Here’s Why I Won’t Tell You About The Rudest Celebrity I’ve Met

It's inevitable that when you work in the radio industry, the following question comes up in conversation almost daily:

You work in radio? Have you met any famous people?

Yes, lots actually! One really cool part about working in media is you do occasionally get to spend time with famous musicians, actors, athletes, politicians, and other popular humans. Sometimes it's a quick handshake backstage before they perform, or a long-form interview in studio where plenty of back-and-forth banter can lead to some pretty deep conversations.

But nobody cares about that. The typical followup question is:

Who's the rudest celebrity you've ever met?

Weird flex, but this gets asked so much more often than you'd think.

Do I have an answer? Absolutely.

It was 2003. I was an intern at a pop music station in a major city. A huge R&B star was coming into the studio for an interview, and couldn't have been ruder. They barely spoke to anyone other than their own staff, they cut the interview short, and made it obvious how miserable it was for them to be there at the time.

However, I won't be sharing who it is.

Why? Because we all have bad days. While this might come off as preachy, ponder this: Would you want some random person you met for only a moment to tell everyone they know about how you acted when you met? We all have those cringe moments in life, for celebrities, a lot of those are caught on camera, microphone, or both, and live in infamy forever. It's a tough gig.

So anytime I have an encounter with a celebrity that's less than ideal, I label it as "Damn, they must be having a bad day," because I'm an optimist to the core and can't help myself.

However, if they're rude twice? Blocking you on TikTok. No questions.