We all love to hear celebrity anecdotes—they make us feel like we really know our Hollywood idols. Celebrity stories can go one of two ways, though: They can bolster our love or they can crush our dreams. A recent Reddit thread asked users to spill their saddest celebrity encounters. From mean celebrities (Gene Simmons is NOT a nice guy) to just plain sad celebrities (drunken Carrot Top isn't funny anymore), here are the saddest celebrity encounters of all time—that really happened!
Once you've cringed at the stories on this list, be sure to read all about the celebrities who were jerks even before they had fame in their corner.
The Saddest (Real) Celebrity Encounters,
Andy Dick
Andy Dick is known for wandering around aimlessly. mtortilla62 ran into him "at a storage facility in Hollywood. He was wandering around with a giant pair of bolt cutters. I was scared."
Betty White
Betty White is all of us in this moment from joeb7474: "I was at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles and saw a poster promoting Betty White signing her latest book about how much she loves animals. I liked the Golden Girls so I thought I would swing by the bookstore to take a gander at Betty White. It was so sad. I'll always remember she was sitting alone at a big table with a stack of books in front of her. People were in the bookstore shopping but no one was buying her book or really acknowledging her. She just sat there, pen in hand, waiting. She would occasionally wipe off some imaginary dust to look busy."
Carrot Top
What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas! User titan_toss said, "I ran into Carrot Top in the hallway between Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas. He was so drugged up he could barely stand up straight. He was running into the walls and he had a guy helping him get around."
Chris Rock
anotherredditvirgin spent all day waiting in lines at Six Flags, only to lose her place to Chris Rock. She says, "I had waited an hour and a half in line for a ride at Great Adventure. Was in the front seat line so the wait was even longer. Finally, I was next in line--watched gleefully as my train pulled in. And Chris Rock and his family come walking up from the exit and are given my spot, without waiting at all."
Gene Simmons
Reddit user DomashnaRakija said his brother met Gene Simmons once at a show he was playing in. "Gene complimented my brother highly on his guitar playing but then said 'too bad you'll never make it' and just walked away."
Hulk Hogan
The Hulk must've had a sad day after he met Reddit user JoyceCarolOatmeal. She says, "All I remember is that my dad got his attention as he was walking toward the ring, and when he came around he stuck out this GIANT hand and said "Put it there, darlin'!" I recognized him but he was scary, so I peed my pants and cried."
Michael Cera
When Lets_Get-Weird ran into Michael Cera on the subway, the encounter was Cera's signature brand of awkward. "We had an eye conversation. No words exchanged, but he was terrified I was going to speak up or ask for an autograph. He kept nervously looking back over his shoulder at me. When he got to his stop he paused and nodded at me in thanks."
Michael Phelps
When a friend of Reddit user bubba3517 stumbled upon Michael Phelps eating a granola bar, "Phelps quickly finished his granola bar in order to shake my buddy's hand. As they were shaking hands he transferred the wrapper to my buddy, leaned in, whispered 'you can keep that', and promptly walked off."
Steve-O
Willie1707 went to see Steve-O do stand up and said, "After his show, he said he would meet everybody there. We waited in line, and he was being super nice, laughing and taking pictures with everyone. Right before we got to the stage some fat, redneck a**hole told him that he was funnier back when he was on drugs. It killed his whole vibe. When we got to him he just took a picture with us and said thanks for coming, but he was clearly in a bad mood."
Christy Mack
When Xstasy14 interviewed Christy Mack, "her agent and I were talking when she was signing autographs and he told me about how he wants her to get away from her boyfriend... He sure was right." A month later, Mack's MMA-fighter boyfriend ended up beating her.