People Break Down The Pros And Cons Of Being Friends With A Celebrity

A Normal Friend

"I work in the film industry and have made some famous friends over the years."

"In this industry, you become especially tight when you're working on a movie on location together for a few months, staying in the same hotels, working out together, partying together, etc."

"Just like being on a sports team or something. You can often be really tight for a while but after the shoot ends everyone goes their separate ways to an extent."

"Sometimes you keep in touch or make a lasting friendship, but rarely. It's the same with other crew members."

"The benefits have been some cool parties, easier time meeting women, one time a hotel manager gave me free bottle service for a night hoping I'd invite a couple actors… which I did not, but I met a few girls myself because girls love free bottle service. Something rich guys in NY understand."

"I just order drinks like a normal person. Um, valet service if they don't want to be seen and for it to be a thing. One of my friends who I stayed close with has a poker game once a month at his kick@ss house, I've met a lot of other cool people through the game."

"The negatives are that people/ fans are often crazy/ awkward, so the celebs aren't able to act like a normal human being for very long. Most times we we go out, the actors leave early because more and more people realize who they are and bug them for pictures or to talk to them."

"More and more women show up for the guys, dressed to the nines, even though the guys are married. So the men eventually want to leave."

"On the whole people are cool, but we have had some fun nights completely ruined too. I went bowling with about 12 actors one time, and we ended up leaving after the first game because of all the odd people and that sucked."

"We've run into a paparazzi problem once, and it was a major problem. The guy was married and the pictures made it look like he was with another woman and it was in magazines, but totally not true."

"One thing that's interesting is a lot of times they're really happy to have a normal friend, somebody that will treat them exactly like everyone else."

"That's why celebrities often date other celebrities. Nobody likes to be put on a pedestal or treated differently. Most celebrities moved to NY or LA from a different city, don't know many people, and just want to have some normal friends who don't want something out of the friendship."

"My buddy Dan befriended a famous actor we now play basketball with. Dan realized this guy moved to Hollywood when he was 17, is now a multimillionaire celebrity and doesn't have a single normal guy friend who doesn't work with/ for him or something."

"So Dan just decided to befriend him. Now they're thick as thieves."

- [Reddit]

A Famous Father

"My best friend since childhood has a famous father. He's one of our countries most famous comedians."

"Pros: Free tickets to everything, which they would bring me and my friends. He would occasionally drop some funny jokes."

"Cons: Really annoying walking around with him in public and him getting recognized by fans. They swarm and two little kids don't exactly enjoy getting pushed aside and waiting all the time when we are just trying to spend time together or going for ice cream or something."

- Pererns

World Tour

"Was involved with the lead singer of a famous band. Honestly it was like any other relationship, we had cute dates, I offered to split the bill and he let me (sometimes), we bickered like a normal couple, he farted on me in his sleep, etc."

"We never really partied with the band or anything with the exception of two times, most times he was tired from touring and just wanted to have dinner and watch tv."

"Benefits - getting to check out awesome hotels and restaurants in my city that I normally would never have gone to."

"Disadvantages - It sucks when you really, really like someone and after a while realize you're just a stop on their world tour."

"I was stuck at my job and he would send me pictures of whatever city he was in that day. After a few years of touring the band took a break to work on a new album and such and he had no reason to come to my city anymore."

- hummuscat

Keith

"I'm friends with Chief Keef."

"Man I do not know how to describe the dude. He's sporadic, but I love him."

"He's a pretty scary guy if you don't know him, but when you get to know him, he's kinda like a black Iron Giant."

"Anything he talks about in his songs, it's true. Sadly. He's got all the guns, he does all that gang banging. I used to be a part of that, but since he got famous, he's given me and my family enough money to move out of where we were, into a nicer place."

"I'm in Atlanta right now, talking with music executives. He's really gotten me on my feet, had me on some songs, etc."

"I'd say the benefits are that he loves helping people, and he's a giant teddy bear. I'll call him up and say, 'hey Keith, what's up?' And he'll give me a rundown of his day."

"He's in LA right now for rehab, and I hope this shapes him up a bit."

- [Reddit]

TV Heroes And Real Heroes

"Buddy of mine's father was a huge star in the 80's. He's the main character in one of the most famous 80's teen movie you could imagine."

"His kid, holy sh*t, he is like IDENTICAL looking to his dad. I really didn't see it as a big deal when I was a kid; but looking at it now it's got to be weird."

"I mean god damn, he sees his dad on the tube by accident ALL the time. Since he looks so much like his dad did then, that's got to be kind of like seeing yourself on TV all the time."

"One thing that stood out to me though, was a comment he made when we first started hanging out."

​"We did theater together and my dad, a local cop, was also a carpenter. He would volunteer to build these bad@ss sets and design all sorts of neat stage props and pieces."

