Celebrities Who Confronted Nasty Fans

Despite the various advantages that a life in the spotlight can provide, it's also undeniable that dealing with aggressive or angry fans is a notable price to pay for fame and fortune. Who really wants someone interrupting their concert, haranguing them nonstop on Twitter, or ambushing them on the street for a selfie? Not us.

Read on to see how various stars reacted when confronted by less-than-affable admirers and fans who were downright nasty.

Actress and singer Patti LuPone was rightfully PO'd in January 2008 when, during a performance of Gypsy, a fan in the audience took a picture just as she was about to launch into the song "Rose's Turn." An incensed LuPone stopped what she was doing, broke character, and screamed at the audience member, "Stop taking pictures right now! You heard the announcement! Who do you think you are? How dare you? Who do you think they are?"

LuPone then demanded the person be removed or else she wouldn't continue the performance. (The audience member, alas, was removed.) "This is the theater and all of you, every single one of you, except for that person, has respect, and I, and the rest of this company, appreciate it," she said, before getting back into gear. "Thank you!"

Since then, LuPone's epic rant has become the stuff of Broadway legend, complete with a "LuPWNed!" YouTube remix. For her part, LuPone explained to Andy Cohen in 2013, " First of all, audiences don't know how many times we don't stop the show because this is just an epidemic ... it just breaks this atmosphere that we're working so hard to create because everyone's taken out of it." 

We get it, Patti. We wouldn't want someone busting in to take our picture during our excellent shower rendition of "Memory."

Another day, another mid-performance Broadway rant prompted by pseudo-paparazzi wannabes. This time it was actress Glenn Close, during a May 2017 matinee performance of Sunset Boulevard. According to Page Six, Close interrupted the performance to chide the snap-happy fan. "I'm sorry. Stop the show," she said. "Someone there is taking photos. You must know how distracting and disrespectful that is. Now, we can have a show or we can have a photo shoot." Girl!

We say, "Good for you, Glenn." And you fans better listen up: She's not going to be ignored, Dan. 

It's actually a little difficult to say who the nasty one really was in the confrontation that occurred between Sugar Ray frontman (and TV host) Mark McGrath and a teenaged fan who yelled "Sugar gay" outside a Hollywood bar. McGrath proceeded to have one of the more epic meltdowns caught on camera, going so far as to implore the fan to "tweeze your nipples, bro." 

To his credit, McGrath has been able to embrace the ridiculousness of his behavior, telling Rolling Stone, "I've done a lot of douchey things... I understand why people don't particularly like me." He also made an appearance on Maria Bamford's 2016 show Lady Dynamite which seemed to suggest he was more than willing to make fun of himself, a quality we can all admire.

Comedian Amy Schumer was busy minding her own business and out for a walk in April 2016 when an overzealous fan confronted her for a picture on the street. Despite Schumer's adamant refusals, the fan just wouldn't chill out. So Schumer took matters into her own hands and posted a photo of him to her Instagram page with the caption, "This guy in front of his family just ran up next to me scared the s*** 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 ... I will not take picture with people anymore and it's because of this dude in Greenville."

Thanks a lot, buddy; you've ruined it for the rest of us. 

Schumer's occasional bestie Jennifer Lawrence had a similar tale to tell to Vanity Fair in 2016 about fans who don't seem to understand the concept of personal space. 

The generally good-humored actress explained to the mag, "You might think you know me, but when you approach me you're a total stranger to me and I'm scared. I get very protective of my space. It took me a long time to be able to do that ... But if I'm eating dinner and somebody comes up and a flash goes off from someone's iPhone camera, I am really rude to that person."

It's a more demure response than Schumer's, but honestly, we get it. No one wants to be interrupted while they're trying to feast.

Things escalated quickly in April 2017 when, during a concert in Baltimore, rapper 50 Cent was pulled off the stage by a female fan who had grabbed his hand after he extended it into the crowd. 

In footage obtained by TMZ, a flailing 50 Cent then punched the fan squarely in the chest, though she later accepted his invitation to come up on stage and "ended up twerking as if she was one of his backup dancers." 

It seemed like all had been forgiven, but then the woman, Donnetta Derr, quickly lawyered up and announced plans to sue both 50 Cent and the venue, Baltimore Soundstage, where the incident occurred. 

It's not really surprising that Beyonce and Jay-Z, arguably the most famous married couple in the world, get confronted every now and then by fans who are seriously desperate for a pic. 

In August 2016, one such fan got a little too close for comfort to the pair outside the New York premiere of Hands of Stone, and Jay-Z ended up reaching out to shove said fan away from his (incredibly poised) wife. Meanwhile, Bey kept her cool and kept on strutting. 

