When fame and fans don’t go hand in hand

I think the Pope forgot he was being filmed losing his patience on New Year’s Eve when he was caught on camera slapping the hand of a female pilgrim during a walkabout in St Peter’s Square in Rome. As the Pope walked passed her, a female pilgrim grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. The Pope then slapped her hand twice to try and prised himself free.  We all saw it and the video quickly went viral.

I suppose questions are being asked if this is what we expect from someone who is meant to be a role model for everything that is good. Violence towards women is completely wrong and so too is violence towards anyone. Does seeing the Pope resort to a level of violence to free himself send the wrong message? That, in some instances, it’s okay to get physical?

And here’s another interesting and amusing fact about the Pope that I discovered on YouTube just by doing a search. There’s a tradition that worshippers take the Pope’s hands in turn and plant a quick kiss on a ring he wears. It’s meant to be a sign of respect. But one video shows, and it’s very hilarious, that each time a worshipper tries to kiss his ring, he quickly yanks it away. He clearly does not like human contact.

But the Pope isn’t the only famous person who’s got themselves in the news for getting physical with fans and journalists.

One international actor whose actions I can neither forgive nor forget is that of Omar Sharif who actually slapped a woman in the face when she tried to get close enough to him to be struck in the face. I am actually surprised that this is not in the entertainment media more. I don’t recall seeing this footage in the mainstream media or anyone talking about it. It was just in some offbeat publication.

Now, if you own a YouTube channel, you might be struggling to get anywhere with it. Justin Bieber was a persistent YouTuber with his musical videos. Many people have YouTube channels, some with more than 300K followers but few get ‘discovered’. But Bieber was, by a talent manager who chanced upon his video and invited him to make a recording.

One would think that he would be grateful for his fan-base, having humble beginnings. But it appears people have very short memories. He once cursed a fan using profanities simply because he wanted a photo taken with him. Bieber should have either obliged because that would have been the gracious thing to do, with him being in that kind of business and all, but no. He offended the fan to such an extent that it ultimately led to an altercation. Can you blame the fan?

I actually no longer have what little respect I might have had for British actor Christian Bale after reading that he assaulted his mother and sister. Be he didn’t stop there. After receiving a fan letter, he sent a form of death threat to the sender because that letter was addressed to his home rather than an office. The fan’s letter contained nothing threatening but I guess Bale felt violated because the fan managed to get hold of his home address.

But this next one incident is one I would call a minor kerfuffle. I personally think that actor Will Smith showed a great deal of restraint when confronted with this situation. He was in Ukraine attending a red carpet event during which he was approached by a Ukrainian journalist. Or, at least someone who introduced himself as one. It turns out he was a Ukrainian celebrity prankster who managed to get close enough to him to try and kiss him. It was at this point that Smith shoved him and asked, ‘what the hell’s wrong with you…?’ As I said, I think Will Smith was very restrained and the prankster is lucky he wasn’t punched in the face.

It’s notable that violent celebrities are not gender-biased. Female celebrities can also get physical with people when they get into situations with which they are not happy.

Lindsay Lohan has always been somewhat of a rebellion with her crazy physical transformations and endless drug addictions. On this occasion she was at a nightclub when was she was approached by a woman claiming to be a psychic. She told Lohan that, because she’d had a premonition, she’d like to give her a free reading. Lohan told her to give her some space and as she did, she heard Lohan calling her names that included a profanity. The woman responded in kind so Lohan gave her a black eye.

Barbadian singer Rihanna lashed out at a concert in Birmingham, England. During one number she got off the stage to sing as she ran through the crowd. But as she did so, she was grabbed by a fan so she violently whacked them in the head with her microphone. She later tweeted that the whack was not a reflex or accident but deliberate.

It’s clear that celebrities don’t like human contact from complete strangers, even if they are worshippers or adoring fans. I understand that it must be tough to fend off or avoid that unwanted contact. Maybe we would be the same if we became famous. But it’s hard to fathom given that fame comes with fans and worshippers expecting them to be obliging to some extent. Many fans just want to have photos taken or shake the hands of their idols, and celebrities know this. But the Pope getting testy was alarming. He’s meant to be a man of the cloth and patience should be foremost in his mind. In fact, he shouldn’t even have to think about it. Moreover, an apology to the world doesn’t really mean much especially after a footage goes viral.