# What celebrities are complete bastards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827 "2009-01-18T04:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/181 "2009-01-21T23:01:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Aside from the guitarist in the group Stone the Crows, when has someone been electrocuted on stage?: > > [Stone the Crows - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_the_Crows) Not electrocution, but I was helping run a show in which the singer of the main band got a bad shock from the mic and just left the stage. That was the end of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/182 "2009-01-21T23:20:26Z")
William Shatner once patted my first wife’s mother’s rear-end unbidden. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/183 "2009-01-21T23:39:50Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Patrick Stewart is a prima dona, and was known on the ST:TNG set as “Baldilocks” because everything was either too cold or too hot (metaphorically speaking). I used to work for a theater touring company of which Patrick Stewart was sort of a figurehead artistic director and I met him on several occasions. He was a perfectly nice man. At one event, during which he was being interviewed by a TV reporter, I was asked to get his sunglasses from his car. I accidentally set off his car alarm and, despite my inability to get the damn thing to turn off, he laughed the incident off and got them himself. I was told by someone who knew him better that he was a bit on the cheap side, despite having boatloads of money from Star Trek, but that this was very common in British stage actors in general, as they often spend years as near-destitute nobodies before attaining any significant financial success. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/184 "2009-01-21T23:48:29Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > It was actually a joke around the store that the most insufferable, impatient and demanding authors to deal with were self-help gurus who wrote about ‘self-fulfillment’ and ‘seeking serenity.’ Yep. When I was working at a bookstore, it was John Gray (I think that’s the name - the guy who wrote those _Men Are From Mars_ books). He was constantly hitting on and making disgusting sexual comments to one of my co-workers (who was married, as was he). He was an obnoxious prick to her and a smug, condescending ass to those he wasn’t trying to fuck. Of course, that all changed once he got in front of the audience and adopted the caring, sensitive pose he used to sell books. ETA: Willie Mays used to be a regular customer at another bookstore I worked in, and he was never anything less than friendly and humble. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/185 "2009-01-22T00:34:12Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > On $40/Day, Rachel Ray often leaves what I consider to be an awfully small tip. Forego the cocktail, Rach, and pay your server! > > StG Just to mention, she’s not cheap, in the times when I watched the show and had a calculator, she didn’t stiff them, she just exactly tipped 15%. Not more, not less. Now, in something that (occasionally) costs less than $10, this seems like a pitiful tip. And in many of those places people usually leave a tip over 15%. I also read somewhere that even though she could (or did) tip more, the producers of the show went with the 15% tip as the amount they added to count towards the $40/day. I guess if you’re visiting some of those places, you can of course skip some meals or drinks and tip more, still spending less than $40 (she sometimes seems to eat a whole lot during the day). ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/186 "2009-01-22T01:06:00Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > I guess if you’re visiting some of those places, you can of course skip some meals or drinks and tip more, still spending less than $40 (she sometimes seems to eat a whole lot during the day). I remember reading somewhere that her camera crew actually eats most of the food she’s served (to help her keep her girlish figure, no doubt). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/187 "2009-01-22T01:57:31Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Back in the 80’s, at a sci-fi convention I won, along with one other attendee, a dinner with one of the stars, James Doohan. There was him, we two guests, and the convention organizer. Doohan almost completely ignored us fans, speaking with the organizer. We tried to talk with him, ask questions, but his answers were brief and curt. We both decided he was a jerk. > > . Have you seen the youtube video where he talks about helping a fan resist suicide? He might or might not a fake, but damn that thing makes me cry! Doohan is Scotty right? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/188 "2009-01-22T01:57:46Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Just to mention, she’s not cheap, in the times when I watched the show and had a calculator, she didn’t stiff them, she just exactly tipped 15%. Not more, not less. Now, in something that (occasionally) costs less than $10, this seems like a pitiful tip. And in many of those places people usually leave a tip over 15%. > > I also read somewhere that even though she could (or did) tip more, the producers of the show went with the 15% tip as the amount they added to count towards the $40/day. > > I guess if you’re visiting some of those places, you can of course skip some meals or drinks and tip more, still spending less than $40 (she sometimes seems to eat a whole lot during the day). I know this is hijacking the topic of this thread and turning it into one about what constitutes a proper tip but while 15% may be considered a good tip by many people, apparently standards have shifted so that now anything below 17% is viewed as an insult. In fact, 15% could land you in [“The Shitty Tipper Database” at the bitterwaitress web site.](http://bitterwaitress.com/std/index.php) ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/189 "2009-01-22T03:36:25Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Ricky Gervais tells a story about his father, in which a key factor is that Elizabeth II will not use a toilet that has _ever_ been used by anyone else. Well, I can say that that is not true. When QE2 opened the University of Northern British Columbia, she was perfectly happy using the institution’s washrooms as provided. