11 Famous People Who Had to Tell Fans to Stop Harassing Them In Public

In fact, a number of these fans can be incredibly aggressive -- demanding photos, autographs and the chance to have a full conversation, without regard for the celebrity themselves. These stars are humans just like everyone else and expect some level of privacy when they’re out and about, trying to spend time with family or do their grocery shopping. Some of these encounters have prompted celebrities themselves to speak out, asking for fans to stop harassing them in public. While many stars are willing to stop and chat, they’ve realized that they need to set some boundaries.

Find out what these celebs had to say to their fans…

1. Chappell Roan

Over the past year, Chappell Roan has skyrocketed to fame and the change in her personal life has been jarring. After realizing things had gotten too intense for her, Chappell took to TikTok to share a series of videos asking fans if they felt it would be acceptable to harass a “random lady” in public, stalk her family or get mad when she refuses to take a photo.

“This is a lady you don’t know, and she doesn’t know you at all. Would you assume that she’s a good person? Assume she’s a bad person? Would you assume everything you read online about her is true?  I’m a random bitch. You’re a random bitch. Just think about for that a second, okay?” Chappell said in a video.

In another video she added, “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous, or a little famous, whatever. I don’t care that it’s normal. I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it okay. That doesn’t make it normal. Doesn’t mean I want it. Doesn’t mean that I like it. I don’t want whatever the f--k you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity.”

2. Sophia Bush

When Sophia Bush recently attended the Democratic National Convention she encountered a lot of fans that ended up making her uncomfortable. In a statement on Instagram, she wrote that she was overwhelmed by being “groped and grabbed and hugged and shaken” by strangers -- even though they had good intentions. Sophia reminded fans to “please get consent before touching people” because it can be traumatic for some.

“Please don’t shove your cameras in people’s faces and take pictures of them like they’re animals at a zoo. Please please please I beg of you, treat people like people. Even if you ‘know’ them from their jobs,” Sophia wrote on her story.

She continued, “It’s not that the kindness or excitement isn’t appreciated. I mean that. It’s just that to us, despite how lovely and amazing you probably are as humans, to us? You are a completely unfamiliar stranger. We never know if you're the absolute best, or you're the person who gets off on sending us death threats.”

3. Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber has long expressed a desire for privacy when he’s out and about living his life. Back in 2016, he told fans that he no longer planned to take photos in public -- even if that disappointed some people. He noted that he doesn’t owe anyone a picture, despite their support to his career.

“If you happen to see me out somewhere know that I'm not gonna take a picture I'm done taking pictures. It has gotten to the point that people won't even say hi to me or recognize me as a human, I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna be able to keep my sanity,” Justin wrote on Instagram.

Then in 2020, Justin reminded fans again to act appropriately when they saw him, particularly calling out people who waited outside of his home. He condemned these fans for their “completely inappropriate and disrespectful” behavior. The following year, he was captured on camera telling fans he didn’t appreciate when they waited outside of his apartment and asked if they could leave.

4. Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer spoke out about interacting with people in real life after she bumped into a fan at a bar. She explained that she declined taking a photo with the woman but she seemingly ignored her and went on to film her without her consent. Keke expressed that it made her uncomfortable and wished fans could understand boundaries in public.

“No means no, even when it doesn’t pertain to sex. I was at the bar the other day and this girl asked me three times for a picture and I told her three times nicely that I did not want take one with her. She still preceded to film me against my will,” Keke tweeted.

She continued, "If I went off on her I would’ve been wrong, so I just nervously laughed while my privacy was invaded upon."

5. Tyler, the Creator

Tyler, the Creator says he appreciates the fans of his music and is even down to say “hi” in person, but admits that some can be too over the top at times. During an interview, he said some “weirdo” fans get on his “f--king nerves” because they don’t have boundaries. He explained that many fans seem to think they have the right to show up at his house and stalk his family just because they like his music.

“The internet’s crazy, these kids hack everything. They listen to the music and they wanna know who your sister is, what you ate for dinner. Mind your f--king business. Go the f--k outside and listen to the damn art or the music,” Tyler said on the Mavericks podcast. “

He continued, “Because of the internet, people don’t know personal boundaries no more, and it’s normalized… It's like, ‘We don't know each other.’ But then I get called an ungrateful a--hole because I'm like, ‘Yo I give you the art, I give you the music, high five. Why are y’all showing up to doorsteps? Why are y’all following a mom home? Because you like a song?”

