13 stars who had seriously bizarre fan encounters
13 stars who had seriously bizarre fan encounters
Brianna ZiglerTue, August 11, 2026 at 10:45 PM UTC
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Matthew Lillard; Aubrey Plaza; Joe KeeryCredit: Michael Loccisano/WireImage; Cindy Ord/Getty; Mike Coppola/Getty
Celebrities always say they love their fans — but fans don’t always make it easy.
Scream and Scooby-Doo star Matthew Lillardrecently made headlines for a particularly odd encounter at a horror convention, but he’s far from the only celebrity to endure a tense, awkward, or downright bizarre interaction with an admirer. Unfortunately, as the boundary between celebrities and their fans becomes increasingly blurred, that affection can sometimes be expressed in confusing ways.
From requesting to be punched in the face to propositioning stars for sex to approaching them to buy crack cocaine, there seems to be no shortage of odd things a fan might do to make their celeb encounter memorable — and not in the best way.
Entertainment Weekly takes a look at 12 times fans didn’t know how to take a chill pill when meeting a famous star.
01 of 12
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard attends Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 34th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026, in West HollywoodCredit: Leon Bennett/Getty
During a reunion panel for the cast of Scream at Midsummer Scream in August 2026, a fan approached the mic during the audience Q&A portion with a particular grievance aimed at actor Matthew Lillard.
Fan footage shared by Entertainment Weekly shows a man speaking to Lillard, saying, “I met you a few years ago,” and explained that, at the time, he tried to share his theory about a connection between Scream and the 1995 romance Mad Love, which also stars Drew Barrymore as a character named Casey. The man then claimed that Lillard responded to the theory by saying, “What were you smoking?”
“The way you made me feel... when you told me that, you kind of lost me as a fan,” the man continued. “I just wanted you to know that.”
Lillard, seemingly confused, quipped lightheartedly, “What a great question.” The man tried to continue speaking, but his words were largely drowned out by the crowd before the audience erupted into a chorus of boos. When fellow Scream star Jamie Kennedy asked Lillard what the fan was talking about, Lillard simply replied, “It does not matter. Next question!”
02 of 12
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton attends Dolly Parton’s Rockstar VIP Album Release Party with American Greetings on Nov. 16, 2023 in NashvilleCredit: Jason Kempin/Getty
Celebrities are used to receiving gifts from fans, and while they can range from strange to stranger, nothing tops the gift that Dolly Parton received years ago.
Speaking with Windy City Times (via Taste of Country) in 2011,Parton recalled the time someone left a baby on her doorstep. “It was when ‘Jolene’ was a big hit,” she said. “We came home one day and there was a baby in a box at our gate with a note in it. The note said, ‘My name is Jolene, my momma has left me here and she wants you to have me.’ Of course, we all freaked out!”
Later in the interview, Parton admitted that she “couldn’t take the baby and I didn’t want to be involved,” so she immediately contacted the authorities. “We immediately called Human Services and took care of the baby until they got there.”
Parton said she sometimes wonders what happened to baby Jolene, and whether she ever became a fan of Parton’s music. “I don’t think that person would ever even know about the way that went down,” she said. “There was no way to track it and I didn’t want to.”
03 of 12
The Jonas Brothers
Nick Jonas, Kevin Jonas and Joe Jonas pose at the SiriusXM Miami Studios in 2023Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty
While perhaps not quite as strange as being gifted an abandoned baby, as in Dolly Parton’s case, a dead shark is certainly up there. Believe it or not, that’s exactly what the Jonas Brothers once received from a fan.
In a 2009 interview with Digital Spy, the trio opened up about the strangest fan gift they had ever received. “It wasn’t a real big shark though,” Nick clarified. “It was only a baby shark but they’d preserved it in this tube for us. That was odd.”
But more so than the gift itself, what seemed to puzzle the brothers was exactly how the fan got their hands on it. “We’re still trying to figure out how they actually went about buying a dead shark. I mean, is there such website as Buyadeadshark.com?” Kevin mused.
Nick added, “They didn’t even leave a note explaining. It was just, ‘Here’s a dead shark.’”
04 of 12
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel attends ‘The Lost Boys’ Broadway opening night at Palace Theatre on April 26, 2026, in New York CityCredit: John Nacion/FilmMagic
New Girl star Zooey Deschanel revealed to BuzzFeed in 2022 that a fan once offered some shockingly rude unsolicited fashion advice. “This woman came up to me,” she explained. “And she told me that I should tell my agents to dress me in different clothes because I looked 50 pounds heavier on TV. I was like, ‘Okay…’ It’s just straight-up rude, and she kept going further and further.”
Deschanel continued: “I was more shocked that someone would go up to a person and say that. I’m not that shocked when people comment on pages [on the internet] and are totally rude because that’s just what goes along with being anonymous online. But this was like, they came up to me and started talking to me. And I’m like, ‘You realize you’re, like, talking to a person? Right?’”
05 of 12
Damson Idris
Damson Idris attends the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 4th Annual Gala in Partnership with Rolex at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Oct. 19, 2024, in Los AngelesCredit: Emma McIntyre/Getty
On FX’s Snowfall, Damson Idris played a young drug dealer named Franklin Saint. Bizarrely, Idris has found that people have a difficult time separating him from his character.
“People who watch Snowfall think I sell crack for real,” he told BuzzFeedin 2021. “I was in LA and this guy came up to me and he was like, ‘You know, if you ever need any help, I got a spot where you could stash your stuff.’ I was like, ‘What? Man, it’s a TV show!’”
However, he took the encounter in stride. “People are really invested in this show, so that’s always a blessing,” he said.
06 of 12
Ashley Benson
Ashley Benson is seen on May 26, 2026, in New York CityCredit: BG048/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Pretty Little Liars alum Ashley Bensonwas looking for a little R&R at a Korean spa when a fan approached her with questions about the show’s biggest mystery: Who is “A”?
