The Most Terrifying Crimes Against Celebs In 2019
Celebrities don't get to live private lives like the rest of us, and unfortunately, it leaves them vulnerable to some pretty scary crimes. Think about it: If your address was published in the tabloids, anyone and everyone could visit you completely unannounced (not just your in-laws, which is terrifying in a different way). A-listers like Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner have had to endure terrifying stalkers as a result. At best, the person never makes it past the front gates. At worst, they manage to find their way inside and treat themselves to a little staycation.
Even if celebrities aren't dealing with stalkers, their star power may have left them subject to muggings and burglary. Thieves follow the money, and Hollywood has a lot of it. A couple of years ago, Kim Kardashian set the benchmark for terrifying crimes with her harrowing, traumatic robbery during Paris Fashion Week, but 2019 still saw a number of celebs fall victim to burglaries and robberies.
These are the most terrifying crimes committed against celebrities in 2019. (You're probably going to want to reinforce that lock on your front door.)
90% of PewDiePie's valuables were stolen in a burglary
As one of the most popular YouTubers on the planet, PewDiePie (real name Felix Kjellberg) has more than 100 million subscribers. Though he's used to millions of people visiting his channel every day, he'll probably never get used to people visiting his actual house uninvited — especially if they're planning on breaking in and walking away with some really valuable items.
Die-hard fans may know that PewDiePie has unfortunately had security issues in the past. Fans frequented his home enough that, in 2016, he posted a video urging them to quit it. But in a December 2019 Instagram Stories post (captured by Insider), the controversial YouTube star's wife, Marzia Kjellberg, announced that the married pair's home had been broken into and a whopping 90 percent of their valuables were stolen.
Per Kjellberg's post, the burglars took jewelry, luxury items, and "special items" that she had been collecting for years. Considering PewDiePie's reported $30 million net worth, it's safe to say that they'll be able to replace most of the luxury goods, but the feelings of violation and fear don't heal as easily. "It's all gone," she wrote (via Insider). "I know it is very materialistic, and should be happy with what I was left/have. But I can't hide the shock and sadness with all being taken away, just like that."
Harry Styles' good deed became a nightmare
Harry Styles' good deed ended up turning into a nightmare when a homeless vegan man reportedly stalked the singer for months. According to the Mirror, the former One Direction star told an English court that he first spotted Pablo Tarazaga-Orero sleeping in a bus stop about 50 yards from his London home in March 2019. One Sunday, at around two o'clock in the morning, the "Watermelon Sugar" singer offered him money for food or a hotel. Tarazaga-Orero reportedly declined for "religious reasons," but Styles returned with food from a vegan cafe the next day. Things only started to get uncomfortable when Tarazaga-Orero allegedly asked Styles if he wanted to go out to a restaurant.
"I found it a little odd. His facial expression made me feel a little uneasy. It was like a smirk," Styles told the court. "Until that point, I never felt unsafe or uneasy in my own home." From that moment on, Styles said he saw Tarazaga-Orero at the bus stop at least five days a week and on "several occasions" outside of his local pub, where he would allegedly "sit in [Styles'] eye line" and "wait for [him] to leave." Tarazaga-Orero even reportedly slipped notes into the star's mailbox, but things came to a head when he allegedly "lunged" at Styles and "blocked his path" during a run.
According to The Guardian, Tarazaga-Orero was ultimately banned from going within 250 meters of Styles.
Taylor Swift's stalker was just trying to be polite
Much like her former flame, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift also had a stalker problem in 2019. Though she's had her fair share of frightening stalking incidents in the past — even implementing facial recognition technology at her concerts for her safety — the Lover singer must have been particularly perplexed when her stalker was kind enough to remove his shoes after breaking and entering in early September.
According to NJ.com, Richard McEwan reportedly scaled a wall and shattered a glass door to gain entry to Swift's sprawling Rhode Island home. Thankfully, Swift wasn't home at the time, and when his break-in triggered an alarm, police rushed to the scene, where they found McEwan in the foyer with his shoes off. The burglar reportedly told police that he removed his shoes because it's the polite thing for a house guest to do. Though a security guard was sitting outside of Swift's home during the break-in, he reportedly didn't hear the alarm because of the wind (that New England coastal breeze will get you).
While McEwan was unarmed and had no intentions of hurting anyone, the singer told CBS News that she's had "a lot of stalkers show up to the house, armed," and began carrying QuikClot, an army grade bandage dressing for gunshot and stab wounds, as a result.