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/190 "2009-01-22T03:54:14Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > Well, I can say that that is not true. When QE2 opened the University of Northern British Columbia, she was perfectly happy using the institution’s washrooms as provided. She opened the university? Maybe everyone was ordered not to use the toilets until after she’d left. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/191 "2009-01-22T03:58:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > She opened the university? Maybe everyone was ordered not to use the toilets until after she’d left. 😃 Well, the university had been open for a little while prior to the ceremony. Maybe they had a new, plastic-wrapped toilet seat on standby… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/192 "2009-01-22T04:38:08Z")
Personal experience: [ul] [li]Carol Channing. A real self-centered, loud-mouth bitch.[/li][li]C. Everett Coop when he was US Surgeon General. A condescending prick.[/li][li]Peter Marshall (Hollywood Squares original host). So full of shit.[/li][li]Chief Justice Warren Burger. A pompous ass. OTOH, Justice Harry Blackman was very gracious.[/li][li]Jerry Penacoli. Another pompous ass, probably because he is allegedly the original butt of the famous joke about gerbils (and not Richard Gere).[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/193 "2009-01-22T06:14:54Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [li]Jerry Penacoli. Another pompous ass, probably because he is allegedly the original **butt** of the famous joke about gerbils (and not Richard Gere).[/li][/LIST] Perfectly accidental turn of phrase, I’m sure… Joe ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/194 "2009-01-22T06:27:59Z")
A couple guys I met said they were at Sloppy Joes in Key west when David Caruso came in. He was with a woman who was shopping and decided to stop for a drink while she shopped. He sat down with a the strangers ,had a drink with them and paid the bill. In K.W. Goldie Hawn was famous for being fun until she got too drunk. Then I hear she could get real bitchy. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/195 "2009-01-22T06:34:27Z")
Also in KW, Barbara Streisand and Don Johnson were staying in a hotel there. She pulled into another womans assigned parking spot. The woman bitched and babs gave her the " do you know who I am speech’. Woman said I don;t give a fuck move your car. Johnson did move it and seemed very embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/196 "2009-01-22T08:29:54Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > No one better dis Alton! 🙂 Can I make fun of his hair? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/197 "2009-01-22T13:15:57Z")
No, you may not. Sorry to go a little OT, but I once shared a ski-lift with William H. Macy and he was one of the nicer guys I’ve met. Funny as hell too. I almost fell off once laughing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/198 "2009-01-22T14:02:10Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > Well, I can say that that is not true. When QE2 opened the University of Northern British Columbia, she was perfectly happy using the institution’s washrooms as provided. Her Majesty used the shitter at my wife’s college. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/199 "2009-01-22T15:06:48Z")
Jesse “The Body” Ventura was an ass to me when I asked him a question about regressive taxation. He acted like a bully. He insulted me and challenged my age (I was in my 30’s) and he demonstrated that he didn’t seem to know what regressive taxation even was. That was the way he always was though. He didn’t put on some other kind of persona when the cameras were turned on him. ---
**Author:** ![thenextwalrus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@thenextwalrus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thenextwalrus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/200 "2009-01-22T15:34:54Z")
These type of threads can be fun sometimes – fame has a tendency to inflate egos, and everyone enjoys good gossip. However, I think people should remember that these celebrities are people too, and that these threads can also quickly devolve into dragging people’s good name’s through the dirt for little or no reason. For example: > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Patrick Stewart is a prima dona, and was known on the ST:TNG set as “Baldilocks” because everything was either too cold or too hot (metaphorically speaking). But here is what his fellow actor [Wil Wheaton has to say](http://wilwheaton.net/faq.php): > [@](#): > > Patrick is very cool… Everyone was very, very cool. When you’re on a show like that, you spend about 10 hours a day, 5 days a week together. Some shows will have a prima donna or 4, but we never did. And elsewhere on the internet [he describes](http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/10/27/star-trek-the-next-generation-where-no-one-has-gone-before/): > [@](#): > > …Patrick Stewart’s natural warmth and kindness coming through the gruff demeanor Picard was written to have… Idonno, I just feel like we should have a higher standard than unattributed quotes taken out of context before we publicly label someone “a complete bastard” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827.md?page=11)