# What celebrities are known for being jerks(that are not named Chevy Chase)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839 "2020-09-04T19:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/481 "2025-02-16T22:10:30Z")
I vaguely remember that after Kathleen Battle performed under contract at the Metropolitan Opera and then moved onto her next engagement, that the crew wore sweatshirts or t-shirts that said, “I Survived The Battle”. She was ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/482 "2025-02-16T22:52:27Z")
I was with two other guys doing some renovation work at the American embassy in Prague. Shirley Temple Black was the ambassador at the time. Her secretary came into the room where we were working and said that the ambassador wanted to come in and see what we were doing, and while she would likely talk to us that we should not bring up her childhood movie career, as she felt that her work post-Hollywood was far more important. Ambassador Black was very pleasant and chatted with us about what we were doing, and I completely understand why she would not want to have her movies brought up. I’ve related elsewhere that I met Dave Brubeck, who was very pleasant. While I’m sure he was probably tired of people bringing up his old quartet, he talked about them with me like it was the first time anyone had asked him. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/483 "2025-02-17T15:45:50Z")
> [@SwissMan](#): > > Eh, I watched that clip on TMZ and, quite frankly, I got a serious vibe that Jeff Dye is a little bit of a dick himself. I was expecting him to be complaining that Hyland screamed at people or was chronically late or belittled members of the crew for minor errors. OK, if she actually did complain about extras eating at the craft service table, that wasn’t really necessary, but it’s nothing to make a huge deal about. > > He really lost me when he talked about describing the _Dumbo_ trailer as “gay” meaning bad, just to be a jerk. 1996 called; it wants it’s casual homophobia disguised as comedy back. The complaints were about stereotypical I’m number 1 on the call sheet everyone else is beneath me behavior. Bad for Sarah because that might be the only movie where she’s number 1 on the call sheet. It could be dismissed as one guy’s story but I’ve since seen a lot of seemingly genuine comments from others saying she was a nightmare to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/484 "2025-02-17T16:38:01Z")
I don’t have anything to contribute to the OP, but with regard to Sarah Hyland: She was in a made-for-TV remake of “Dirty Dancing” where she played Baby’s older sister. In the original movie, the character was comic relief (as well Kellerman’s nephew Neil), but the remake dispensed with those elements and they were straight character roles. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/485 "2025-03-06T01:40:51Z")
The time that Eddie Murphy was a cast member, soon after _48 Hours_ came out, Nick Nolte called in and said he couldn’t do the show that he had been scheduled to host. Supposedly burned out from working constantly but likely as not fried from partying too much. So Dick Ebersol, the producer at the time, decided that Murphy, a cast member who was rapidly becoming the biggest new star in America, should host the show. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/486 "2025-09-23T12:46:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The other thing I quickly learned is that I was in the habit of drowning my sushi in soy. Even most of the _ignorati_ know that the correct procedure is to carefully hold it upside down and gently immerse just the fish portion in the dish of soy. But I also learned that it’s quite common for a sushi chef, on request, to brush the sushi with soy for you if it happens to be the kind that requires it. The job of a good sushi chef is to make his creations as delicious and attractive as possible and create the best possible experience for his customers. As one sushi chef once summed up my responsibility as his customer, “just eat”! Since I know I’m going to get a bill for around $600 for two, I don’t feel guilty about it. I remembered this post when I read this: 😁 > “We never serve extra soy sauce, rude people, intoxicated people,” the sign proclaims. The line about extra soy sauce is highlighted in red. > > Sushi J’s refusal to provide extra soy sauce on request has prompted bemusement in the local community, with social media users joking about smuggling in their own condiment packets. > **[B.C. sushi chef refuses to provide extra soy sauce — even for $1K | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kitimat-bc-sushi-j-no-soy-sauce-1.7640761)** Great sushi chefs are **very** particular about how their creations are served, and customers pouring on excessive soy sauce can drive them to madness! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/487 "2026-05-06T00:01:36Z")
Some guy on reddit purchased a lot of Ed McMahon’s stuff and it included this letter from Jerry Lewis. Looks like Jerry could also be a good guy. [![](https://i.redd.it/vbl835wqadzg1.jpeg) ](https://i.redd.it/vbl835wqadzg1.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/488 "2026-05-06T18:23:21Z")
I missed that when it first aired, but holy cow, what a jerk! Gene Simmons is clearly a smart guy, but he’s also clearly not as smart as he thinks he is. That doesn’t make him a jerk, but his narcissism and misogyny get him over the line. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/489 "2026-05-06T18:44:08Z")
His good quality is not taking drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/490 "2026-05-06T22:51:09Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I missed that when it first aired, but holy cow, what a jerk! Gene Simmons is clearly a smart guy, but he’s also clearly not as smart as he thinks he is. That doesn’t make him a jerk, but his narcissism and misogyny get him over the line He’s definitely bad guy. Super self-absorbed, and absolute pig when it comes to women. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone ever talk pleasantly about their experiences with Gene Simmons. He was on the Apprentice back in the day and I honestly thought he came off as a bigger jerk than Trump. Or at least his equal. Do any of the other Kiss members talk positively about him? ---
