I always wanted to be one of those chosen few who met celebrities at airports, get pictures with them and then show them off to my friends. In this Reddit thread, people share some of the most awkward celebrity encounters and I am almost glad I didn’t meet a celebrity.
1. “While returning from the school trip, at the airport, we saw the whole Mumbai Indians team. One of my friends went to Rohit Sharma for a pic. He obliged. While clicking the pic, he got shoved and the picture turned out blurred. Sharmaji got annoyed and told him “Ayy lukkhe dhang se photo kheech na!””
2. “Met AR Rahman post-concert and pretty much froze. He tried asking questions to knock me to my senses. Soft voice, calm energy (ashy foundation though).”
3. “I met or rather saw Depika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. I was super late for an event, I was running towards the hotel washroom to change and they assumed I’m going to ask for pics. They tried telling me something but I excused myself and continued running.”
4. “We were in Katra, my dad told me Chunky Pandey is here and we have to rush before he boards the chopper for Vaishno Devi. So I ran, took my autograph book and then saw it wasn’t Chunky but Govinda in a yellow sweater and pants. He smiled and called me to take a picture and I said, “You are not Chunky Pandey” and walked away in a huff as I was offended by his presence. My dad was so embarrassed, and then my brother was forced to take pics with Govinda since I went MIA!”
5. “I once entered a famous restaurant without reading any signs, and suddenly, I was in the middle of a photoshoot consisting of Urmila Mantondar, Mehr Jessia, Madhu Sapre and I think, Aishwarya Rai. All I heard was “GET OUT”. The restaurant was booked for a private event which was this photoshoot and I marched in– so this was easily the most embarrassing moment of my life”
6. “8 year old me was at the Chicago airport. There was a person standing behind me. I asked him, “Hey, is this your first time heading to India?” He smiles and says “Yes this is my first time”. I say “India can be scary, hope you have a good journey”. He replies “You will see me around in India (laughs)”. At the counter my parents find out it was Hrithik Roshan.”
7. “I met Sameera Reddy in a nightclub in Edinburgh. I was a bit tipsy, and asked, “Are you Sameera Reddy?” She replied yes and I asked what she was doing there. She said she was doing a shoot in Birmingham. I repeated the question and she, the answer. My intoxicated mind couldn’t comprehend why she was there if she was shooting a movie in England (the next day it dawned on me she was probably on tour).
8. “When I met Saif and Kareena, I asked Kareena “Do you want my phooone?” Saif was like “WHAT?!” I was 14.”
9. “I met the Queen of England when I was 14. I had to hand her some flowers, which went off okay, though I screwed up the handover a bit. I just kind of hung around next to her looking awkward, told her rather desperately about my dog and my friend’s dog while the rest of the ceremony was going on.”
10. “Once met Kareena and Karishma Kapoor along with Madhuri Bhandarkar at Mumbai airport. I was just 12 at the time and I said, “Oh look, it’s Kareena Kapoor”. She gave my family a death stare. However, Karishma Kapoor later obliged my sister for an autograph but Kareena was really rude and declined.”
11. “My dad and I were travelling. Mid-flight dad uses the lavatory. A guy was outside, playing music on his Bose headphones. My dad came out and shouted, “Is this how loud you’re supposed to be on a flight? Don’t you have any manners?” The guy apologised and smiled.
Dad recognised him and asked, “Are you Vivek Oberoi?” Vivek Oberoi: “Yes Sir!” Dad: “Good!””
12. “Last summer, I bumped into Emma Watson at Brown University. I introduced myself, and could hardly speak because I was so nervous that she had to tell me to take a few deep breaths before talking. Overall, it was pretty embarrassing, but she was very polite and cute in person.”
13. “My friend got upgraded to first-class just 2 months ago and out of sheer coincidence, the person sitting beside him was Vicky Kaushal. This happened after Uri so when he saw my friend smiling he asked him, “How’s the josh?” loudly and my friend said, “High sir.””
14. “I met Keanu Reaves at the Met in NYC in 2009.
My bearded friend went up to him and said, “Dude, sweet beard.”
and Keanu responded with, “Fascinating!””
15. “I met Stephen Hawking who was behind me in line to buy batteries. I asked, “Are you Stephen Hawking?” He said, ” Yes.” I said, “Cool!” He had a huge grin on his face. We grinned at each other awkwardly. He seemed like he was waiting for me to say something and I couldn’t think of anything to else to say so I just kept smiling at him.”
*Secretly hoping I run into a celebrity at the airport*