Nobody said he HAD to sign the book. He could have been much politer about refusing her, though. “I’m sorry, my book signing was earlier, I don’t sign books at panels.”
Maybe he should have a sign up “Code of conduct for signing books at panels” so we all know his stupid-ass rules.
At the time, he was a recurring character on the Beauty on the Beast CBS show (with Perlman and Hamilton) and that’s how he was billed. He did a hamlet soliloquy that really impressed me! But I more wanted to say I met him before the Star Trek stuff, especially Quark. Ah, well.
Oh, met Dean Haglund back in 2000 or so when he came through to a comedy club and was doing his improv. First of all, hilarious stuff! A friend of ours went up on stage to make the noises for him and we have never laughed so hard! His whole routine had our stomachs hurting from laughing so hard! And yes, afterward, he was very approachable and a great guy!
Well, yeah. This is why I said he was an ass.
But I never touched him, nor made any attempts to do so, nor did I sneeze or cough.
If I had just blown my nose with a handkerchief and then stuck my hand out for a shake, I could see his reaction being reasonable. My interaction with him was as clinical as possible.
At the time (1987 or 1988) I’d never heard of such a rule and I’d attended many cons at that point. It wasn’t like I’d interrupted him speaking to the panel or the audience. He was just sitting there, minutes before the panel was due to start. In retrospect I can see the reasoning, not wanting to encourage a crush of people to do the same thing and ultimately causing a delay. But I asked nicely, he could have refused in a polite manner; I don’t care if it’s the 500th time he had to say it, there’s always someone who is unaware of this “rule”.
My sister worked at several trendy and expensive bars and restaurants in Houston, she said Charles Barkley was notorious as a downright nasty asshole who the owners tolerated for the money he dropped. The servers are every place he ever went were terrified he would return she claimed.
I keep reading the title of the thread as “Artists You Longer Enjoy After Meeting Them In Prison.” That’d certainly be an eye-opener of a thread.
I met Roald Dahl as a child. He didn’t seem to like children very much, but it didn’t affect my love for his books. I remember him smoking like a chimney.
Met Lynn Swann on the sidelines when he was the on-field reporter for a Texas game. A friend and I saw him and tried to say hi, but he snapped at us that he was getting ready to do a standup. I don’t think he was wrong to shoo us away, but he was rude as hell about it. I was glad when his political career fizzled out.
My sister met decathlete Daley Thompson at a track meet and he was a complete prick to all the kids (middle school aged) who were running. He made snide remarks about how none of them would ever be on TV like him! I’ve never liked him since.
On the opposite hand, my sister met Trent Reznor at a festival and he was super friendly, and gave her and her friend cool swag, and hung out a bit (this was in the early 90s). Not a big fan of his music, but definitely a fan of the guy.
If this was The Defuser, aka Jarrett Crippen, he IS an awesome guy. Seriously legitimately 100% awesome. He’s a police officer here and is on the BoD for Scare for a Cure, a haunted house that raises money for breast cancer charities. I’ve met him socially - he’s a friend of a friend - and yes, he is just as much of a sweetheart in person. Charming, funny, cheerful, an all around good dude.
I’ve met a couple-or-three famous people myself and they’ve all been kind folks. Sadly, I have no stories of being snubbed by the truly famous: just people who think they’re more impressive than they are. 
I’ve never heard of such a rule either. Just seems like common sense. But then, I have no interest in getting autographs and I’m very loathe to bother any celebrity unless it’s an obvious situation where the celeb is out to meet & greet.
He could’ve. He was an ass.
Love to hear more about this…
I had to sign in to defend Chris Reeve. I met him three times over the course of several months back when he was Superman and dating a supermodel and I was a backstage nobody. I doubt he even remembered me from the previous meetings. But being 21 years old and a dick, I sought him out each time (twice backstage and once at an after party) and chatted him up for several minutes. He was relaxed and friendly and never gave any indication he’d rather be talking to anyone else. Nice guy.
Of course, that’s just my mileage.
Now to actually address the OP (why isn’t there a sheepish smiley?).
I’ve met/worked with a couple of celebrities who made me seriously hate them. As with broomstick, it never turned me off their work. I’ll read or watch or listen and think, “He’s an asshole, but he sure is good at what he does.”
OTOH, I was never personally insulted like wonderlust was.
I have never had a bad experience meeting a celebrity of any kind. Of course, I’ve only met two.
Elizabeth Montgomery - met her when I was about 15. She was absolutely wonderful and took the time to actually talk to me. Well, it was only about three minutes, but she had the gift of making you feel like you were the only person in her world right then. I’m still in love with her and I cried when she died much too young.
Michael Hedges - got to meet him between sets at the old Rockefeller’s in Houston. Spent 15 minutes talking guitars, music, etc. A genuinely nice guy.
I met Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, backstage in Louisville. The rest of the band was cool, signing autographs and chilling with the fans. Billy didn’t say a word to anyone until a girl came up and asked for an autograph. She was wearing a pretty revealing outfit with a lot of cleavage and Billy launched into a tirade about how she was degrading herself by dressing that way. The poor girl burst into tears. I distinctly remember D’Arcy shaking her head and calling him a dick under her breath.
When I went to Valley Forge Military Academy, I got to take around visitors to the school on campus tours. I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of cool celebrities and politicians. Kenny Rogers was cool. Charles Barkley was one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. But, Tom Clancy was such an arrogant douche. I was floored. He complained about everything. Expected to be waited on hand and foot like some bonny prince. He regaled us with stories of how awesome he was and never once said thanks or please to any cadet who did anything for him. In contrast, Bob Hope, who looked like he was on his deathbed, took the time to talk to anyone who came up to him. He was generous with his time and said thank you to everyone. That guy had class. Clancy was just an ass.