Benson first told the story during a 2015 interview with Seth Meyers, saying that a girl came into her shower stall, asked for a picture, and pressed her for details about “A.”
The actress later elaborated in a 2020 interview with Buzzfeed. “I was in a Korean spa, and I was in the shower,” Benson explained. “And obviously, like, everyone is completely naked. This girl like came into my stall and was asking me questions like, ‘Who’s A? Who’s this?’ whatever. And I was like, ‘Whoa, I’m literally naked.’”
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Unfortunately, the fan didn’t seem especially concerned with boundaries. “She fully came into my shower stall and was having a conversation. I was just covering myself so embarrassed and being like, ‘What is happening?’ Then she was asking for photos. I was like, ‘This is insane. Oh my god.’”
Though Benson never explained how the encounter ended, she did tell Meyers that the fan waited around for her to come out. “Oh my god, I was so embarrassed,” she recalled.
07 of 12
Tia and Tamera Mowry
Tamera Mowry and Tia Mowry at Essence Black Women in Hollywood held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on March 7, 2024, in Los AngelesCredit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Being a twin can be weird, and being a famous twin must come with its own unique particularities. Twins Tia and Tamera Mowry know exactly what that’s like — once, they were proposed at the same time to by a set of male twins.
Speaking with BuzzFeed, Tia dished about what went down. “I had a fan that was a twin and he and his twin were obsessed with my sister and I. We were going to church and these boys approached us, wanting to give us gifts. When we got back to our car, we opened the gifts and realized they were engagement rings — identical engagement rings!”
“So there was one for me and one for Tamera — they were basically proposing to my sister and I,” she continued. “I’m sorry, but I’m sure you know the ending of this story: We kindly turned them down. It was so weird.”
08 of 12
Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza attends the 79th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 7, 2026, in New York CityCredit: Taylor Hill/Getty
For some reason, people love to approach Parks & Rec star Aubrey Plaza and ask her to… punch them?
Plaza talked to The New Yorker about how fans sometimes try to emulate her deadpan persona. “I always find it funny when someone will come up to me and they’ll be really deadpan. Like, some people kind of try to mirror me, but they don’t know me. They’re, like, ‘I’m really weird, too.” And I’m like, ‘O.K., be weird! I don’t care!’”
But then she revealed the strange request she often encounters: “And then, if I’m in a bar, there’s a lot of people that ask me to punch them in the face and stuff. But I don’t really engage.”
When the interviewer asked whether that was a common request, Plaza responded, “I’ve had it a lot! People will come up to me and be, like, ‘My friend really wants you to hit him.’ Or, like, ‘My friend over there really wants you to slap him in the face’ or ‘She really wants you to punch her in the face.’”
Plaza couldn’t quite explain the phenomenon. “I don’t know what’s up with kids these days. I don’t know what that means.”
09 of 12
Jodie Comer
Jodie Comer attends the Harper’s Bazaar Women Of The Year Awards 2024 at The Ballroom of Claridge’s on Nov. 5, 2024, in LondonCredit: Mike Marsland/WireImage
Jodie Comer is best known for playing the sociopathic killer Villanelle on the BBC America series Killing Eve, but that doesn’t make her fans scared to approach her. On the contrary, it’s invited some particularly intimate photo requests.
On The Graham Norton Show in 2019, Comer discussed the newfound attention the role had brought her.
“Someone asked me for a photograph and I was like, ‘Yeah, sure,’ and was posing for the photograph,” Comer explained. “And then she just quietly whispered in my ear, ‘Will you strangle me?’ And it was like, ‘Ummm.’ My publicist at the time was like, ‘No.’”
10 of 12
Rupert Grint
Rupert Grint attends the ‘Knock at the Cabin’ U.K. Special Screening at Vue West End on Jan. 25, 2023 in LondonCredit: Dave J Hogan/Getty
In the 2015 BBC Three documentary Tom Felton Meets the Superfans, a conversation between Harry Potter alums Rupert Grint and Tom Felton saw Grint admitting that he has a difficult time saying no to his fans — occasionally to funny results.
Grint revealed to his former costar that he once enjoyed a night out with a group of drag queens. “I met this drag queen and went back to her little flat with all her drag queen friends because I couldn’t say no.”
Hanging out was one thing, but the group also wanted to doll up the Potter franchise’s Ron Weasley. “They dressed me up and we went to get bagels at 4 a.m. I was in full heels and a feather boa and it was really weird.”
11 of 12
Joe Keery
Joe Keery during an interview on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ in 2025Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty
As Stranger Things’ Steve Harrington, Joe Keery became known for his character’s particularly voluminous hairstyle, which resulted in one very strange request.
During a 2017 red carpet interview ahead of season 2, Keery told E! News that a fan once asked for a lock of that beautiful hair.
“That was probably the weirdest,” he said. “[They] didn’t pull it… they just asked… I said, ‘Don’t think so, but thank you!’”
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12 of 12
James McAvoy
James McAvoy attends the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on Feb. 16, 2025, in LondonCredit: Lia Toby/Getty
In 2015, Split star James McAvoy appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, where the two discussed various interactions with fans. McAvoy revealed that a married woman once propositioned him at a costume party, explaining that he was her “hall pass.”
“I met her and her fella and she came up afterward and said, ‘So, you’re my allowance ... [My partner] is cool with it,’” McAvoy recounted. “I was really sort of taken aback by it and I said, ‘I’m married, but thank you very much, that’s really, really nice of you.”
He continued, “And then she said this thing that was meant as a compliment ... but it was still really backhanded. She went, ‘Because, you know, a lot [of] girls would be after someone like Channing Tatum.’”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
