OUTSIDE OF PERFECT SKIN, TEETH AND HAIR, CELEBRITIES ARE JUST LIKE US WHEN IT COMES TO DEALING WITH THE DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE, FINDS APARNA SUNDARESAN
In 2009 Priyanka Chopra had a brush with anonymity, regular person-style… and seemingly didn’t like it. She was denied entry to Shahid Kapoor’s birthday party because her name was not on the list. She was stopped at the gate and had to wait for some agonising minutes until another guest recognised her and convinced the guards to let her in.
Josh Hutcherson aka Peeta Mellark of Hunger Games may be a charmer on-screen, but in real life he gets awkward around girls like any other guy. In a magazine interview he said, “I was on a date, and we were sitting at dinner I tried to put my arm around her; I was doing the yawn thing where you lift your arms up. As I did that, I hit the table and spilled a drink.” There’s a lesson here, boys. When in doubt, don’t yawn.
Barack Obama is a good basketball player, but he is terrible at bowling. Out of a maximum score of 300, he scored only 37 at a bowling alley in 2008 while running for President. A journalist commented, “He bowls like my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter.” Ouch. Obama attempted to poke fun at himself by saying, “It was like Special Olympics.” Double ouch. Needless to say, he had to apologise to the Special Olympics chairperson.
Earlier this year, Saif Ali Khan entered the VIP lounge at Lucknow airport, and was promptly asked by security personnel to leave as only those who were on a list authorised by the government were permitted inside (what is it with stars and lists?). Khan refused and got into a tiff. Senior officials then intervened and Khan was forced to leave and wait in the common area like everybody else until boarding. What a tragedy.
Sure, celebrities look perfect thanks to makeup, but even makeup malfunctions. When American singer Etta James passed away last year, Christina Aguilera was invited to the funeral. While she was performing a tribute song, brown streaks started running down her legs. Twitter was immediately abuzz with speculations and jokes about what those streaks were. A source close to Aguilera later said the streaks were spray tan that mixed with her sweat and ran down.
If you thought being tagged in whacky pictures is bad enough, consider what happens to celebrities. In 2009, a picture of Miley Cyrus and a group of friends pulling a slant-eye pose that looked ‘Asian’ was leaked to the internet. A spokesman for the Organisation of Chinese American said, “Not only has Miley Cyrus…encouraged and legitimised the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent, she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American friends.” Cyrus responded angrily on her website that she and her friends were just making “goofy faces” and not “making fun of any ethnicity”. What do you think?
Charlie Sheen’s dismissal from Two and a Half Men was a WTF series of incidents, but it proved that badmouthing the boss can get anyone fired, even celebs. In 2011, Sheen made derogatory statements about the show’s creator Chuck Lorre, calling him “a stupid little man” and “that piece of sh*t”. This got Sheen fired from the show, but it didn’t end his bizarre behaviour. He called himself a “warlock” with “tiger blood” and said, “The only thing I’m addicted to is winning.” That wasn’t the end either, but I’ll stop here because I’ve made my point.
While there are innumerable Bushisms that have marked George Bush’s Presidential reign, we are particularly tickled by the time he gave his ‘friend’, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an unasked-for neck rub at the G-8 summit in 2006. Merkel looked uncomfortable and pushed his hands away. Comedian Jon Stewart joked, “The Chancellor of Germany disengaged herself…using a move she learned in date rape prevention class.” Being unfriended is a thing among politicians too.
In 2005, fans of the Black Eyed Peas were treated to a little more than the band’s music. They were also treated to band member Fergie’s wild bladder. In the middle of the song Let’s Get It Started, Fergie peed into her pants, which became instantly visible. She later admitted that this incident still embarrasses her. “We had to rush onstage before I had the chance to go to the restroom,” she explained. There’s a reason why adult diapers were invented, Fergie.
When it comes to on-stage humiliation, Justin Bieber takes the cake. In September last year, Bieber threw up not once, but twice, during a concert in Arizona, USA. The first was right on stage. In the middle of a song, Bieber turned his back to the audience and hurled. The second was slightly more elegant: he rushed backstage in the middle of a song to take care of his tummy troubles. He tweeted after the show, “Milk was a bad choice! Lol.” Cows, take note.
Volume 2 Issue 12
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