# 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:** 13
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/241 "2009-01-24T15:03:34Z")
> [@bup](#): > > The deal is, that I heard on NPR at some point, whatever hotel she stays in, her staff brings her personal toilet seat. The \*reason \*is that they don’t want people eBaying ‘toilet seat that the QEII sat on with her neckid butt!’ She also refuses to use the hotel’s wipers, always bringing her own (a husband-wife team named Leonard and Peg, both of whom regret their liberal arts degrees). > [@](#): > > From what I’ve heard, that will always remain in the realm of the hypothetical… A story I remember from the A&E Biography on Lynde is that at the height of his success he bought a mansion that once belonged to Errol Flynn and had a huge housewarming party. Sometime between the first guest arriving and the party getting big Paul became obsessed- paranoid- about the guests getting out of control and trashing the house (no real reason he got obsessive, just one of those “it could possibly happen” fears) and so he moved the housewarming party outside and refused to allow anyone _inside_! There’s a story that about him, possibly apocryphal, that made it’s way into the plot of _Groundhog Day_ (in which it happens to Bill Murray’s character. One night he was driving drunk and a police car started chasing him. He refused to pull over, drove fast and erratically through a downtown area, then another police car joined in, and it ended when he ran his car off the road and into a mailbox. When the police came to his car, so the story goes, they came up to his window with their guns drawn. Lynde rolled down his window, looked at them, and said “I’ll have a Number Three combo with a Dr. Pepper, hold the onions!” [or something like that]. There’s a one-man-show about Lynde called Off Center starring an actor/impoersonator named Michael Airington that has gotten rave reviews. [Clips](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkqohtLA5cA). ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/242 "2009-01-24T17:41:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > When the police came to his car, so the story goes, they came up to his window with their guns drawn. Lynde rolled down his window, looked at them, and said “I’ll have a Number Three combo with a Dr. Pepper, hold the onions!” [or something like that]. This is a completely stupid thing for me to point out, but I’m like that, so I point out that Paul Lynde ordering a ‘number 3 combo’ is anachronistic - combo meals didn’t really _happen_-happen until the mid-80’s. Otherwise I believe the story. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/243 "2009-01-24T17:48:29Z")
The big chains started combos in 80s but probably before that some local places had them. ---
**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 24, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/244 "2009-01-24T18:03:37Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Yep, that’s the one. He was at the conference promoting his 200th book. > > When authors stop by my store unannounced, they generally fall into one of these categories: > > **The Rearranger** : Just as you described. He’ll carefully turn his book face-out on the shelves or move it to a more prominent location when nobody’s looking. > > **The Sneak** : She’ll sidle on up to the counter and say, “Do you have the book XXX by so-and-so?” (their book, of course). She’ll ask a bunch of questions to see what you think of the book and how you promote it. She may or may not announce herself as the author. > > **The Greeter** : I must confess to being one of these most of the time. If the store has any of my books in stock, I’ll walk up to the store manager, introduce myself, and ask if they’d like me to sign their stock. > > **The Stealther** : You don’t find out it was an author until after she’s left, or somebody recognizes her. My wife also runs a bookstore, and she’s familiar with all four categories; from what she’s told me, she’s met two more: **The Complainer** : He’ll come in, leave, and then call the CEO of the chain to tell her that his book isn’t displayed prominently enough. Can go very badly for the store manager. **The Neighbor** : An author who happens to live nearby, stops by once a week and wants to talk about every book in the world except his own. Will perhaps sign a couple of books as a personal favor. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/245 "2009-01-24T19:31:34Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Chevy Chase seems to figure into a lot of people’s arsehole lists. There was the snl book that interviewed a few of the cast members and they talked about what it was like the night Chevy came back to host. Pretty belligerent by all accounts. I met someone at a party many eons ago who said he once dated Chevy Chase’s daughter. He said Chevy was a complete and utter asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/246 "2009-01-24T19:41:33Z")
Back in the 1980s a friend of mine was a waiter in a restaurant in Dayton, Ohio. One evening, about 15 minutes before closing, **Rob Lowe** walked in with couple young women. Since it was near closing time, they were the only ones in the restaurant. They stayed for _two_ hours, and my friend said Rob was a belligerent and obnoxious prick the entire evening. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/247 "2009-01-24T19:51:27Z")
