Movie Stars Who Treat Their Fans Like Trash

If there is one celebrity who truly appreciates the love and support of her fanbase, it's Beyoncé. A bona fide cultural icon, Bey remains humble and it shows by the way she continues to interact with her fans, aka The Beyhive. For her 40th birthday, Beyonce shared a hand-written note on her website thanking them for their birthday posts and message. "I'm grateful for everyone involved, especially the fans, for the time and level of detail it took to organize such beautiful tributes," she wrote. "I admire and respect all of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

And it's not only heartwarming letters that prove Beyonce adores her fans. She does countless meet-and-greets, brings fans up on stage with her, and takes the time to pose for selfies with her fans while in the middle of a performance.

While Beyoncé goes above and beyond for her supporters, some celebs' reputation is less glowing. From being labeled "rude" for turning down a quick selfie (hey it's gotta get old, right?) to even ending up in full-blown altercations with supporters, the movie stars below have been called out for the way they've treated their fans.

Christian Bale's movie career launched when he was just a teen, thanks to gigs like "Empire of the Sun" and "Newsies," but it wasn't until 2005 that the actor would receive the role of a lifetime and would gain a huge fanbase. Bale was cast as Batman in director Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" and would reprise his superhero role in two more films, 2008's "The Dark Knight," and 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises." 

In 2020, Bale was voted by fans as giving the best performance of Batman in a poll by RadioTimes. According to the outlet, he earned over 40 percent of the tallies. (Adam West came in second and Michael Keaton in third.) Although it's clear that fans loved seeing Bale fight crime in Gotham City, rumor has it he isn't always friendly to his supporters.

As noted in HuffPost, Bale's former publicist and assistant Harrison Cheung released a juicy biography titled "Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman" in 2012. In it, he claimed that when Bale received a letter from a fan he told the assistant that the fan needed to be "eliminated," adding, "A screwdriver thrust thru the eyeball into the brain prevents any screaming. Let me know how it goes." Cheung also alleged that Bale had no problem with making his fans cry, stating that he would "lecture little girls about being rude and intrusive until tears streamed down their faces." At the time, HuffPost reached out to Bale's team for comment but didn't hear back.

Cameron Diaz rose to fame after starring alongside Jim Carrey in 1994's "The Mask" and would become recognized across the globe when she landed lead roles in movies like "There's Something About Mary," "Charlie's Angels," and "Shrek." While Diaz has gained a lot of fans over the years, rumor has it the star isn't really up for greeting those fans. 

In 2013, Autograph Magazine (via E! News) included Diaz on their list of the worst celebrities when it comes to signing autographs. Evidently, it'd been a thing for years by that point. The editor of that same outlet told the Chicago Tribune in 2006 that Diaz happens to be "persistently a terrible signer." He went on to claim, "Instead of just turning down a person's autograph request, she'll lecture them about how dumb autographs are."

The ups and downs of stardom are no joke, and in 2018, Diaz shared with Entertainment Weekly that she "actually retired" from acting. In a 2020 Goop video, she told Gwyneth Paltrow that she felt "peace" after she stepped away from her career. "I finally was taking care of myself," Diaz continued. "It's so intense to work at that level and be that public and put yourself out there, there's a lot of energy coming at you at all times when you're really visible as an actor and doing press and putting yourself out there." If Diaz never takes up another role again, her last film would be 2014's "Annie."

Lea Michele's reputation took a bit of a hit after rumors bubbled up that she was a diva on the set of the popular television show "Glee." In June 2020, Michele's "Glee" co-star Samantha Ware tweeted that the star had made her life a "living hell" while working on the show (via Variety). What soon followed were more accusations by other "Glee" stars, including Heather Morris, that painted an unflattering portrait of Michele. She was also called out by Gerard Canonico, an understudy for her production of "Spring Awakening," who called the actor "nothing but a nightmare" on Instagram (via Life & Style). Michele issued an apology on Instagram.

What's more, there's been talk of Michele being the opposite of warm to her very own fans. Hailee Steinfeld told J-14 that before she herself became a household name, she crossed paths with Michele. However, it sounds like it wasn't exactly a pleasant interaction.

"When I was auditioning for 'True Grit,' I was on the Paramount lot. I was wearing clothes from the 1800s that were big and uncomfortable ... I saw Lea Michele just walking to her trailer and I was like, 'That's the girl from 'Glee.' I've got to go ask for her autograph!'" Steinfeld recalled. "So I walked up to her and asked for her autograph, but she walked by and a guy came and said, 'Sorry, now's not a good time!' ... I was practically crying on the way home. I was so sad! But she's beautiful and she has an amazing voice.'"

