When a celebrity in person really underwhelms you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kadeem Harrison of A Different World fame... slipped me his number when I was 17... and I told him I was 17... total creeper

hasn't aged well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Madonna and Lourdes: I was on the beach in San Diego with my high school girlfriend and her family. I was flying a kite. Madonna approached me with Lourdes - who was probably 4 years old - and asked me if I could teach Lourdes how to fly a kite. We played for probably 30 minutes. She was with a massive male bodyguard and a butch female nanny/personal trainer/bodyguard who also looked like she could crush me. Madonna made small talk with me, but was incredibly aloof. Lourdes was a sweetheart and a typical 4 year-old. I remember the female nanny being much more involved with Lourdes. No one on the beach recgonized them.

Ironically enough, I met Guy Ritchie at the MTV Movies Awards just six months later when I was working as a seat filler. This was before he had met Madonna and he was doing press for Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels. He's definitely a brooding artist. Also next to him were Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones, and the rest of the Lock Stock lads. Totally hilarious guys, they gave me (a 17 year-old) a bunch of drinks.

Kid Rock: sort of a dick.

Dustin Hoffman and his wife: lovely people who welcomed me into their UWS home. I knew their son in college, but didn't realize who his parents were. One day he invited me to his parents' UWS apartment for watching movies and family dinner I didn't put two-and-two together until I saw the Oscar statutes in his parents' bedroom.

Janet Yellen: Teensy-tiny and so soft spoken. She's the polar opposite of the typical DC blowhard.

Zoe Deschanel: utterly bizarre. I worked at a hotel restaurant in NYC and served her breakfast for an entire week. She seemed zonked out on medication. She would drink half a cup of OJ, half cup of coffee, and eat two bites of a single hard-boiled egg each morning.

Pierce Brosnan: total Irish lad. Gregarious, hilarious, a man of the people. Again he had a few meals at my hotel restaurant. He arrived in the late afternoon from JFK and wanted some beers and food after a Transatlantic flight. He sat with me for an hour while I served him beers at the bar and we just bantered back and forth. The paparazzi was waiting for him outside the hotel all day - we had a good laugh as we waved at them through the window. He had me send a keg of Brooklyn Lager to his penthouse hotel room. Great tipper.

Funny enough, I saw Pierce at the baggage carousel at JFK 18 months later. He totally remembered me and we had a laugh about the paparazzi.

Scottie Pippen: he came into my restaurant with a woman. He ordered everything for both of them, was sort of a curt dick, and he and his date basically did not talk at all through the entire night. Really awkward situation, neither looked happy to be there.

Very odd they let you wander through the parents bedroom on your first visit to a friend's house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

The gym is OTF, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

The gym is OTF, right?

Yes - OTF

[Anonymous]

I lived in NYC for about 12 years and had brief run ins with a bunch of famous people, nothing particularly exciting. Re short celebrities- I physically ran into Winona Ryder while rounding a street corner in Soho and she was particularly tiny. On the other hand Ryan Reynolds is actually quite tall.

But this is my best one, not underwhelming at all- One evening we were out for drinks at a small upscale bar near my office and I overheard a very distinctive voice in the group right next to us- it was Alan Rickman. He was SO nice and chatted with us quite a bit. He was in a play at BAM at the time. He just seemed like such a warm, joyful man, very full of life and just having a nice evening with a group of friends (none of whom I recognized, they were all about his age). I was about 14 weeks pregnant with my first child and had just told to my coworkers that day so I was just ordering a club soda. He heard one of them mention it and very warmly congratulated me. Just someone who puts a smile on your face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

Kelly is so fit though. There was an episode in the most recent season where the girls were doing something athletic and she really kicked ass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

Kelly is so fit though. There was an episode in the most recent season where the girls were doing something athletic and she really kicked ass.

yes - that is what really surprised me about KD, she's like a slug at the gym. She looks physically strong though for sure. Maybe she just doesn't like being around Fancy Pants Dubrow!

[Anonymous]

The one above about physically running into someone reminded me of a story. I interned at the White House in the late 90s. Once I was rushing into the west wing to bring some papers to someone and I literally ran smack into Al Gore’s chest. He’s a big guy and it knocked me backwards. We had all had training on what to do if we ever ran into any bigwigs so I kind of mumbled I’m sorry Mr. Vice President and he was very sweet and gracious.

Someone above also said kid rock is kind of a dick. I can corroborate this. My husband is from the same tiny town in Michigan where he lives or used to live or has an estate or whatever. Every now and then he will donate or make an appearance at an event in town which is nice in theory but he sort of expects to be catered to and worshipped and acts like a partier in his 20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

What do you mean by heathers “squad”? Like security? Hair and makeup? Friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
But this is my best one, not underwhelming at all- One evening we were out for drinks at a small upscale bar near my office and I overheard a very distinctive voice in the group right next to us- it was Alan Rickman. He was SO nice and chatted with us quite a bit. He was in a play at BAM at the time. He just seemed like such a warm, joyful man, very full of life and just having a nice evening with a group of friends (none of whom I recognized, they were all about his age). I was about 14 weeks pregnant with my first child and had just told to my coworkers that day so I was just ordering a club soda. He heard one of them mention it and very warmly congratulated me. Just someone who puts a smile on your face.