**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:** [May 7, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/491 "2026-05-07T00:19:17Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Do any of the other Kiss members talk positively about him? Paul Stanley apparently gets along with him well enough in a professional context, but Simmons himself in recent years has proudly declared that he has no friends. Apparently he doesn’t want to waste time feigning interest in anyone but himself (really!). Zappa made somewhat similar comments in later years, professing to divide people he dealt with regularly into two categories - family and employees. But Zappa was fond of cynical, sardonic pronouncements and it is apparent that throughout his life he did indeed have many people that were fond of him and vice versa. Simmons, not so much. Actually far as I can tell, not at all. A more universally disliked musician (except by the groupies he endlessly pursued) would be hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/492 "2026-05-07T00:25:32Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Do any of the other Kiss members talk positively about him? Part of the challenge in that, especially since the late '80s, is that Simmons and Paul Stanley own the band; anyone else who has been a member since around 1987 has been their employee. So, if one wanted to remain employed by them, one would likely have had to stay quiet. The late Ace Frehley, the band’s original lead guitarist, is one who clearly was out of fucks to give, and while he sometimes referred to Simmons and Stanley as “his rock and roll brothers,” he also occasionally criticized them. In particular, Frehley disputed that the two of them had fired him twice (a story which Simmons and Stanley repeated often, for decades): he insisted that he had quit, in part because of what he perceived as their jealousy of him. [https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general\_music\_news/ace\_frehley\_speaks\_up\_on\_myth\_that\_gene\_simmons\_and\_paul\_stanley\_perpetuated\_about\_him\_i\_had\_big\_resentments.html](https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/ace_frehley_speaks_up_on_myth_that_gene_simmons_and_paul_stanley_perpetuated_about_him_i_had_big_resentments.html) And, as per [Simmons’ Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Simmons#Controversies): > [@](#): > > In 2019, Ace Frehley, Simmons’s former bandmate in Kiss, stated that Simmons had groped his wife, calling him an “asshole and a sex addict”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/493 "2026-05-07T01:31:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Part of the challenge in that, especially since the late '80s, is that Simmons and Paul Stanley own the band; anyone else who has been a member since around 1987 has been their employee. So, if one wanted to remain employed by them, one would likely have had to stay quiet. Yep. Megadeth runs the same way now. Dave Mustaine is the owner and the rest work for him. Having said that, I think Dave is way, way, way, way more reasonable and normal compared to Gene Simmons. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/494 "2026-05-21T23:21:43Z")
Today I read an anecdote that deserve a mention in this thread: Billy Crystal, a huge baseball fan, was at Yankee Stadium one day as part of a tribute to Mickey Mantle, who had since died. Among the attendees was Joe DiMaggio. At some point, Crystal had a microphone, and he was told he should introduce DiMaggio. “Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Joe DiMaggio.” Joe goes and stands next to Whitey Ford. Crowd cheers. Later; Crystal is standing around, schmoozing with players, when DiMaggio walks up to him and _punches him in the stomach_. He then growls “greatest living ball player.” Joe DiMaggio insisted on being introduced as the “greatest living ball player”. He took offense at the slight. And _punched Billy Crystal_ in response. > **[30 Years Ago, Billy Crystal Met His Hero and Somehow Ended Up Getting Punched...](https://www.vice.com/en/article/30-years-ago-billy-crystal-met-his-hero-and-somehow-ended-up-getting-punched-in-the-stomach/)** > > The comedian’s dream Yankee Stadium encounter turned into a brutal lesson in why meeting your idols can be a terrible idea. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/495 "2026-05-21T23:33:31Z")
I’ve long heard that Diana Ross is a diva, personified. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/496 "2026-05-22T00:23:11Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I missed that when it first aired, but holy cow, what a jerk! A link for anyone who is interested: [Gene Simmons | Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross](https://freshairarchive.org/segments/gene-simmons) I have only heard the first few minutes, but oh my god - he shows what an asshole he is right away, and keeps on going. Hah, Terry Gross got a good zinger off: Gene (when Terry starts giving him a little richly deserved push-back): You’re being defensive. Why are you being defensive? Terry: It’s contagious. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/497 "2026-05-22T00:53:49Z")
I wonder if _anyone_ likes Gene Simmons. I see he is still married, so I guess maybe the wife likes him. Hmmm…we almost need a “jerkiest jerk” bracket challenge. Gene would be a real contender. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/498 "2026-05-22T02:20:16Z")
Let’s not forget John Wilkes Booth. Pfft. Actors! ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/499 "2026-05-22T03:11:25Z")
OMFG! I’ve only ever heard pieces of the interview, so I wasn’t aware what a piece of shit Gene Simmons is. Too many to remember them all, but my favorite moment might be when he nitpicks about the pronunciation of his names (there’ve been three of them) and sneers that it’s OK because “it came out through a **gentile mouth** ”. Terry informs him that “it’s not a gentile mouth”. I thought Simmons was just an asshole rock star. I now realize that would be an insult to asshole rock stars (except maybe Ted Nugent). Another nominee for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839/500 "2026-05-22T14:46:16Z")
Gene Simmons is pretty smart. He knows how he comes across. He has a carefully crafted public persona. In other words he’s been a troll since long before the word has its current meaning. There’s a reason why he’s still in the public eye 30-something years after he should have been forgotten. I have no doubt he’s still an asshole in private but he’s also been able to stay married for decades and have two relatively normal children. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrities-are-known-for-being-jerks-that-are-not-named-chevy-chase/919839.md?page=26)