# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/41 "2009-01-18T18:44:28Z")
Friend of mine used to be a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines before they were purchased by the devil. She said that hands-down, the rudest person she’d ever attended was Lucille Ball. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/42 "2009-01-18T18:54:14Z")
I have personally been yelled at by David Crosby (because he was driving around Santa Monica and couldn’t find our office out there). Um, sir (and I use that term loosely), I’m a _temp_ and I’m in _Omaha_. I have no fucking idea where our Santa Monica office is, but if you’ll give me a minute to look it up on mapquest… Jerk. He also made our receptionist cry. And that is just simply unforgiveable. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/43 "2009-01-18T18:56:27Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I’ve read several of the riders (including a few of the divas) and have yet to run across anything that struck me as completely batshit (although MIA’s request for “cave aged Gruyère” was a little strange, in my view) and I don’t know why Coldplay need fresh socks, don’t they have their own? Maybe I haven’t read enough to get to the really strange ones. Fresh socks is neither strange or dick. When you are on a grueling tour schedule you want clean socks, they are one of the basic comforts. In the army they talk about how important clean socks are. They don’t necessarily have time to get their laundry done or have someone go get them socks, so it’s easier to ask for it on the rider, and it’s not terribly difficult to get for the people who are organizing the show. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/44 "2009-01-18T19:08:20Z")
Personal experience from many years ago: John Wayne. An arrogant, demanding, ignorant dick. ---
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/45 "2009-01-18T19:15:58Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > OT: The [Iggy Pop rider](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/iggypop/iggypop1.html) is not to be missed. Really, you absolutely have to read this whole thing. If that guy had a blog I would read it everyday. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/46 "2009-01-18T19:17:21Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > OT: The [Iggy Pop rider](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/iggypop/iggypop1.html) is not to be missed. Oh, good grief! I’m in love! I’m just to the second item on the list, and the person writing is name-dropping Pepys? Woohoo! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/47 "2009-01-18T19:19:49Z")
> [@vison](#): > > Personal experience from many years ago: John Wayne. > > An arrogant, demanding, ignorant dick. No wonder he’s so beloved of a certain sub-type of male ultraconservative. ---
**Author:** ![mikeargo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@mikeargo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikeargo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/48 "2009-01-18T19:23:50Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Some of the ones I read were entirely reasonable. The one for Eminem’s tour with various others in the catering section listed what time breakfast, lunch and dinner should be served and what it needed to consist of (seemed fine to me and probably a good idea as some performers have lifestyles that don’t include structured meals). It went on to suggest menus for each day but stressed they were suggestions and the event organisers could plan as was sensible and/or speak to the management company if they needed to - again, fine to me. Okay the request for a game room seemed a bit excessive but then the event was in Japan; asking for a room of arcade games there is pretty much like requesting ice when you’re staying at the south pole. 🙂 A friend of a friend who owns a hotel where performers stay when they are in the area says that Eminem is a perfect gentleman. Kenny Rogers, on the other hand, is a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/49 "2009-01-18T19:29:33Z")
Kelly Preston is a she-douche. She was in a movie filmed here and my boyfriend was a PA - his friend was her cast driver. She’s vile. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/50 "2009-01-18T19:37:13Z")
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Robin Williams yet. Residents of San Francisco generally regard him as a total ass monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/51 "2009-01-18T19:52:03Z")
Someone who used to arrange entertainment for large corporate events told me that Chuck Berry refused to out and perform at one such event unless the guys running the show backstage gave him all the money in their wallets. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/52 "2009-01-18T20:10:19Z")
Dion was a major jerk to me. ---