I love Alan Rickman (RIP). So glad to hear he was a warm, joyful person when you met him!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But this is my best one, not underwhelming at all- One evening we were out for drinks at a small upscale bar near my office and I overheard a very distinctive voice in the group right next to us- it was Alan Rickman. He was SO nice and chatted with us quite a bit. He was in a play at BAM at the time. He just seemed like such a warm, joyful man, very full of life and just having a nice evening with a group of friends (none of whom I recognized, they were all about his age). I was about 14 weeks pregnant with my first child and had just told to my coworkers that day so I was just ordering a club soda. He heard one of them mention it and very warmly congratulated me. Just someone who puts a smile on your face.

I love Alan Rickman (RIP). So glad to hear he was a warm, joyful person when you met him!

He must have been a very good actor, because he often played the villain. When he was in the HP movies, I immediately remembered
him as the villain in Robin Hood. He had a great accent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Real Housewives belong on this list? if they do, I have a couple of stories. otherwise, I've got nothing.

Yes why not!

I live in Orange County- so regularly run into Heather Dubrow and Kelly Dodd at the gym, and Vicki Gunvalson at a couple of local malls.

Heather is pretty much the same personality as you see on TV. Very social, opinionated, and somewhat controlling. She also has her squad that's always surrounding her. When she's working out, she goes hard-core. She's quite strong. One way that she is different from her TV persona is that she actually does have a potty mouth.

Kelly Dodd and Heather HATE each other, so its interesting when they're at the gym at the same time. It's a small gym, so there's literally no way for them to avoid each other.

Also, Kelly who you would think would be surrounded by her own squad - is always solo at the gym. She doesn't talk to anyone. Unlike Heather who actually works out, Kelly just kind of goes through the motions - makes pretend she's working out but not really.

Vicki is much better looking in person, and is also more approachable than you'd think. She's pretty "normal" acting. If you didn't know who she was, you'd never know that she's the OG of all the housewives.

What do you mean by heathers “squad”? Like security? Hair and makeup? Friends?

No she actually comes with not a stitch of makeup - except maybe lipgloss, and she looks really good! Her "squad" is her group of friends that sit there and wait for her to arrive. And they all try to dress like her (all black), and pull their hair back in a very severe bun - like she does. First time I saw this phenomenon I had flashbacks of the Robert Palmer "Simply Irresistible" video

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one above about physically running into someone reminded me of a story. I interned at the White House in the late 90s. Once I was rushing into the west wing to bring some papers to someone and I literally ran smack into Al Gore’s chest. He’s a big guy and it knocked me backwards. We had all had training on what to do if we ever ran into any bigwigs so I kind of mumbled I’m sorry Mr. Vice President and he was very sweet and gracious.

Someone above also said kid rock is kind of a dick. I can corroborate this. My husband is from the same tiny town in Michigan where he lives or used to live or has an estate or whatever. Every now and then he will donate or make an appearance at an event in town which is nice in theory but he sort of expects to be catered to and worshipped and acts like a partier in his 20s.

Can you tell us more on the training of what to do when you run in to a VIP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Madonna and Lourdes: I was on the beach in San Diego with my high school girlfriend and her family. I was flying a kite. Madonna approached me with Lourdes - who was probably 4 years old - and asked me if I could teach Lourdes how to fly a kite. We played for probably 30 minutes. She was with a massive male bodyguard and a butch female nanny/personal trainer/bodyguard who also looked like she could crush me. Madonna made small talk with me, but was incredibly aloof. Lourdes was a sweetheart and a typical 4 year-old. I remember the female nanny being much more involved with Lourdes. No one on the beach recgonized them.

Ironically enough, I met Guy Ritchie at the MTV Movies Awards just six months later when I was working as a seat filler. This was before he had met Madonna and he was doing press for Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels. He's definitely a brooding artist. Also next to him were Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones, and the rest of the Lock Stock lads. Totally hilarious guys, they gave me (a 17 year-old) a bunch of drinks.

Kid Rock: sort of a dick.

Dustin Hoffman and his wife: lovely people who welcomed me into their UWS home. I knew their son in college, but didn't realize who his parents were. One day he invited me to his parents' UWS apartment for watching movies and family dinner I didn't put two-and-two together until I saw the Oscar statutes in his parents' bedroom.

Janet Yellen: Teensy-tiny and so soft spoken. She's the polar opposite of the typical DC blowhard.

Zoe Deschanel: utterly bizarre. I worked at a hotel restaurant in NYC and served her breakfast for an entire week. She seemed zonked out on medication. She would drink half a cup of OJ, half cup of coffee, and eat two bites of a single hard-boiled egg each morning.

Pierce Brosnan: total Irish lad. Gregarious, hilarious, a man of the people. Again he had a few meals at my hotel restaurant. He arrived in the late afternoon from JFK and wanted some beers and food after a Transatlantic flight. He sat with me for an hour while I served him beers at the bar and we just bantered back and forth. The paparazzi was waiting for him outside the hotel all day - we had a good laugh as we waved at them through the window. He had me send a keg of Brooklyn Lager to his penthouse hotel room. Great tipper.

Funny enough, I saw Pierce at the baggage carousel at JFK 18 months later. He totally remembered me and we had a laugh about the paparazzi.

Scottie Pippen: he came into my restaurant with a woman. He ordered everything for both of them, was sort of a curt dick, and he and his date basically did not talk at all through the entire night. Really awkward situation, neither looked happy to be there.

Very odd they let you wander through the parents bedroom on your first visit to a friend's house.

I was getting a tour of the apartment from their son. It was multiple floors of an UWS apartment building, with multiple terraces overlooking Central Park. Amazing space.