Many celebrities owe their success to the fans, but that doesn’t always mean they’re gracious to the people responsible for their stardom. There’s a reason famous folks have a reputation for diva behavior, and the following celebrities are great examples. Below, we look at 12 celebrities who are reportedly rude in real life.
12 Adam Levine
The Maroon 5 frontman isn’t always gracious to his fans, it seems. Adam was once accused of calling a fan ugly and refusing to sign an autograph.
His image was further tarnished when he gave an interview to Cosmopolitan making excuses for why men cheat. The comments later resurfaced after Adam was exposed for cheating on his pregnant wife in 2022.
11 Justin Bieber
Justin is another singer who’s not always kind towards fans. He’s been accused of refusing to sign autographs and making fans of fans’ artwork. Justin’s other questionable behavior includes egging a neighbor's house and getting arrested for assault after attacking a driver who was involved in a car accident with him. Yikes.
10 Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen was one of the most famous names in daytime television for years. But rumors began circulating in 2020 that she isn’t as nice as she appears. Buzzfeed released a scathing piece featuring multiple anonymous employees who accused her of creating a toxic workplace. She was also been accused of being rude to her guests, including famous ones.
An investigation was launched into her show, which officially ended in May 2022.
9 Rihanna
Rihanna showed off her cruel side in 2016 when she cyberbullied a 16-year-old girl who created a pantsuit inspired by a dress RiRi had worn. The singer retweeted a side-by-side comparison using the hashtag #PromBat, which encouraged other account to poke fun at the teen. The girl later gave an interview to Fox Baltimore, saying, “I was very offended. Why throw shade on it when you had on the exact same thing. The poses was different but the outfit wasn’t. She don’t love her fans like she says she does.”
She added, “Hopefully, now that she is about to become a mum herself, Rihanna is a little less trigger-happy on Twitter.”
8 Ariana Grande
There are various stories of Ariana’s poor behavior, like her donut licking scandal and blocking fans on social media.
But one of her rudest moments was when Dan O’Connor won a contest to meet her with his daughters but was thoroughly disappointed by the experience. She allegedly made them wait all day, before spending only 15 seconds with them. The father added that after they took a picture together, Ariana demanded it be deleted.
7 John Mayer
An anonymous submission in a Buzzfeed article claims that John Mayer called a fan a name after they wouldn’t laugh at his sexist joke.
“[It was] really off-putting, and I was like, 'Dude...' and he responded with, 'Oh, come on — don't be a butthead,’” they said.
6 Hugh Grant
The same Buzzfeed article contains a submission from an airline employee who claims the actor had a crude response upon being introduced to the cabin manager.
They explained, “When my manager got to Hugh, the conversation went something like this: Manager: 'Hello, Mr. Grant, my name is...' Hugh: 'Oh, F*CK OFF.' My manager proceeded to swiftly move on."
5 Catherine Zeta-Jones
There are multiple stories about the actress having a bad attitude, but none are as famous as her reported encounter with a fan in 1998. During a screening for The Mask of Zorro, Catherine was supposedly approached by an 8-year-old girl who said she wanted to be an actress. To this, Catherine allegedly replied, “You’re pretty enough, I suppose.”
4 Nicki Minaj
Sharing with Buzzfeed, a former employee of the rapper says they were instructed not to make eye contact with her. "I’ve worked with Nicki Minaj before and while on a set with her, I was told not to look at her face. She also had people move out of the room before she would come in the room. It was a whole ordeal,” they explained.
3 Christian Bale
Christian’s former publicist has accused him of being cruel to young female fans who approached him.
“[He would] lecture little girls about being rude and intrusive until tears streamed down their faces, and their parents tugged them away from our table,” Harrison Cheung wrote in his tell-all book. He also claimed that Christian said all fans should be “eliminated.”