6. Lili Reinhart

Lili Reinhart had to speak out when she caught two people taking photos of her while she was eating lunch alone. After noticing the fans sneakily snapping pics, Lili took to Twitter to tell people that it wasn’t appropriate for anyone to do that.

“To the two girls who are repeatedly photographing me as I’m eating my lunch... I see you. You aren't slick…. that's f--king rude. ?????” Lili wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

She continued in another tweet, writing, “No, no, no. This is what’s wrong--- you think you’re entitled to take a photo of me while I’m alone and eating because I’m on a tv show. So I asked for it, right? Wrong. I am a human being. I am not Betty Cooper. You aren’t entitled to me. At all.”

7. Emma Watson

In 2017, Emma Watson said she had to stop taking photos with fans because it was posing a risk to her safety. She explained that as soon as fans posted their selfie with her online, tons of people then had access to her exact location. She did say that she’d be more than willing to chat with fans.

“For me, it’s the difference between being able to have a life and not. If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they’ve created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 meters. They can see what I’m wearing and who I’m with. I just can’t give that tracking data,” she told Vanity Fair.

She added, “I’ll say, ‘I will sit here and answer every single Harry Potter fandom question you have, but I just can’t do a picture.’ I have to carefully pick and choose my moment to interact. When am I a celebrity sighting versus when am I going to make someone’s freakin’ week? Children I don’t say no to, for example.”

8. Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny has had some bad interactions with fans in public -- especially when he feels that they have not respected him. On one occasion, the musician took the phone of a fan who approached him and threw it away. Afterwards, he posted that the fan invaded his personal space and that’s why he responded the way he did.

“The person who comes up to me to greet me, tell me something or just meet me will always receive my attention and respect,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “Those who come to put a damn phone in my face, I will consider it for what it is, a lack of respect and treat it as such.”

9. Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke says that one particular interaction with a fan changed how she felt about interacting with people in public. Looking back, Emilia says she was crying and having a panic attack at the airport when a man wanted to take a photo with her.

“I was on the phone to my mum saying, ‘I feel like I can’t breathe, I don’t know what’s going on.’ I’m crying and crying, and this guy’s like, ‘Can I get a selfie?’ I was like, ‘I can’t breathe, I’m really sorry,’” Emilia said on the Table Manners podcast.

From there on out, she decided that instead of entirely turning fans down that she would instead offer an autograph. She says she tries to make the experience personal like a “truthful human-to-human thing” so it doesn’t drain her soul “completely empty.”

10. Amy Schumer

In 2016, Amy Schumer decided to stop taking photos with fans after a bad interaction with a man while she was out and about in South Carolina. Amy says the man, who was with his family, ran up to her and scared her before starting to film her. When she asked him to stop, he became upset.

“This guy in front of his family just ran up next to me scared the s--t out of me. Put a camera in my face. I asked him to stop and he said ‘no it's America and we paid for you.' This was in front of his daughter. I was saying stop and no. Great message to your kid,” Amy wrote in a now-deleted post. “Yes legally you are allowed to take a picture of me. But I was asking you to stop and saying no. I will not take [a] picture with people anymore and it's because of this dude in Greenville.”

In a later post, Amy thanked fans for their support and clarified that she would still take photos with “nice people” if the time is right, adding, “But I don’t owe you anything. So don’t take if I say no.”

11. Lea Salonga

Broadway star Lea Salonga had to stop meeting with fans backstage after she had a scary experience where a follower snuck into her dressing room. Lea wrote that she was still excited to meet fans in the designated stage door area but needed people to stay out of her personal spaces.

“The money you pay for a theatre/concert ticket does not mean all-access. You pay for that performer’s art, and that's where it stops. I gotta say, the folks at the stage door have been so incredibly kind, which only makes us (well, me) enthusiastic to say hello and spend the time to talk to them,” Lea wrote in a deleted post, adding, “I have boundaries. Do not cross them. Thank you.”