**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 18, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/53 "2009-01-18T20:18:34Z")
Celine Dion or “Runaround Sue” Dion? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/54 "2009-01-18T20:23:40Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I’ve read several of the riders (including a few of the divas) and have yet to run across anything that struck me as completely batshit (although MIA’s request for “cave aged Gruyère” was a little strange, in my view) and I don’t know why Coldplay need fresh socks, don’t they have their own? Maybe I haven’t read enough to get to the really strange ones. Jimmy Buffet, apparently, won’t perform if anyone opens the doors during sound check. Most of the other things I read seemed sane. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/55 "2009-01-18T20:42:58Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > Someone who used to arrange entertainment for large corporate events told me that Chuck Berry refused to out and perform at one such event unless the guys running the show backstage gave him all the money in their wallets. Ages ago, I was watching the short-lived Vicki Lawrence talkshow and she had Wolfman Jack and a few folks from the 50s-era music scene. (Wolfman was the only “A-Lister” from that era, the rest were band members for folks like Chubby Checker, etc.) She was talking about how many of the African-American artists from that era got shafted on royalty payments, and Wolfman Jack blurts out (quite loudly, I might add), “If I know Chuck Berry, he **got** his royalties!” There was a _strong_ implication in the way Jack said it (body language, facial expression, etc.) that Berry went above and beyond being a dick. Mind you, artists of that era (black _and_ white) did get shafted, but there are right ways and wrongs ways of handling it. Jack _didn’t_ say it, but from the way he was acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if Berry hadn’t extracted some of his lost “royalties” from Wolfman. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/56 "2009-01-18T20:54:24Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I always thought that the “wanting the brown M&Ms removed” thing wasn’t to be a dick for the sake of being a dick, but on the theory that if the other party to the contract had gone to the trouble of taking all the brown M&Ms out of the bowl in the Green Room, then that meant that A) They’d read the contract thoroughly and B) Had done everything else that the contract required as well. Van Halen was famous for having this clause in their contracts at concert halls. I’ve heard both Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth explain that this was a silly clause with a serious purpose: they figured that if a venue was ignoring small provisions in a contract, they were probably ignoring more crucial provisions, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/57 "2009-01-18T21:01:00Z")
Bill O’Reilly is another dick who hasn’t been mentioned yet. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/58 "2009-01-18T21:05:22Z")
Lyle Lovett: ## My dad does backstage work at various venues in Seattle. Once, the stool provided for Lyle to sit on on-stage wasn’t up to his liking and he threw a huge hissy fit and made everyone leave the theater to stand out in the alley. In the rain. My fiancee went to a party for the first or second Project Greenlight movie. The one filmed in Chicago. She had a copy of the script that she was getting all of the performers and people like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to sign. She said those guys were great… Ben very nice and outgoing, Matt was pleasant though a little more shy/guarded, but still nice. Aiden Quinn on the other hand was a jerk to her. She asked him if he’d sign her script and he said “Ask me again in a half hour.” So she came back up to him after 30 minutes and he looked at her, sighed and said, “When someone says to come back in a half hour, obviously they don’t want to sign a fucking autograph.” She’s not one to take shit like that from anyone, famous or not, so she said “Then you should have just said that in the first place, don’t you think, instead of being a dick about it.” He grabbed her pen and signed the script afterall, but wasn’t happy about it in the least. * * * I was at a reading/q&a with Chuck Palahniuk once and he was talking about the filming of Fight Club. He said that he and Brad Pitt had gotten to be fairly close friends during the making of the film and that at a party, Brad took him to meet his girlfriend - Jennifer Aniston. Palahniuk said that Jen couldn’t have been more of a bitch to him if she’d tried. She was completely annoyed w/ Brad for bothering her with the introduction and then got his name wrong when she shook his hand. Called him Chad or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/59 "2009-01-18T21:26:52Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > OT: The [Iggy Pop rider](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/iggypop/iggypop1.html) is not to be missed. I missed this first time around - whatever the guy who wrote that rider is on, I want some. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827/60 "2009-01-18T21:31:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Van Halen was famous for having this clause in their contracts at concert halls. I’ve heard both Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth explain that this was a silly clause with a serious purpose: they figured that if a venue was ignoring small provisions in a contract, they were probably ignoring more crucial provisions, too. I read an interview with Eddie once where he explained that the main purpose behind that clause was safety: with a whole bunch of electrical equipment up on a strange stage in an unknown venue it could be downright hazardous if the promoter cut corners or didn’t know what they were doing: the “electrocuted singer” bit in **Almost Famous** wasn’t made-up, and was a genuine hazard at jerry-built venues. Their gig contract had a bunch of specifications about the kind of setup they needed in order that nobody was electrocuted or incinerated, with the “Brown M&M’s” clause thrown is a test: if the promoter had skipped over that bit, chances were he’d skipped over some potentially dangerous stuff too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-complete-bastards/481827.md?page=4)