Being a celebrity isn’t always as easy as it seems, and even the most easy-going and approachable stars get fed up with the constant onslaught of attention from fans, especially when they are out just trying to run an errand or get some food. While these stars appreciate their fans, many of them have made it clear they are not happy about the rise of the selfie and everyone trying to snap a quick picture with them. Here are 12 celebrities who hate taking pictures with fans or outright refuse to:
12. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus is not shy about taking a selfie and even sharing scandalous pictures with fans, so it is very surprising that she is not fond of taking photos with people! “I get embarrassed to take pictures. That’s actually the truth. I’m so embarrassed, because people are taking pictures of me, and I just don’t know how to — I don’t know how to smile and just be awkward, so I stick my tongue out, because I don’t know what else to do,”she explained.
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11. Amy Poehler
When she isn’t on-screen, Amy Poehler is fairly elusive so it isn’t too shocking that she has a dislike for taking a selfie or photo and it isn’t just limited to fans. The actress once told Paper magazine that “the amount of Instagram selfies is out-of-control.” She explained that she values her privacy and does not like the narcissism and nature of taking a selfie at every moment. “The idea of, ‘This is my face and everyone needs to see it all the time,’ is so far from the privacy that people used to seek,” she said. Poehler added she doesn’t tolerate the behavior even from her friends. “If I’m hanging out with a friend, and they take a picture of me, it’s like, ‘Ugh.’ I mean, I hate looking at pictures of myself. It immediately takes me out of the experience.”
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10. Justin Bieber
Pop star Justin Bieber went through one of the most infamous downward spirals of recent years after his time growing up in the spotlight became too much for him. Bieber began turning on fans and walking out on concerts and in 2016 the singer declared on Instagram that he was done taking photos. “If you happen to see me out somewhere, know that I’m not gonna take a picture.I’m done taking pictures.” He then explained that people don’t even care about meeting him as a person, they just want a picture to say they have it. “It has gotten to the point that people won’t even say hi to me or recognize me as a human. I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna be able to keep my sanity. I realize people will be disappointed, but I don’t owe anybody a picture. And people who say, ‘But I bought your album,’ know that you got my album and you got what you paid for — AN ALBUM! It doesn’t say in fine print whenever you see me you also get a photo.”
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9. Emma Watson
After growing up in the spotlight, Emma Watson finally decided she had enough of taking selfies with fans and began declining their requests for a photo. “For me, it’s the difference between being able to have a life and not. If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they’ve created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 meters,” she told Vanity Fair. “[The public] can see what I’m wearing and who I’m with,” she said of the photos. “I just can’t give that tracking data.” Just because she won’t take a picture, however, doesn’t mean she is closing herself off from fans. Watson explained, “I’ll say, ‘I will sit here and answer every single Harry Potter fandom question you have but I just can’t do a picture.'”
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8. Kirstie Alley
Kirstie Alley has had a few ups and downs over the course of her career in Hollywood, and through it all, she has established she does not want to take photos with fans. In 2015 after the actress had debuted her new slimmed down figure, a fan asked to take a selfie with her and Alley snapped back, “I hate selfies, I’m so sorry!” Although she then told the fan, “You can take a photo of me, but I don’t want…I hate selfies,” she made it abundantly clear fan photos were not something she wanted to be a part of.
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7. Maisie Williams
Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams doesn’t always turn down photos, but she has no problem saying no when she does not feel like it. “I still don’t feel like I owe anyone anything,” she told Nylon. “If I don’t want a picture one day, I don’t have a problem saying no. I know some people get really weird about that, like, ‘You’re so mean.’ But if I was really in love with someone I wouldn’t just want a picture. I would want to hang out with them.”
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6. Prince Harry
As a British Royal, Prince Harry’s life has been framed by attending events and being photographed but the rise in the selfie is something the prince is definitely not fond of. While on his Australian royal tour, he told a crowd of largely teenage fans, “Seriously, you need to get out of it. I know you’re young but selfies are bad. I hate selfies.” Prince Harry has made it clear that he would much rather shake fans’ hands and have a real interaction rather than simply snapping a selfie together.
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5. Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer was quite angry when she shared her story of why she would no longer be taking photos with fans and it was all because of one overly aggressive fan who thought he was owed it because she is a celebrity. Schumer took to her Instagram to share a photo of a man standing in front of her on the sidewalk and wrote, “This guy in front of his family just ran up next to me scared the s–t out of me. Put a camera in my face. I asked him to stop and he said, ‘no it’s America and we paid for you,’ this was in front of his daughter.” She continued, “I was saying stop and no. Great message to your kid. Yes legally you are allowed to take a picture of me. But I was asking you to stop and saying no. I will not take pictures with people anymore and it’s because of this dude in Greenville.”
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4. Kit Harington
Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington was thrust into the spotlight thanks to his lead role on the hit series, and it hasn’t been an easy adjustment for the actor. Harington admitted that trying to get through massive crowds of fans all wanting his photo while just trying to get to his hotel can be just too exhausting. “Being in Spain and there being a crowd of 500, maybe 600 fans camped outside the hotel every day, and you have to get through them. It feels like being Bieber or something. You just have to [turn them down] otherwise you start feeling like a mannequin.” He added that by extension he and his fiancee Rose Leslie never pose for photos together at fans request because it is just too impersonal to their relationship. “Especially me and Rose, we never do a photo together. Because then it makes our relationship feel like… puppets… like we’re a walking show,” he told The Guardian.
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3. Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt is one of the kindest actresses out there, but just don’t ask her to take a selfie with you. The 34-year-old Mary Poppins Returns actress explained to Vanity Fair that she loves her fans’ continuous support, but she does not like being approached in public for a selfie especially when she is with her daughters. “Frances McDormand told us—she just makes my teeth ache I love her so much—when someone asks her for a picture, she says, ‘You know what? I’ve actually retired from that. But I would like to shake your hand and meet you,'” and Blunt says she completely agrees with that approach. “Social media has changed the landscape so an encounter with you is valued more as a social-media currency than a genuine interaction,” she added.
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2. Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt may seem like the kind of guy who is everyone’s buddy, but it is that type of thinking from fans which led him to stop taking photos with them. Pratt explained that he loves interacting with fans, but has little patience for selfies and photographs. “I’ve always been a pretty deferential, go-with-the-flow guy. But now I have to be economical with my time.” He continued, “If I go out and want to do normal things, I have to be comfortable disappointing people. So I just don’t take pictures with people. Because that’s not about enjoying the moment; it’s about stealing the moment to brag about later.” Pratt explained that when he is asked to take a photo when he is out and about, he says, “‘Would you settle for a handshake?’ And then they take the picture anyway.”
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1. Jennifer Lawrence
For quite some time Jennifer Lawrence was lauded as one of the most relatable celebrities out there, and because of that demeanor she was constantly approached for pictures and autographs and now she can’t stand it. In late 2016 the actress revealed she had begun refusing to take photos with fans and said, “I have just started becoming really rude and drawn into myself,” adding that the more people came up to her like they knew her, the more she wanted to withdraw from the spotlight. “I think that people [strangers] think that we already are friends because I am famous and they feel like they already know me — but I don’t know them.” Lawrence says she instead now values her personal space too much to constantly be taking selfies or photos with strangers, “I have to protect my bubble, like, ‘I have a weird job — don’t let this be a reality.'”