Sorry about all the posts, but here are a couple more: **Johnny Ramone**. Was a real dickhead from everything I’ve read. **Frank Zappa** : I’m a \*huge \*fan of FZ, but I’ve heard horror stories from musicians who worked for him. He was \*not \*a personable guy… business-like, joyless, cold, and ultra-demanding. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/248 "2009-01-24T20:15:50Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > = > **Johnny Ramone**. Was a real dickhead from everything I’ve read. Hell, he even admitted it himself. The documentary _End of the Century_ ( all but required for any Ramones fan, before it I hadn’t realized how central Dee Dee was to the band ) pretty well shows him off as the cold, controlling jerk that he was. However I remember reading a Rolling Stone article written after his retirement and just before his death, where he and a several other people indicated that he had mellowed out considerably after retirement. Which considering how he comes off in the movie is saying something :D. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > **Frank Zappa** : I’m a \*huge \*fan of FZ, but I’ve heard horror stories from musicians who worked for him. He was \*not \*a personable guy… business-like, joyless, cold, and ultra-demanding. Kinda bitter. He indicated once that all of the people he interacted with fell into two categories 1) family and 2) employees. No friends. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/249 "2009-01-24T20:38:44Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > There’s been a few threads here about John Walsh of _America’s Most Wanted_ fame being a bit of a dick. When I lived in Maryland in the late 1980s I knew a girl who worked on his show. She said Walsh was biggest womanizer she had ever met. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/250 "2009-01-24T20:44:02Z")
> [@bup](#): > > This is a completely stupid thing for me to point out, but I’m like that, so I point out that Paul Lynde ordering a ‘number 3 combo’ is anachronistic - combo meals didn’t really _happen_-happen until the mid-80’s. I’ve heard this story a few times since the late 70’s, always with a different person behind the wheel. Originally it went, “I’ll have a cheese burger, fries and a Coke.” It probably dates to the days of drive in diners and car hops rather than a drive though. That makes more sense because it better fits the model of a person approaching your car window and motioning for you to roll it down. Whether it was Lynde or not, it looks like the quote in the original post was inadvertently updated. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/251 "2009-01-24T20:44:57Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I used to think Rosa Parks was some brave little old black lady that wasn’t gonna take that crap anymore and became a hero. > > I was pretty pissed a few years ago when I learned she was really active in the civil rights movement and the whole thing was staged. > > They still had a point, but still ☹ **billfish** , you can get a more accurate account of things here: [http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about\_king/encyclopedia/parks\_rosa.htm](http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/parks_rosa.htm) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/252 "2009-01-24T21:26:58Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > When I lived in Maryland in the late 1980s I knew a girl who worked on his show. She said Walsh was biggest womanizer she had ever met. Just the biologic imperative in action. When strangers are stealing your offspring, you just have get busy to make up for the loses. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/253 "2009-01-24T21:36:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > When I lived in Maryland in the late 1980s I knew a girl who worked on his show. She said Walsh was biggest womanizer she had ever met. He’s discussed his sexual addiction in [recent years](http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2008/12/cnn-larry-king-live-encore-presentation.html) (especially on his blog at the College Girls Looking for Sugar Daddies dot com). I know he’s straight and Duchovny’s straight, but they’re both admitted sex addicts… if you locked them in a room long enough, I wonder if they’d ever scrog each other. ---
**Author:** ![mudkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@mudkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudkicker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/254 "2009-01-24T23:55:58Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Well sure, but the same is true of that jerk who cut you off in traffic/took the last jelly donut/wore shoes in the house/hung the tp upside down/invaded a small village somewhere in the second world/drove his SUV in the carpool lane with no one else in it. We Pit them all the time for being complete bastards. I don’t see the need to hold celebrities to a higher standard, but neither to a lower. If I’m having a bad day and do most of the things mentioned here, I’d be (rightly) considered a cuntswallop. Yep. We all have our bad days, but that’s no excuse to act like a cunt towards other people. If they’re being a wanker, you’ll probably be more angry and shouty with them than if you weren’t pissed off, but there is no excuse imo for being a tosser to someone who’s just trying to do their job, or who’s just there. I always wonder about slebs who do this. The average Mr or Ms on the street _might_ get away with acting like a dick, simply because no-one knows them, but if I were well known, I’d make even more sure I behaved nicely to people. I don’t spend my days fretting about what other people think, but peer opinion is still important, and no matter how rich or successful I was, if most people I met thought I was a dick, I’d consider that a fail at lilfe. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/255 "2009-01-25T00:49:52Z")
In fairness to Johnny Ramone he sort of had to be a jerk. He kept the band afloat and made sure they got paid. The rest of the band members were typically flakes (Joey and Dee Dee particularly). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/256 "2009-01-25T01:12:40Z")
I was at a Christmas party this past year and met an Australian woman who taught Nicole Kidman at the exclusive private school Kidman attended as a teen. She says that Kidman was much as we see her now (or expect): cool, kinda snooty/snotty/stuck up. The school apparently was a nightmare of entitled kids and pushy parents and the woman was glad to move on. Jack Kennedy (future President) stepped on my mother’s foot once at a rally when he was running for office. He didn’t say excuse me so she didn’t vote for him. :rolleyes: I know a nurse who took care of Walter Jacobson (used to be a local news anchor here on CBS here back in the day; now is some kind of attack dog for Fox locally, I think) when he was hospitalized (about 10 years or so ago)-- she said he was a total prick to the nurses and aides. Verbally abusive, demanding and unreasonable. ---
