Recently a (minor) celebrity performer came to my city to perform for a few days. He contacted me through one of my ads (not TER) and we made an appointment to meet one night after one of his shows.
I jokingly asked him why he was contacting me when there would probably be a lot of cute groupies at his shows.
He then informed me that I was actually the "stand-by" girl. He said the vast majority of the time he is able to pick up a girl after a show, but often makes an appointment with an escort just in case he can't pull it off. He said he normally ends up cancelling the escort at the last minute.
I told him, very nicely, that this was a business for me, and by reserving time for him, I was turning away other "guaranteed" business. It wasn't fair to me to book me when he would almost certainly have to cancel at the very last second.
Needless to say, I cancelled our appointment and made one with a "regular" guy who was happy to see me.
The celebrity seemed quite surprised by my answer. I think he truly thought it was an honor and a privilege for me to stand by my phone and await his phone call. LOL.
Ladies, do celebrities usually act like this?
Not a lady personally but yes they do. Everyone in LA / Hollywood is like that--they double book. They'll book a Friday night out with two or three people and cancel all but one at the last minute. It's a widely-practiced and accepted behavior out here. Personally I think it's rude as fuck, but who am I.
I have also had a couple of "celebrity" clients. I didn't treat them any differently as I did any of my other gents. And I was fortunate in as much as they treated me with alot of respect and kindness.
What I have learned though, is celebrity or not, there are men out there that think you should feel as though it is a privalege that they are seeing you. I have met one or two in my time. It all goes along with their attitude of themselves, women in general or their basic outlook on life. There isn't much you can do to change that.
You showed alot about yourself by not taking the "stand by" approach and waiting for his call. I couldn't care less who you are, what movies you have been in, what sport you play or books you have written. When it all comes out in the wash, and forgive me for sounding so harsh, the color of their money is no different than any one of the gents who busts his ass at a 9-5 grind everyday. Being a celebrity only means they have found a niche that makes them slightly better at one type of entertainment than someone else. God knows it doesn't make them more special.
You done good honey, and to answer your question...no they are not all that way, but the ones that Do beahve in that manner make the rest look bad.
xoxo
Lass
-- Modified on 6/7/2003 1:30:20 AM
Definitely the loyalty, respect and kindness I would expect from a provider.
Not to mention your excellent business sense. Props to you.
F.
let's face it, celebrities are JERKS and we all love to hate them and often with good cause.
more germane to our topic of discussion, i'm reminded of an interview with Heidi Fleiss in which she flatly and resolutely stated that her celebrity clients were the CHEAPEST bastards of them all (guys like Jack Nicholson, etc) and that they expected to be given perks and freebies and to cancel out at the last minute and so on
closer to home, the gals at my local strip club have all told me amusing tales of celebrity injustice that would make you cringe. one in particular involved Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, who after having ran up a $3K tab one night (on VIP girls/champaigne) refused to pay it, arrogantly claiming that the owner/manager should "comp" them just for being there and patronizing his club.
now i don't know how things play out in "LaLa Land" but here in Beantown we have this close knit family-run businesses that are "blessed" by the Irish/Italian Capitolist "Church" and the pontiffs are none too impressed by hot-shot "celebrities"
i have a friend who was a "Soprano" in the church choir ... bless me "Father" for i have talked too much ...
"God must love the common man for he made so many of them"
(Abraham Lincoln)
Tiffani your good business sense as well as character show brightly. Thanks from one of the "regular" guys
FR225
There are jerks in every line of work. You can find them in the entertainment business as well as the plumbing business (and please, no hate mail from plumbers).
I have and do know some celebrities and have met many. And most of the ones that I have met have been kind, considerate, and non-pretentious.............much to my surprise.
Just sounds like you ran into one of the jerks..........
Celebrities ARE bigger than life. If they're a jerk, they are perceived to be a bigger jerk than any other of the more common jerks out there. If a celebrity is a nice person, than they're perceived to be nicer than most of the other nice people that are out there. Guess that's why they're called celebrities.
since i actually like Sean Penn and do have some minor celebrity friends on the "left coast" i felt i should add this ...
you are (mostly) right. celebs do live/love/f**k under the ever-watchful eye of the public. it's the "fishbowl" effect, a magnifying lens that amplifies their every misstep or good deed way up to cinemascope panoramas for us to revel in or ridicule. i'm sure none of us would like our hobbying shenanigans exposed on tabloids for all to see
if i was to go in a strip club an even attempt to pull a stunt like that, i too would be called a jerk (probably right before i was tossed into the dumpster in the alley) but you wouldn't read about it on a national msg board
and that's because i'm a NOBODY ... which suits me just fine
I work in the asset management industry and end up in contact on a business basis with a lot of celebrities of varying notariety and industry. I find many of them to be completely self-involved and expect to be treated as royalty.
There are others that are very down to earth. Bottom line is, when their celebrity or notariety is gone, they have to rely on how they've treated people on the way up, and how loyal their cadre of likeminded curmudgeons are.
HPG
-- Modified on 6/7/2003 10:15:23 AM
I have to agree with Ignatius Reilly (and I too am not a lady) that here in Tinsel Town this is fairly common behavior. I've seen many "clebs" in my practice and though I'm not providing a service that is on the other side of the law, I am with you ladies who see them in a service oriented relationship.
I've found them to cancel appointments at the last min. for all most any reason. I too lose money when this happens. I have to disagree with singleton, however, that all of them are "JERKS". They arn't. But in general the "wanna be's" tend to get real full of themselves and the ones who have just gotten their first job in the biz can get down right intollerable in a hurry.
