by Mitheral at 9:46 AM on January 21, 2005

Civil_Dis. I deserve that slap. Every time I hear that Helena H-B has broken up another marriage, I think that I could've been the one.

As to other celebrity trysts. My best friend from college is a minor celeb (appears regularly on a network TV show). Typically strangers (men and women) hit on him brazenly -even if his girlfriend is present.

However, prior to the girlfriend, his celebrity mojo was strong enough to land a blind date with Traci Lords. Yes THAT Traci Lords. Turns out, she was a nice half-Jewish girl who was a great conversationalist. Best thing: reactions of other people. Waiters, the maitre d' and other diners just stared. Alas, there was no second date.
posted by Duck_Lips at 8:12 PM on January 21, 2005

Twice, when I was 7 and 8, I met, dined with, and handed the rented car keys to the disabled woman who played the drums (and possibly composed the whole thing) of the theme to the Cosby Show. The theme where the background is grey, and they're tap dancing and stuff. I think her name was Genelle.

Hellena-Bohnam Carter my ass. It's about the Cos.

I've also met and been propositioned by Chinese celebrities and television personalities, but since my agent for extra work as a dumb white guy has dropped off the map, I'm not meeting any more lately. There was this one actress (no, godess) who almost groped me this summer. At that point I could barely talk about the weather, but thanks to her, I had the motivation to learn how to say yes to getting laid. Then I got a girlfriend who speaks perfect English. Meh. I still ate with someone who composed music for Cosby.
posted by saysthis at 8:59 AM on January 24, 2005