"Like really cool, intricate things."

"My buddy had always admired my father. So one he turns to me and says: 'Your dad builds things and fights crime. He's pretty much a superhero. Your dad rules.' "

"My dad passed away from brain cancer pretty recently, and the whole statement THEN meant very little in comparison to what it means NOW."

"This kid's dad is a celebrity, and here he was very often bragging about MY father."

"Kinda bizarre but I wish my dad heard me brag about him more."

- Thisguy0316

People Find Out...

"He's not really a friend; he married into my family. Technically he's my Uncle, but I am very close to my aunt and him in a friend like way."

"Anyways, he married my aunt when I was like 15 and at that time I thought this was pretty cool and needed to be shared with everyone. I feel differently now."

"The benefits are that I stay in their awesome apartment when I go to New York (which is rare these days, but still), and they treat me to nice meals at fancy restaurants. One time we went out to lunch with one of my favorite actresses, so that was really exciting. He's sent me autographs from celebrities he has worked with if he knows I like them."

"The disadvantages are, once people find out my connection to him, I'm suddenly their best friend and they must meet him, talk to him, etc."

"There have been several occasions where a distant relative on the other side of my family that I've never even talked to contacted me to try to get to him. In one instance she was trying to get me to arrange her son to meet him because he wants to go into theater."

"A friend from high school's older sister sent me a video of her daughter to send to him so he could tell his agent about her talent. Stupid annoying things like that."

"People find out you know someone and suddenly you are a more valuable friendship to them just for you and your friendship alone. "

- gonekuckoo

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Fun If You're A Sociopath

"Everyone assumes you're rich. Everyone gets disappointed when you're not also famous."

"People bug the f*ck out of you. Paparazzi follow you around. Newspapers fill up with rumors."

"Unless you have money, fame isn't that fun. Sure you can get women, but only so they have a story to tell their friends or to get benefits from you."

"Eventually you have no idea who is a real friend and who isn't. Celebrity is fun if you're a sociopath, I guess."

- [Reddit]

Off Season

"I'm pretty good friends with a professional football player. We were really good friends when we were younger."

"I live a few hours from the city he plays in, so when I visit we just hangout at his place. It's hard to go out in public there but when he visits me, a few hours away in a small town, we can go to a bar and it's not too crazy."

"He's pretty much rich, but has never gave me any money though he always buys the beer and dinner and pays for anything my family does with him."

"I don't really talk to him during the season other than a text here and there, there just isn't time."

- JasonGD1982

Disney! But Also People!

"I'm friends with an actor you'd all recognize if I said his/her name."

"Big advantage - Disneyland! You get a person assigned to you to take you to the front of every ride, multiple times if you want."

"We did the whole park in about 4 hours. We were asked (told, politely) not to take pictures of the behind the scenes areas, but it was cool to see them."

"Disadvantage - watching them pose with pictures for an hour as you're trying to leave a restaurant."

"Observation - People do not treat celebrities like people. I've seen people come up and say 'Your last movie wasn't very good was it? Why do you think that is?' "

"Almost as bad are the people who act like they have some sort of inside joke with them just because they've seen them on TV."

- deProphet

The Line For Pictures

"I am friends with a Hollywood celebrity. He comes out to Australia all the time and we hang out when he does."

"Benefits will be all the cool things I get to go to and see (e.g. getting backstage) and I get to meet other celebrities."

"Another funny benefit is the famous by association assumption. We had drinks after a performance at the opera house and there were 2 international celebrities, one national celebrity and myself."

"A girl asked for photos and autographs and she kept on giving me a weird look before asking for a photo with me and asked for my autograph - I work in IT."

"Disadvantages would be that for us to have an actual catchup, uninterrupted, we would have to chill in the hotel room or my house."

"Out in public everyone comes up and says something and wants to say hi. Also, I am always the guy taking the photo."

"At the aforementioned concert at intermission there was a line down to our seats that people lined up to take pics with him. I just took photos for the full intermission."

- wav3s84

The ACTUAL Answer

"Answer I think you're looking for: Free Disney trips, people kiss my @ss trying to get in, I get to drink, party with porn stars, famous people, and do it 20 feet away from Martha Stewart. I then leave with free sex toys."

"ACTUAL answer: I honestly get to know someone I love and trust. She's hidden from the majority of people due to who she is and always has to, "stay in character" when someone recognizes her."

"But we openly talk to each other and keep no secrets. We escape to each other's worlds."

"My favorite moments are vegging out, playing video games and appreciating the normal moments together."

- queerdeviant

Epic

"I live in Hollywood and have a couple friends who are pretty well known. One is on Glee, the other played a fairly prominent character in the Harry Potter movies."

