Being a celebrity comes with its obvious perks of receiving the unconditional attention and love from eager fans who have fallen in love with their public image, but in an age where public media has blown the celebrity market to incredible heights, crazed, obsessed, and not so shockingly, mentally unstable people have taken their pursuit and affection for their favorite stars and starlets to threatening boundaries, or more appropriately, have erased these boundaries.
Psycho knows no boundaries, and it's chilling to see to what extent of stalking these maniacs have gone to prove their devotion.
25 Terrifying Celebrity Stalkers,
Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson's Telepathic Psycho
The stalker of Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, Robert O'Ryan, was arrested in March of 2009 after driving from Florida to California to stalk the gold-medal winning Dancing With the Stars contestant. When O'Ryan tried to break onto the set of the reality dance competition, he was arrested by police. Subsequently, they found a loaded shotgun, a loaded handgun, duct tape, and love letters, in his car.
Like many other stalkers, O'Ryan claimed to have a special mental connection to his victim. In this case, he told prosecutors that he could communicate telepathically with celebrities, and that Johnson was "speaking" to him in his while she was performing in the Beijing Olympics. O’Ryan waved his right to a jury trial, was found guilty by a judge of numerous felony charges and sentenced to a mental hospital.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Stalker-Turned Pyramid Schemer
In 2000, Dante Michael Soiu, a 51-year-old pizza deliveryman from Ohio, was sentenced to a mental facility for sending Gwyneth Paltrow hundreds of letters, pizza, pornography, showing up at her parents’ home in Santa Monica, and lurking around her own residence at the time. Paltrow testified to feeling sexually assaulted, terrorized with nightmares, and the inclination to believe that Soiu would eventually physically harm her, which sent him to detainment in a mental hospital.
Upon conviction, in true 51-year-old pizza delivery man style, Soiu shouted, “If a man gives a woman unconditional love, she is blessed.” As if Paltrow isn’t blessed enough with her multi-million dollar career and staggering good looks.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2001 testimony sealed Soiu’s fate, securing him in a high-security psychiatric facility until recovery, which has apparently came a little while later, as Soiu was released and even took up a Twitter account to share with the world what else he was up to besides creeping (which wasn’t much besides re-tweeting vitamin schemes).
He labeled himself as an “entrepreneur and public speaker” in his biography and also added author to his summary, as his kindle ebook, How to Get Miracles From God, is available for purchase on Amazon.com for $15.
It's a fitting read for those who appoint a former stalker as a source of advice and can expect to read about self-pursuit, taking miracles into one's own hands, and disregarding the remarkable grace of actual miracles. A true winner.
In 2016, Soiu was back in court for harassing Paltrow and her family AGAIN. She testified against him once more for sending dozens of letters, gifts, and "sexually graphic material" to her home and the home of her parents. According to her testimony, Soiu threatened to "cut out sin" from Paltrow's body with a scalpel.
David Ajemian, Conan O'Brien's Devoted Stalker
Who wouldn't want a piece of that pure sex?
Even from a sane perspective, it’s nearly justifiable why one would attempt to force their way into America’s beloved redhead’s life. Everyone wants a slice of that pasty redhead, and for some, his late night talk show simply isn't enough to satisfy their Coco addiction.
David Ajemian, a Roman Catholic priest in Boston, took the active role of pursuit in stalking Conan, including following him around the world, forcing his way into show tapings, (disregarding the fact that one can sign up for free tickets online; sloppy stalking indeed!) and sending terrorizing messages he felt Conan would get a kick out of. Ajemian has managed to avoid jail time, but has voluntarily checked himself into several mental institutions, receiving psych evaluations along with medication to suppress his bi-polar disorders, among other complications.
Shortly after leaving his priestly practice, he was informed by his bishop he would no longer be able to pursue such a position and was arrested on harassment charges once again.
Protip for Catholic priests: Molesting boys: OK. Stalking celebrities: not OK.
The Tom Jones Codpiece Thief
The living, breathing, singing incarnate of all things sexy, Tom Jones never found it unusual for women’s panties to make their way to him on stage during his performances, but during a particular concert in Swansea, he found himself in the midst of panties other than those of his adoring fans and he recounts the incident.
