30 Celebrity Encounters So Awkward, You Can Feel The Secondhand Embarrassment A Mile Away

It goes without saying that celebrities are people too. As such, they roam the same streets, breathe the same air (essentially), eat the same food (also essentially), and do pretty much everything else any other human does (again, essentially). So, they are for all intents and purposes deserving of the same neutral and polite behavior any other stranger would get if they were sighted randomly in the streets.

If you, however, need a refresher on how to best approach the situation of having sighted a celebrity, consider exercising appropriate methods of approach.

Arguably the best thing that you can do when a celebrity is nearby is to ignore them. This is considered a classic approach, one that doesn’t impose any sort of commitment on either side of the encounter and hence leaves it at that.

Ignoring means adopting an indifferent expression (and, maybe, even preferably an attitude too). Don’t focus on them, but rather on anything else that’s unrelated to them until they are out of sight and life moves on.

The upside of this is that you don’t succumb to the temptations that second hand fame does, all the while respecting and protecting their privacy. Now, if they’re the kind of celebrity who thrives on attention, then you might consider another tactic.

Another etiquettally appropriate approach is to embrace the celebrity. Not literally, but verbally and without drawing attention, but also respecting them if they give you a celebrity equivalent of “leave, foolish peasant”.

In order to do this, you can casually and sincerely acknowledge their accomplishments. Make sure your conversation is not a committing one—more like small talk—and you’re done within a minute of chatter. This way, you get to speak with someone you admire, but there is always a non-zero chance of you being told off or ignored. So, high risk, high reward.

There is also a more hands on approach that might be considered shady, but still kinda sorta viable because managers and other folk in the industry do be mingling like that, and that is luring a celebrity. By that, we mean if you’re in a social event or something, nonchalantly louden your own conversation to possibly make it irresistible to the celeb to ignore.

Once the attention is drawn, smile and see where that takes you. Who knows, they might join your table. They might also invite you to theirs. They might also not like that. Proceed with caution.

Another quasi-questionable tactic is using your kids. We say quasi because it can happen naturally that your kids become friends with the kids of the celebrity, this might become your ticket to befriending the celebrity too.

The potential for unlimited play dates is certainly there, and it’s even better if you’re not the one initiating them, but don’t count on kids being friends to ultimately mean you’re gonna be friends with the celeb. So, be ready to accept defeat too.