"Being that I'm not in the film industry, the only benefits I really get from them are invites to some pretty cool events and a bit of Twitter follower runoff."

"Epic, I know."

- MyCoolWhiteLies

"What Have You Been Up To?"

"Have a friend who isn't necessarily 'famous' but his picture appears in print, he makes an obscene amount of money for it."

"He spends his life jet setting all over the world attending exclusive parties, staying in luxurious hotels and eating expensive food with scads of beautiful women who have loose morals and looser, uh, necklines."

"Advantages? None really. I've never been invited to one of these parties, he doesn't treat anyone to a round mow and then, the aforementioned scads remain mysterious."

"Disadvantages? Well he isn't really the same person he once was. It's like being friends with a stranger who has no real clue how regular life works."

"He's the most annoying person to have 'what have you been up to?' conversations with."

"Him: 'What have you been up to?' "

"Me: 'Oh nothing really, just studying and working. Probably going to have to sell a kidney to pay for tuition next year. My hair is starting to fall out in clumps and I haven't eaten in 2 days. Not sure if it's from the anxiety, the stress, or the fact there's no food in the fridge. How about you?' "

"Him: 'Pretty much the same. Went to Miami last month for a couple weeks. It was ok, I guess. But you know how spring break is down there, there's just sooo many hot chicks throwing themselves at you after a while you're just like 'enough already! I'm trying to have a private surf lesson with Kelly Slater!' So annoying.' "

"Anyway, yeah so next week are you busy? You should come with us to Dubai, we're staying with this friend of a friend of mine who has this like palace or whatever and he said it'd be cool if you want to crash on the couch. My flight, accommodation, transportation, food and incidentals are comped, you gotta pay for yourself though.' "

- [Reddit]

Everything Takes Forever

"Actors."

"Benefits: They often make really great friends. They come stay with you when they need a break from fame, and let you stay with them when you need a break from reality."

"Biggest downside: Going anyplace out in public takes a LOT longer than normal because people stop you everywhere constantly."

"Wanna go see a 90-minute film? Better pencil in 3 hours at the theater."

"Dinner and a movie? That's typically a 7-hour affair."

"Not that it can't be fun to watch, but I'd never be able to tolerate being in their position."

- NeverEnufWTF

Nothing Like His Act

"A bunch of my friends from High School were in a pretty successful screamo band."

"They're all cool guys except for the much older guy who was the 'nice'/melodic singer/songwriter in the group. He's an absolute tool, and nothing like the sensitive guy act he puts on for his solo project."

"I'd go into detail about some of the things he said & did around me, but I don't feel like getting sued."

"The other guys are all awesome - though I don't really know the second drummer they had, after the first one left. I moved to the other side of the country after high school, and they'd put me on the list for their shows."

"I'd go and hang backstage, and drink some free beers, even though it wasn't really my scene. We still have beers whenever I visit my hometown & they're around."

"I guess the only other 'advantage' was that 17 year old girls with too much eyeliner would try and hit on me so I would bring them backstage."

- GMRealTalk

No Kids

"I used to be great friends with a really popular X Games athlete. It's not so much of a problem anymore, but when he was getting big we'd hang out all the time and we couldn't go anywhere without him getting bombarded by young kids asking for autographs and pictures."

"It was fun at first, but it got old fast. Really fast."

"He hated it, but was always polite. They were kids."

"Basically we couldn't go anywhere where there'd be lots of kids around. So basically we couldn't do anything fun like movies, amusement parks, the mall, etc."

"It kinda sucked."

- [Reddit]

The Legend And His Son

"So my mother's cousin is a really famous country singer who is no longer alive."

"While growing up we went to this annual family reunion celebration. It was ridiculously great. Through my mom's uncle I met stars like George Strait, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, and so many others."

"Young me didn't even realize the greatness of this and just assumed it was normal."

"I also spent a lot of time with this famous person's son. We would go to his dad's trailer, where his mom was, and be given all kinds of toys. Pop guns, water guns, weird PVC contraptions that you put a black cat into and it would shoot rocks."

"Now this country legend's son is famous for being in film and his own music. I'm not sure if he'd remember me but I'll never forget the good times."

- toddinator

Celebrities have been saying basically this for forever. They're just people out here doing their job, and would like to be treated like normal humans please.

Unfortunately, people tend to forget that or think they are entitled to some sort of intimate access just because they're a fan. It's unsafe for the celebrity, it puts the people with them in awkward and unsafe situations.

Not to mention our celebrity obsession just straight up isn't healthy. We put expectations on them and give weight to their opinions JUST because a lot of us know their name.

They're not experts, folks. They're just "Keith" (proverbially speaking) and they want to do their job, take their kid for ice cream, and maybe have a beer with an old friend.

They should be able to.

Let's leave that dangerous celebrity worship behind for 2022, fam.