“I felt something damp and rancid smelling land on my face and everything went black...it was an extra-large pair of men’s y-fronts! They were in bloody disgusting condition too, boyo! There were huge skid marks all down the back, and weird yellowish stains down the front - some were still damp!”
Poor Jones, this disgusting act of perversion can only be linked to jealousy; who would want to terrorize the icon of foxy that is Tom Jones?
Targeted a second time in Port Talbot while performing “Delilah,” he was knocked unconscious for four minutes after an object was hurled at him onstage. Upon regaining consciousness, he realized he had been hit by a jockstrap. The terrorizing didn’t end there, and poor Jones recounts once again an incident involving human excretions during his performance of “Sex Bomb” at Neath Town Hall.
“This extra-large condom full of stale j**m came flying out of the audience and hit me in the face. I was spattered with cold semen - it took hours to get off. I'm telling you boyo, I had to scrub my face so hard I thought the tan was going to come off!”
By now, the stalker was just patting himself on the back for his impeccable timing and aim. It wasn’t until the ultimate misdemeanor (Jones's codpiece was stolen during his Welsh tour) that Jones was nearly driven out of the business and into insanity.
"In the end I had to go on stage with half a dozen rolled up rugby socks down my trousers. It just wasn't the same - my groin looked too lumpy and my thrusting just wasn't energetic enough! Several members of the audience left early!"
I would've left early, too. Who could sit through a concert without that fine piece of man?
Detectives took matters (as well as the manly poo poo that was thrown on Jones) into their own hands, connecting the semen to a Tom Jones impersonator in Aberystwyth who had built a shrine to the stolen codpiece in his spare bedroom. Upon retrieval of his beloved codpiece, Jones retorted, “I'm just glad to have it back – I feel a complete man again!” And the world is back on its axis and relieved to have the tantalizing entertainer feeling 100% sexbomb again!
Crazy Racist Grim LeRogue Jumps A-Rod - But Only to Sell Books
It’s one thing to be a racist, another to be a trespasser. But to be a trespassing racist is a specialty that few can lay claim to. Grim LaRogue is one such person. In October, 2010, LeRogue (real name: John Rogan) was arrested after he ran onto the field at Yankee Stadium, making a bee-line toward Alex Rodriguez. He was carrying five pictures in his pockets: one was a picture of A-Rod with an X over his face, with “You have to go bud, you’ve ruined too many of our white queens” scrawled on it. Another photo was of Cameron Diaz, who was A-Rod’s girlfriend at the time. Plus the usual crude drawings of dead bodies.
A few days later, while in custody in a mental hospital, LeRogue claimed the entire thing was a prank designed to goose sales of his book about adults lying to children. Further, he had no animosity toward Rodriguez, and he did not “crave” Cameron Diaz. LeRogue’s book is, as of now, unpublished.
John Hinckley Jr., Jodie Foster Stalker, Ronald Reagan Attempted Assassin
Upon Jodie Foster’s 1976 breakout role as a child prostitute in Taxi Driver, Hinckley watched the film in a continuous loop, developing a sick obsession with the 14-years-old actress. After becoming a successful actress, Foster enrolled at Yale University. Hinckley subsequently moved to New Haven, Connecticut, to be closer to Foster, slipping letters and poems under her door and contacting her constantly via telephone.
Foster ignored his attempts to contact her, so Hinckley took the next logical step: He would impress Foster by assassinating Ronald Reagan. Makes sense, right?
I don't understand why Foster didn't swoon for this guy.
After Foster came out gay in 2013, Hinckley released a statement, furious to discover what the rest of the world has known for years: "This information would've been useful a few decades earlier," he said, "If I had known I never had a chance with Jodie because I'm a man, I wouldn't have tried to assassinate the President to get her to like me." I'm sure everyone forgave Hinckley for trying to kill the President after that.
Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's Obsessive Murderer
Can you imagine this guy sweating profusely? I can't.
The world stopped spinning the day John Lennon died. The target of an obsessive and mentally unstable Mark David Chapman, Lennon – unlike most victims – had no preceding hints leading up to homicide, although the idea of killing Lennon had been simmering in mind months prior to the assassination.