**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 25, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/257 "2009-01-25T02:17:40Z")
I liked his music, but I don’t think I would have really wanted to hang around with **Jim Morrison** very much. No telling what sort of shit I’d’ve gotten up to. **Hunter S. Thompson** was quite a handful, I’ve heard. **Charles Bukowski**? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/258 "2009-01-25T04:04:36Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I was seated next to him at a conference and invited him (RL Stine) to include my store in Montana on his next publicity tour. He laughed at me. Not a little chuckle. A long, drawn-out laugh that left everyone at the table looking at each other uncomfortably. He stopped, looked at me, and said, “I’m sorry, but _Montana?_” and started laughing again. Unfortunately, book tours are as tightly planned as D-Day. You live in BFE and the very idea that his publisher would see enough sales to justify PAYING FOR A STOP IN FREAKIN’ MONTANA is hilarious. Sorry, but the laughter is understandable, and the others weren’t uncomfortable for Stine, but you. > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > While I was doing my internship at a TV station here in Indy, my director was telling me how much of a bitch Rachel Ray was. > > She told me things like: Rachel canceled appearances because she “was tired”, and then used that time to go out shoe shopping. Shoe shopping in Indy? At the Payless? 😃 > [@Sampiro](#): > > She looked like ‘The Nanny’ (Fran Drescher) but with a buzzcut and wore a skin tight leather jumpsuit. (thinking) That’d work. :leer: > [@](#): > > His woman seemed to think of him, when addressing others, as a 5 time Oscar winner… “Excuse me, but I’m with Edward Furlong in case you didn’t know…”…and the other guests included Walter Matthau, Roddy McDowell, and other much bigger names (who rolled their eyes; Matthau actually told a friend of mine on the hotel staff that “I feel sorry for that kid- he has no family to run that bitch off and no balls to do it himself”). 1. Dude was in T2. There are people on this very board who believe that is equal to winning five Oscars. 2. So is it safe for me to adore Walter Matthau even more for that, or is there another shoe to fall? 3. And I’m ashamed to admit it, but Jerry Falwell always looked to me like loads of fun, once you admitted you weren’t of the same faith (there’s a joke ther) and got a couple drinks into him. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > I do this are more prominently displayed), I have to admit. (regarding rearranging books so the RIGHT ones, as in, they contain my name) So do I. Then there was the time I found Penthouse unbagged on an open rack at Venture. I thought the kiddies might appreciate some sex education that wasn’t boring, so I left one open to the (it didn’t fold so you couldn’t call it a “centerfold”) center picture. > [@eleanorigby](#): > > Jack Kennedy (future President) stepped on my mother’s foot once at a rally when he was running for office. He didn’t say excuse me so she didn’t vote for him. :rolleyes: My dad happened to run into him on the street after a campaign appearance and Jack hugged him like a long-lost friend. Dad assumed it was a case of mistaken identity, but voted for him, this being in his period in the wilderness as a Republican. OTOH, Tip O’Neill said that, after a campaign stop, JFK would pocket all the folding money in the collection plate. > [@](#): > > I know a nurse who took care of Walter Jacobson Y’know, Skippy’s kid is Dr Taub on _House._ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/259 "2009-01-25T04:19:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Johnny Carson was insanely generous with his money- he gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to colleges (especially his alma mater, U-Nebraska), the James Randi Foundation (I think he’s the reason they’re solvent), astronomy organizations (he was a passionate amateur astronomer- Carl Sagan said he could talk with Ph.D.s on the subject pretty much on their own level), and numerous other charities. He could also be extremely petty. I’ve heard Paul Anka say that Johnny demanded 50% of the royalties from the “Tonight” show theme music, even though he had absolutely nothing to do with writing it. Anka agreed, figuring that 50% of the royalties of a jingle played every night was worth more than 100% of the royalties to a tune nobody would ever hear (Anka says that, by the time Carson retired, the “Tonight” theme music alone brought him about 800 grand a year). Anka also has a great story about the downside of Carson’s womanizing. When he first began performing in Vegas as a young man, Anka was befriended by the Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra gave Anka the best advice he ever received: in Vegas, never hit on a girl until you’ve made sure she isn’t some mobster’s girlfriend- because Mob guys in those days didn’t care if you were a celebrity! If Dean Martin put the moves on a wiseguy’s girl, Dino would have a gun in his face as surely as anybody else would. Johnny Carson apparently hadn’t heard that advice. In Vegas, in the early Sixties, he started propositioning every cocktail waitress he saw. In short order, a couple of Mob big shots were beating the snot out of him. Anka managed to get the hotel manager to step in and save Carson’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/260 "2009-01-25T04:26:54Z")
There was a recent _Entertainment Weekly_ article that basically said Mike Myers is hell to work with, and that many in Hollywood were making no secret of their desire to see _The Love Guru_ bomb miserably. Wish granted! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827.md?page=14)