Celebrities and paparazzi don't always mix well; big name stars have grabbed cameras out of a pap's hands, flipped them off, and even tried to attack them. And then there are the public figures who have confronted fans taking photos of them. Such was the case for one civilian and actor Sean Penn. 

According to TMZ, in 2013, a fan spotted Penn at the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco and tried to take a photo of the "Milk" star. This didn't go over well. Penn chased after the person and shouted, "Do we look like f****** zoo animals?" According to a witness, Penn grabbed the phone out of the man's hand and threw it to the ground and yelled, "I'll make you eat the phone ... get the f*** out of here!!" 

In 2020, Penn opened up about his temper after Howard Stern asked him to clarify the part of his 2009 Oscars acceptance speech where he said, "I did not expect this ... and I want it to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often." He told Stern on his SiriusXM show, "I am aware that I can be a difficult person to like from afar, often. I sometimes think I have a great love affair with humanity but not too good with humans."

Personal boundaries are no laughing matter, and neither is summoning a legion of ruthless internet trolls. In 2016, Amy Schumer called out a fan on Instagram after he "scared the s*** out of" her while visiting Greenville, South Carolina (via ABC News). She posted a photo of him on her social media page and wrote, "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.'" Yikes. She also noted that she would not be taking photos with her fans after said incident.

The fan told TMZ that her snap led to people making threats against him and his family. He shared that some of the comments included "Shoot him in the face" and "If we see him we will jump him for you." He also claimed that Schumer ran back towards him after the encounter, snapped the photo of him, and allegedly said, "Good, I have four million followers that's going to bash you and show what a douchebag you really are," per ABC13 News. Yikes again.

Schumer later posted on her Instagram, "I am grateful to the people who like my work and support me but not the ones who think that behavior is ok." She also clarified her statement about taking photos with fans by tweeting that she will only do so "with nice people" (via ABC News). The lesson of the day: be respectful when asking for a selfie.

Privacy is hard to come by if you're an A-list star like Jennifer Lawrence, but she's made it clear to her fans that she will do whatever it takes to maintain that privacy, even if it means letting them down when it comes to autographs and selfies. If you ask her, she's not the most friendly person.

During an interview with Adam Sandler for Variety's "Actors on Actors", Lawrence, who gained a huge fanbase after starring as Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, shared that she isn't exactly nice to people when she's out and about. "Once I enter a public place, I become incredibly rude. I turn into a huge a******," Lawrence shared, adding that it's her way of "defending" herself. The actor also noted that she'll tell a fan "No" when they ask for a selfie.

This isn't the first time Lawrence has talked about avoiding her fans at all costs. She once told the Daily Telegraph (via Daily Mail), "I think that people [strangers] think that we are already friends because I am famous and they feel like they already know me — but I don't know them. I have to protect my bubble, like, 'I have a weird job — don't let this be a reality.'" 

Thanks to the world of conventions, fans can shell out money to meet celebrities and get memorabilia signed. However, fans of Gwyneth Paltrow had some not-so-nice things to say after a Goop wellness summit barely had the star connecting with her fans who paid around $6,000 to "hang out" with her. 

According to Page Six, attendees were charged a skyrocketing price to go to a 2019 In Goop Health event in London where they felt that Paltrow did the bare minimum to interact with them. One fan even claimed that the star was "a pretentious, greedy extortionist" after people spent $5,700 for the Goop package. The event included Paltrow hosting "fireside chats" and working out with celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, but fans felt that it wasn't enough, adding that the star had security around her at all times. 

She also ruffled feathers with fans in 2014 when she implied to E! that balancing motherhood and an acting career is more difficult than, say, balancing motherhood and "a regular job." As the New York Post noted, this remark was not received well. "Last time I checked, a movie wraps up, while I look forward to decades worth of routines and hard work," one NY Post commenter wrote. "I have it so easy!" Paltrow addressed the backlash on Goop (via CBS News), maintaining that her statement was taken out of context.

Chris Pratt went from being funnyman Andy Dwyer in NBC's "Parks and Recreation" to a leading Hollywood star in Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Jurassic World." Pratt has become one busy actor and while he may adore his fans, he has one minor diva demand when they approach the star.

In an interview with Cigar Aficionado in 2017, Pratt revealed that he isn't into snapping selfies with fans because time is precious. "I've always been a pretty deferential, go-with-the-flow guy," he began." But now I have to be economical with my time. If I go out and want to do normal things, I have to be comfortable disappointing people. So I just don't take pictures with people. Because that's not about enjoying the moment; it's about stealing the moment to brag about later." When he does get asked for a photo, Pratt said he would rather ask his fans if they would "settle for a handshake." Alas, people "take the picture anyway."