ICE finally caught Kendall Jenner's stalker
In June 2019, Kendall Jenner's longtime stalker was finally deported from the United States. According to TMZ, police had been tracking John Ford, a 38-year-old Canadian citizen, for several weeks. In 2018, he reportedly "scaled a hill" to hang out by the model's pool and returned to sit on the front porch of Jenner's home. TMZ claims he was held on a 5150 psychiatric hold after the initial incidents, but it appears Ford was on the lam following the expiration of his visitor visa.
Per TMZ, ICE agents reportedly found Ford in a New Mexico hotel that March and took him to El Paso, Texas while he waited for his deportation hearing. A spokesperson for the organization told the tabloid that the arrest "very well" could have prevented a "violent crime," adding that their "special agents acted quickly on this tip to ensure that this obsessive behavior didn't escalate to become a tragedy."
As for the Kardashian-Jenners, who are no strangers to having their lives put at risk, the family felt pangs of relief. Apparently, poor Kendall was terrorized by Ford. "His actions have not only had a severe impact on Kendall's life, but the entire family's sense of security, causing us to fear for Kendall's safety as well as our own," the family said in a statement (via TMZ). "Knowing this individual is in custody gives us peace of mind." Despite this initial resolution, however, Ford's family and authorities reportedly lost track of him just a few weeks following his deportation.
A terrifying Twitter account helped Miley Cyrus' team nab a stalker
Miley Cyrus' team came in like a wrecking ball when creepy threats forced them to take action against a known stalker. According to TMZ, the whole thing went down in September 2019 when the Hannah Montana alum was playing the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Her security team had reportedly flagged a man named David Rumsey because of his frightening, frantic Twitter account.
So, what could a person tweet that's bad enough to get their photo distributed in what's essentially a stadium-wide watch list? The week before the concert, Rumsey announced on Twitter that he hoped to "talk about everything" with Cyrus in Vegas and apologized for hurting her in the past. He also claimed that once they were finally together, they could party in the USA with dead celebrities like 2pac, Prince, and Michael Jackson. It's unclear if that was a bizarre death threat or if Rumsey truly believed he could bring back the dead.
According to TMZ, Rumsey told Cyrus' team that it was his "life's mission to impregnate" the star. Due to these horrifying messages, the man was reportedly detained by Cyrus' team before being arrested and hit with a "felony charge of making threats."
Channing Tatum's stalker had a vacation in his home
A stalker had a nice, little vacation in Channing Tatum's home during the summer of 2019, which prompted the Magic Mike star to kick off Independence Day with a restraining order filing (and hopefully eating a hot dog and lighting some sparklers, too).
According to The Blast, a woman reportedly broke into the actor's Hollywood home that June and ended up staying for 10 entire days — the number of paid vacation days most hard-working Americans get each year. The woman was only caught after being discovered by an assistant and placed under citizen's arrest. Clearly, that assistant had studied 21 Jump Street pretty well, and cops promptly arrived at the scene before placing the woman under arrest.
Though this incident was undeniably terrifying, Tatum thankfully wasn't at the home at the time of the reported break-in. Apparently, the property was completely vacant. But this wasn't a first-time offense for the woman in question, either. The Blast reports that she apparently visited Tatum's home in the past and reportedly left a letter with the star that claimed "the two had met 10-years prior and she believed Tatum was watching her." According to TMZ, Tatum — along with his ex-wife, Jenna Dewan, daughter, and two assistants — were granted a five-year restraining order against the woman.
Tiny Harris had $750,000 worth of jewelry jacked from her Lambo
The life of the rich and famous is sometimes perplexing for those of us who drive a Honda Odyssey instead of a Lamborghini. There's no world in which we'd leave nearly a million dollars' worth of jewelry sitting around in our car parked on the street of a major city, but that's mostly because we'd never have nearly a million dollars' worth of jewelry. But that's not the case if you're T.I.'s wife and sing in a popping R&B group.
According to WSB-TV, Tameka "Tiny" Harris had more than $750,000 of jewelry stolen from her Lamborghini SUV in October 2019. Apparently, Harris had a wedding ring, watches, stud earrings, and other expensive icing just chilling in the center console — the part of her car that's typically reserved for ketchup packets, napkins, and the odd dead battery. When you're a Grammy winner, that's the kind of stuff you get to do, but it doesn't make a theft any less traumatic.
At the time of the crime, Harris and a friend were having a drink at an Atlanta bar. When she returned to the vehicle, the blue bag that held her precious gems was missing. Strangely enough, the car showed no signs of a break-in or damage (clearly, the burglar was no scrub) — leading Wendy Williams to declare it may have been "an inside job." Luckily, the parking lot did have video surveillance, so we're hoping Harris will get her stuff back.