I have made some wonderful friends in the entertainment business too and some of the seasoned actors who have made their place and are comfortable with themselves can be very nice and considerate. With respect to what Iwien said, there are jerks in all lines of work but cleberity does came with baggage. I've seen them get approached in my waiting room by "regular folks" who have no sense of what is proper. I can only imagine what it is like to have your privacy lost like they do and have discussed this with some of them.
So, IMHO, they easily do get tired of the "common man" poking into their lives and in trying to shield themselves from that they too loose track of proper behavior.
TiffaniXXX did the right thing. I've also shocked a cleb or two by letting them know I don't live and breathe waiting for them to reschedule. It does them good to get this from time to time. Way to go Tif.
Tiff, you absolutely did the right thing & kudos to you for it!
I've slightly known a few celebrities (& more wannabes) & found some to be as "regular" as anyone else. Others may have been jerks (or jerkquettes) simply because that's the way they are regardless of anything else. But I suspect that many get a wrarped sense of their own importance due to the adulation heaped on them. Add to the mix the fact that they live in a very different 'world' than the rest of us & the result is that those types seem to believe they truly are 'special' & that the kind of behavior that wouldn't be considered acceptable if engaged in by the rest of us is still perfectly OK for them.
I realize that's something of a generalization, & as I said, certainly doesn't apply to all, but does seem to fit many...based on my observations of my limited experience.
ask. What posessed you to even consider, much less accept an appointment from a minor?
Please don't get me wrong, I agree with everyone else regarding the way you ultimately dealt with this situation. However, as an experienced providor, I am really surprised that you would even speak with this kid celebrity or not.
Remember, Jailbait works both ways.
Minor as in "not major" celebrity vs. an underage celebrity. Kind of like the difference between Julia Roberts calling me vs. the girl that got 2nd place on Star Search.
RE: "What posessed you to even consider, much less accept an appointment from a minor?"
These men labor in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Dark, hot, wet, and fraught with danger. They risk black lung disease, and a host of other maladies. And even so, their incomes and standard of living is appalling -- especially given the risks they face.
I can't see why you'd object to Tiff making an appointment with one of these brave, but forgotten men.
(BIG GRIN)
-- Modified on 6/7/2003 11:09:55 AM
-- Modified on 6/7/2003 11:10:52 AM
Best laugh I've had from the board in weeks. Good show. lol
"But I suspect that many get a wrarped sense of their own importance...."
--greywolf
True, but I've seen this happen even more in the medical profession............
Getting a warped sense of one's own importance is a pretty common phenomenon that happens way too often even outside of the entertainment business
Problem is that the vast majority of doctors, lawyers and other professions do not have the eye of the public, nor the notoriety that "celebrities" do. That is why they are called "celebrities"
It doesn't change the situation in this hobby, that is, celebrities behaving poorly toward providers, which was Tiffany's point.
HPG
Tiffany's question was, "...do celebrities usually act like this?"
I don't think that this would be a general situation in this hobby. Yes, some celebrites do behave poorly. My posts on this was just an attempt to indicate that NOT ALL celebrities behave poorly or usually act like this, and that you don't have to be a celebrity to be a jerk.....
seems like birds of a feather . . .
Edited due to input error,
HPG
-- Modified on 6/7/2003 1:17:43 PM
I agree, lwien, that it's not a trait that can be attributable only to celebs...can happen to anyone in any field of endeavor---be it butcher, baker or candlestick maker. I don't believe my post indicated that it was something exclusive to the famous alone. Anyone who is overly impressed with themselves, for whatever reason, falls into that general category IMO.
But the original post which began this thread concerned celebrities, thus my reply did as well. My main point was that when one is treated as though they are truly special & different by others who are not even in the same profession, it is likely an intoxicating elixir that, while not all, many are unable to resist.
Same thing happens in the medical profession where doctors are entrusted with the lives of others. They too can get a warped sense of self due to being treated special and different .......
It is very refreshing to find those individuals that are grounded and not affected by the adulation or trust given by others.......
I know this is straying a little off topic, but I DO have a tendency to do that.
Anyway, Greywolf, I do understand and agree with you.
Larry
Bravo!! Bravo!!
-Hoot.
reply to this sort of arrogance is "I am sure that you don't want me to suffer financially if you find a groupie so of course you are sending my donation in advance via messenger for being your stand by girl."
Seems to me he was honest to you and gave you a chance to do what you did. Many are now assuming and posting their opinions about celebs mostly that they are jerks (which is true but it's beside the point). If this guy lied to you, that would have made him a jerk but he didn't.
Let's see the other side of this. A provider once stood me up and now I double book because I assume most of the providers will not show up. This would not be right and neither is what most people here seem to be making of this non-incident.
Isn't that how Bad Client lists are created? Double booking knowing you cant possibly show for both?
What Tiff did was just fine. The situation occurs everyday in the real world, but when celebrities (and non-celebrities) think we are supposed to drop everything and sit by the phone, that is plain wrong. If a non-celebrity or even a regular client called me and put me in that same situation, I would rather decline as well. If they need a "back-up" plan, then they better make a last minute booty-call to someone else. If they don't have anyone to call, then let Rosie Palm handle their needs until they can respect my time and schedule like anyone else.
You've made another assumption. I double book outcall. If they both show up I have twice the fun. If they don't, next time I'll quadruple book.
Never said Tiff did anything wrong. Just there are two sides to every story.
If you wanna see the real truth, look at things from both sides. Then look on all sides. Then beyond that.