You can't be surprised to see volatile Canadian singer Justin Bieber on this list, can you? The Biebs has had a number of run-ins with fans who took it too far. 

The first occurred in Cleveland in June 2016, when a 6'5" fan named Lamont Richmond asked for an autograph and photo. Bieber's reported response? "No autographs tonight, motherf***er!", followed by a punch. However, the notably tall fan had no problem bringing Beebs to the ground.

Beebs got into it again in November 2016, when he punched a fan in the face in Barcelona, after said fan reached into the window of the car where the singer was sitting prior to a show. Footage shows that the guy was left with a bloody lip. Ouch. Is it too late now to say sorry?

A Birmingham fan got way too handsy with singer Rihanna during a 2013 concert in England, and she didn't hesitate to give him a quick smack with her microphone to escape his grasp. 

Honestly, who can blame her? It seems incredibly annoying to have to deal with people grabbing at you, especially when you're trying to nail your song "We Found Love" for an arena full of people. 

Seriously, what's with fans thinking it's cool to just get in people's faces when they're performing? Like Rihanna, in 2015 singer Taylor Swift also had to fend off an overeager concert-goer. 

This time, it all went down in Edmonton, Canada, where a man in the crowd reached out to pull Swift's leg (literally) as she was singing her song "Bad Blood." Luckily, security promptly intervened. For her part, Swift gave the dude some serious side-eye and kept on performing.

As a cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, it comes as no surprise that actress Lisa Rinna is more than willing to bare her teeth if need be. After having it up to here with outspoken fans of the show posting negative comments on her Instagram page, Rinna took matters into her own hands and responded with a series of insulting comments of her own, including "I'm convinced that the haters/trolls are all fat hoarders with 50 cats"; and, "With no teeth, and they couldn't find their vagina if they tried."  She justified her actions by writing "I'm going for it. I got nothing to lose you sick f**ks."

But, apparently she did in fact have something to lose, and the comments were deleted shortly thereafter. Luckily for us, screenshots of the bizarre rant are still floating around. 

Heartthrob actor (and almost-Christian Grey) Charlie Hunnam made us all swoon when, in March 2016, he released a video message to fans who were posting hateful messages about his longtime girlfriend, Morgana McNelis, on social media. Asking them to back off, Hunnam said, "It has been brought to my attention that there is a group of immature girls posting a large number of hard messages aimed at my longtime girlfriend. I would respectfully ask you to stop doing this. She is an intelligent, beautiful, kind person who just tried to live a simple life and has nothing to do with the entertainment industry ..."

Hunnam went on to make a please based on what can only be described as basic commonsense: "Why would you attack her out of admiration for me? It makes no sense. Perhaps you might think about spending the time you dedicate on attacking her on improving the quality of your own life, as it is well known that this type of random hatred usually comes from deep rooted personal unhappiness."

Hunnam, 1; internet haters, 0.

She may have written one of the bestselling book series of all times, but that doesn't mean that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling hasn't had to deal with her fair share of Twitter drama. In October 2016, she made her feelings about then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump very well known, posting "Well, there you have it. A highly intelligent, experienced woman just debated a giant orange Twitter egg. Your move, America. #debate." 

More critical tweets about Trump soon followed. Her many followers took note, and some fans started posting that they were planning to burn all their Harry Potter books and DVDs in retaliation. Rowling unabashedly responded to her critics, tweeting to one, "I've still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter." Rowling kept her chin up, and acknowledged that despite the haters, she'll keep on doing her thing and writing more "kindling."

Boo-ya.

In this case, the fan wasn't so much a fan as a seriously annoying self-proclaimed celebrity "prankster." In September 2016, supermodel Gigi Hadid was minding her own business as she left a Max Mara fashion show in Paris when noted troll Vitalii Sediuk grabbed her from behind and lifted her up into the air. Hadid swiftly elbowed Sediuk in the face until he let her go.

After the incident, Hadid responded on Twitter to a well-wishing follower: "The ACTUAL fans that were there can tell you what happened. I'm a HUMAN BEING —and had EVERY RIGHT to defend myself. How dare that idiot thinks he has the right to man-handle a complete stranger." Hell yeah.

Another day, another annoying fan provokes a fantastic techno rant remix. 

In the middle of an October 2006 concert at Madison Square Garden, singer and ardent Democrat Barbra Streisand brought out a George Bush impersonator to trade quips with and fake-interrogate. The Associated Press noted in a review that "though most of the crowd offered polite applause during the slightly humorous routine, it had gone on a bit too long" and a heckler shouted out from the crowd. An irate Streisand responded, "Shut the f*** up! Shut up if you can't take a joke!" She also demanded, "Go get your money back if you can't take a joke!"

And so our favorite techno song was born.