In October 1980, Chapman arrived in New York, where Lennon was living, and his erratic behavior leading up to Lennon’s demise included offering cocaine to a taxi driver, manically professing to James Taylor how he needed to get in touch with Lennon while sweating profusely, and waiting for Lennon outside his hotel, where Chapman had gotten Lennon's autograph just a few hours before his death.
Chapman spent the day lurking around Lennon’s hotel, which wasn't unfamiliar behavior for die-hard Beatles and Lennon fans, and upon Lennon’s return from a recording session at Record Plant Studios that evening, Chapman fired five shots from behind, fatally wounding Lennon in the left lung.
Chapman now resides in Buffalo, NY at Attica Correctional Facilities, having been denied parole ever since his allowance to trial every two years since 2000, with Yoko Ono serving as the main force behind his detainment. In 2012, he told ABC news that had Lennon been a little less famous than the other three or four people on his hit list, Chapman wouldn't have shot him. Whew, well, that just makes us all feel better about the situation now, doesn't it?
Dawnette Knight, Catherine Zeta Jones' Arch Enemy Stalker
Dawnette Knight wanted to “cut Zeta-Jones into little pieces and feed her to the dogs.” If these aren’t words reason enough to be fearful for your life, then the fact that Knight memorized the name of Zeta-Jones and hubby Michael Douglas’s nanny and layout of their house is more than reason.
Catherine Zeta-Jones will cut you!
In 2003 and 2004, Knight sent letters to the famous couple that brought her obsession to light. Involving Barbara Walters as her devious partner in crime (obviously) in her plots to murder Zeta-Jones, a portion of Knight’s letter to the aging news anchor states, “When we finish with this bitch/whore, she will not be this pretty face actress. You won't be able to recognize her in her cassket! [sic]" She also made reference to Zeta-Jones, wanting to “slice her up like meat on a bone,” and claimed, “she will be dead before she'll be able to blink an eye. Michael can finally be happy with his kids when the bitch is dead." I'm sure Walters jumped right on board with that.
Edward Jones, Queen Victoria's Panty Sniffer
Who wouldn't want to play "find the knickers" with her?
If you’re going to stalk, go for the gold, right? Staking his claim as the original celebrity stalker, Edward Jones gained headlines in the 19th century as the Buckingham Palace intruder, which wasn’t too difficult of a task at the time since security was loosely organized and guards were often preoccupied with socializing with prostitutes and getting drunk.
It is purported that his infatuation may have begun at the sight of a newspaper illustration of Queen Victoria, in which portraits of royalty would often be exaggerated in beauty and image. Call it the Photoshop of the 19th century.
After a few more busts within the palace, Jones’s shenanigans began to exhaust the royal family, and they resorted to an illegal means of disengaging him with his precious Queen - kidnapping him and forcing him into working the rigorous profession of a seaman within the Royal Navy Vessel. There are no reports on whether Jones was able to keep the underthings.
Margaret Mary Ray, David Letterman's "Wife"
When it comes to celeb stalking, there's just no time to check makeup
A classic case of a schizophrenic stalker, Ray’s obsession with Letterman began in the mid-80’s when her marriage fell apart, leaving her in custody of her five children, all while managing a stealthy pursuit of talk show host David Letterman.
Ray's most infamous incident took place in 1988 when she, with her three-year-old son in tow, drove off in Letterman’s Porsche (which was parked in his driveway), claiming that they were married and that her son was their child. Ray was found guilty of trespassing eight times over the next few years, as well as doing incredibly creepy stuff like leaving letters and books in his driveway, and cookies and an empty whiskey bottle behind in the foyer of Letterman’s Connecticut home. When Letterman found Ray sleeping on his tennis court, she was finally sent to Niantic State Prison for harassment.
However, Letterman refused to press criminal charges against Ray, stating, “I wasn’t comfortable with the humanity of that.” Ray was released from prison in the 1990s, after which she dropped Letterman faster than a hot potato for her newest pursuit: astronaut Story Musgrave.
But only if you keep the space suit on.
She sent him letters, packages, telephone calls, and even posed as a reporter to gain a closer proximity. She was sent to jail for trespassing, again, after showing up unannounced at Musgrave's home.
Once released for the last time from prison, Ray moved to Hotchkiss, Colorado, until committing suicide by kneeling on a railroad track in front of an oncoming train. Yikes.