John Mayer was terrorized by a stalker all summer
John Mayer's stalking situation was anything but a wonderland. The singer-songwriter and his team were reportedly terrorized by a 39-year-old man throughout the spring and summer of 2019, which led to Mayer swiftly seeking a temporary restraining order.
According to E! News, Ryan Jeremy Knight allegedly started stalking Mayer in March 2019 and eventually began making violent threats over social media. In addition to referencing John Lennon's murderer, Mark David Chapman, and famed serial killer Ted Bundy on one occasion, Knight also reportedly wrote, "I've put many a jew in the hospital." This is absolutely terrifying when you consider the fact that Knight reportedly already had a pretty lengthy criminal record before Mayer became aware of his unwanted presence.
What's even scarier? According to court documents obtained by E! News, Mayer almost physically encountered Knight during a June performance in North Carolina. Thankfully, security found him at the show and "escorted him out of the venue." Needless to say, Mayer suffered "substantial emotional duress" throughout the ordeal, and Knight was ultimately ordered to stay 100 yards away from the singer and his home. By October 2019, Mayer testified in court over the matter and was granted a five-year restraining order, per The Blast.
Was Alexis Skyy robbed at gunpoint?
Alexis Skyy narrowly escaped tragedy during a late-night stop at an Atlanta gas station when she watched her pal's new Maserati get stolen right in front of them — at least, that's what Sabrina Peterson, the friend in question, claimed on Twitter.
According to AJS, it all went down at a QuikTrip in September 2019, when Peterson and the Love and Hip Hop star made a quick stop. Unfortunately, Peterson left the car running while she got out and walked toward Skyy. According to the police report obtained by AJS, a man with dreads got out of a nearby Corvette and jumped into Peterson's Maserati before driving away.
In Twitter post captured by Bossip, Peterson originally claimed she and Skyy were robbed at gunpoint, but whether or not the man had a gun is wholly unclear. If so, that's absolutely terrifying. Thankfully, the whole crime may have been caught on camera. According to Rolling Out, the two friends led a protest at the gas station because the clerk allegedly wouldn't let them see the surveillance video. Meanwhile, police tried to track the Maserati through Peterson's iPhone, but the thief was reportedly smart enough to turn it off. Luckily, the Maserati was recovered shortly after the theft.
This Strictly star was mugged with pepper spray
Giovanni Pernice, who's appeared on the British reality series Strictly Come Dancing, had a harrowing experience in Epping, Essex in August 2019. According to The Sun, the Italian dancer inititally believed he had been subject to an acid attack when a substance was flung into his eyes by two masked attackers as he was getting into an Uber. Thankfully, it was only believed to be pepper spray, but the muggers, who had pulled up in a black car, sped off with the dancer's backpack.
Per The Sun, paramedics treated Pernice at the scene of the crime, and it looks like whatever was sprayed into his eyes won't have caused any long-term damage. Unfortunately, the psychological scars aren't as easy to heal. According to a source who spoke to The Sun, Pernice "has been left absolutely terrified by the attack. It has hugely knocked his confidence." Similarly, the dancer's girlfriend and former Strictly partner, Ashley Roberts, was understandably shaken up over the matter, with the insider adding, "As a person in the public eye, Ashley is just as concerned that this kind of thing could happen to her too."
Kylie Minogue's stalker was only given a warning
Poor Kylie Minogue. In early 2019, the star was reportedly terrorized by an alleged stalker for weeks. According to a neighbor who spoke to Page Six, the man in question embarked on a "sustained campaign" against the singer. He was first spotted by a fellow resident on Minogue's West London street, and allegedly "went door to door asking people where Kylie lived." A reported witness claimed that no one called the police at that time, but they did give the pop queen a heads up.
Over the course of a few weeks, things with the alleged stalker reportedly escalated. According to Page Six, police finally got involved after he went to Minogue's home, refused to leave, and "repeatedly pressed the intercom button for hours." Though cops didn't arrest the man, they did issue him a first-instance harassment warning.
Meanwhile, a source close to Minogue told Page Six that the star, who unfortunately had to deal with stalkers in the past, had been taking steps to ramp up security. "Obviously she was very shaken by what has happened, as anyone would be, but she has taken the sensible steps," the insider said. "She has always had security arrangements and people who she trusts nearby especially for when she goes out, but she will of course be looking at other options."