While not one to pose for a photo, Pratt did spark controversy when he began offering autographed photos for a whopping $350. According to The U.S. Sun, the actor shared a link on his Instagram account that went to a site selling Pratt's John Hancock on merchandise from his most popular films. However, fans were shocked at the price tag and complained that it was way too much money.

If you believe A-list stars should oblige any and every photo request they encounter out in public, you may take issue with the way "Game of Thrones" actor Maisie Williams feels about fans asking for selfies. Fame is a fickle friend, and it sounds like the real life Arya Stark would prefer not to be recognized out in public — and she definitely isn't interested in posing for pics with strangers. As she told Nylon magazine in 2016, "I still don't feel like I owe anyone anything." She continued, "If I don't want a picture one day, I don't have a problem saying no. I know some people get really weird about that, like, 'You're so mean.'" What's more, Williams does what she can to fly under the radar. "When I go to a music festival, I wear a mask, because, well, it is fun to wear masks, and also it is nice to walk around without taking pictures all the time," she shared.

As much as Williams may not enjoy the part of fame that involves fans asking for pictures while she's eating lunch or running errands, she does understand the size of her platform. "I got a voice. I believe in equality and I know I have more power than the average person to reach people,"  she said in Entertainment Weekly. "And I just get petrified in case people are rude. You don't want to put yourself through that."

Chevy Chase has been labeled difficult to work with for years, and Gawker's 2012 piece "He's Not Chevy, He's an A*****: A History of Chevy Chase's Horrific Behavior" sure didn't help his reputation. The piece offered a roundup of his former colleagues' accounts of working with him on various programs, painting a not-so-shining picture of his stints on "Saturday Night Live" and "Community." 

It also sounds like Chase is not very approachable when it comes to meeting people who look up to him. Actor Rob Huebel told Seth Meyers on "Late Night" that the "SNL" alum once slapped him across the face for interrupting him. The two met when Chase was a guest performer in Huebel's improv group's show back in the '00s. "So, I went up to him and I was like, 'Chevy, I just want to say I'm a big fan.' And Chevy just hauled off and slapped me across the face — so hard  — I mean, I saw red." Chase evidently made a joke about not butting into his conversation, and Huebel told New York Magazine that "he wasn't trying to be mean; he was trying to be funny." Huebel added, "It was a bummer only because I was such a huge fan." When New York Magazine asked Chase about the incident, he said, "It's a faint memory, but I know it was done in good humor."

The "Twilight" flicks were and still are beloved fantasy films that consist of vampires, werewolves, and the battle between Team Edward and Team Jacob. The saga was an instant hit, grossing $3.3 billion worldwide (per Forbes), bringing in hordes of fans, and making household names out of Robert Pattison, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner. And one of the three leads has said some not-so-kind things about those fans.

In a 2013 interview with the German edition of Interview magazine (via Us Weekly), Pattinson revealed that he didn't understand the pandemonium the movies created and the obsession with the films. "What's really weird about 'Twilight' fans is that they're not really teenagers. Most of them are older. 'Twilight' has its own fan culture that existed from day one. And in an intense way that didn't exist before," Pattinson shared. "Sometimes I ask myself what these masses of people do the whole day. They sit in front of their computers and comment on anything having even remotely to do with 'Twilight.'"

While his remarks might've offended Twihards, it was especially shocking to some to hear author Stephenie Meyer, the woman behind the books which the movies were inspired by, admit to having moved on from the whole "Twilight" phenomenon. She told Variety in 2013, "I get further away every day. I am so over it. For me, it's not a happy place to be."

If there's one Hollywood star to never approach for a photo or an autograph, that's William Shatner. In 2018, the famed "Star Trek" actor took to Twitter to address an autograph policy that rubbed some of his fans the wrong way.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, fans called Shatner "rude" when he tweeted that he won't be bothered to sign autographs unless he was attending a convention. "If I'm out and & about with family or waiting for a plane & I do for one; an instant line 50 forms. So if I say no to #1 or #21 it's the same — I'm a jerk. So to save time the answer is no. There's a time and place for everything & conventions are that place." He continued, "I'm supposed to care about the people who sneak up behind me to have someone grab a photo, who interrupt my private times enjoying my grandchildren, who bother me in the restrooms & who even interrupt my calling my wife at the airport in order to request a photo or autograph?"

Shatner has been known for his complicated relationship with his Trekkie fans. In a 1986 sketch for "Saturday Night Live," Shatner poked fun at them while pretending to be at a convention. In the "Get A Life!" sketch, the actors stated, "I've spoken to many of you, and some of you have traveled ... y'know ... hundreds of miles to be here, I'd just like to say ... get a life, will you, people?"