Sep 09 2009
Convention Fans @ Dragon*con: The Assholes of Dragon*con 2009
I feel like I have been very fortunate in my celebrity encounters over the years. I’ve attended a lot of cons, and met actors from all manner of shows. The vast majority have not only been pleasant, but downright awesome. Some of the highlights include George Takei, Cirroc Lofton, Avery Brooks, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Kevin Sorbo, Richard Hatch, and Nathan Fillion. Some of the not so great encounters have included Nichelle Nichols, Gates McFadden, Tim Russ, and Denise Crosby. After Dragon*con 2009, I now have celebrity guest(s) to add to each category. I am officially dubbing this entry “The Assholes of Dragon*con 2009.”
But I’m sure you’re thinking, hey, she implied she had someone to add to the awesome category? And you would be right. One of the nicest celebrity guests I’ve ever met happens to be one of the oldest assholes around: Barry Bostwick. (For you non-Rocky Horror Picture Show fans, Barry’s character is called “asshole” throughout the movie by fans.)
Barry Bostwick is officially one of my new favorite celebrity guests ever. I’m a huge Rocky Horror fan, so seeing Barry was one of my priorities for the weekend. Not only was he nice, but he was genuinely funny and endearing as well. He actually makes his own pendants that say “slut” and “asshole.” This is a guy who knows what he’s famous for, and totally loves it. And there’s no better combination when it comes to convention guests. (As a side note, he actually signed the autograph I bought “Love, your asshole“!) Seriously Barry, you’re the only asshole for me! And how cool was it that he did the introduction for Dragon*con’s Rocky Horror?
Unfortunately, there was an encounter with a celebrity guest that was about as sad and disappointing as they come. I totally didn’t see it coming either.
Patrick Stewart was a jerk to me when I got my autograph. First of all, he wasn’t in the main Walk of Fame, which I didn’t notice until I got up to the doors (I had been waiting in a huge line just to get IN the WoF and didn’t seen the signs until after I was about to enter). Now, this wasn’t his fault, but it contributed to the overall frustration related to the entire encounter.
I finally found his autograph room, where there were no less than five people providing security/assistance. There were two people monitoring the doorway. I bought my ticket from one handler at table number one, and chose my photo. I walked three feet over to table number two, and gave that handler the ticket and the photo I had chosen. She gave the photo to Stewart, who was seated next to her. A large man (who I was told was a retired police officer), hovered over Stewart with his beefy arms crossed, looking very much like some kind of club bouncer.
Stewart quickly picked up a pen and glanced at me. I thought he was looking to my badge to see who he should sign it to (as the vast majority of guests do personalize autographs, and if they don’t there’s at least a sign saying so). I started to say “please make it out to…” but he cut me off, and curtly told me he didn’t do “personalizations.” I didn’t know that, as none of his five people in there had bothered to mention it. Before I could say anything else, or even thank him, he pushed the photo towards me, and moved on to the next person.
It was totally disappointing and disheartening, as I had always read such wonderful things about him on Wil Wheaton’s blog. It was just a total shock that Stewart had been such a… well… asshole. I had friends get the same chilly reception when they got their autograph too, which means there were probably others like us who left feeling disappointed.
Edit: I forgot that I wanted to mention the whole photo op with Stewart as well. He was charging fans $200 to take a photo with him. Nimoy and Shatner together didn’t even cost that much together. I realize that Stewart’s agents probably set those prices, but $200 is still absolutely outrageous, and in mind my mind, a slap in the face to fans (especially in this economy).
And finally, it goes without saying that William Shatner is the biggest asshole of Dragon*con 2009. I’m sure a lot of those who attended his panel with Leonard Nimoy on Friday would probably agree. Whether he was mocking the accents of the locals, teasing Eric Watts about his beard, or ripping into George Takei at every possible opportunity, Dragon*con has never had a bigger asshole than William Shatner in attendance. (You can read about the William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy panel by clicking here.)
For the record, I always try to give guests the benefit of the doubt. People have bad days, and I’m sure signing a million items and taking a million pictures gets tiresome. But when I heard (from a reliable source) that Stewart was guaranteed to make $60,000 at Dragon*con this year, I decided that he could have done a much better job of faking some gratitude. I’m sure Shatner was promised a pretty similar sum. For me, that makes their attitudes rather inexcusable.
Has a celebrity guest ever treated you badly? Post a comment and tell us your celebrity asshole stories.
Patrick Stewart being an asshole is almost like George Lucas and the bullshit he pulled with Indy and Star Wars. I looked up to Stewart, not just because he played my favorite captain, but because he was respected for knowing his Shakespeare as well.
I’m glad Jonathan Frakes and Nathan Fillion were nice. Now I know not to waste my money on Stewart.
This is just so sad. Things like this make me want to never meet a celebrity in person, ever. I would like to hope that everyone was just having bad days when you met them, or their handlers told them not to talk to people, or something. I prefer blissful ignorance to the cold hard truth
I had really been looking forward to the Futurama cast reunion at Animation Supercon, but I’m not sure that I want to go, after reading this. I would be so upset if I found out that, say, Billy West or Maurice Lamarche were horrible assholes. ;_;
I’m sorry you had a bad experience but I’ve met Mr Stewart 5 times and each time he has been polite, friendly and warm. I find the guests, especially the BIG guests, pick up a vibe from those around them which gets channeled into the fan experience. I’ve never seen that sort of security around Mr Stewart before which makes me think Dragon Con have created this negative bubble around him which fosters the cattle mart feeling.
Perhaps you should refrain from calling people assholes on the strength of your solitary experience in an artificial and hectic environment. Stars react to the attitude of the organisers; the better organised the con, the better, very often, the guest is. Perhaps Mr Stewart’s Off Day was a reaction to how he was been treated by the con. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, which you said you would afford anyone.
@Ian
I won’t give someone that much leeway when they are banking 60k from their fans in a single weekend, and can’t muster a smile and a thank you. And this wasn’t just one day. I had friends visit him throughout the weekend, and they had similar experiences.
Because of the same basic experience I had with Shatner on Friday, I opted out of getting one from Stewart.
At least Shatner responded when I said it was pleasure to meet him.
The whole ‘Production-Line’ feeling was really off putting though.
2 years ago, I wanted Gil Gerard’s autograph, when speaking with him, he stopped, looked up at me and asked, “You know what you need?-an official Buck Rogers T shirt!”. I really didn’t want another shirt, and I remeber being a little uncomfortable. After pushing the shirt thing two more times, I became annoyed-and looked it.
Gil then said, “take some time to think about it”. I replied, “No thank you…I just didn’t expect Buck Rogers to sqeeze me for cash”.
Clearly irratated, he then said, “I wouldn’t call it ’sqeezing’”.
The whole encounter was just bad. I rember walking away saying to my friends what a huge asswipe Gil Gerard is.
Good encounters:
This year…unexpectedly Eric Roberts. What a nice guy!
Last year had to be Lance Hendriksen…awsome down to Earth person.
‘07 waws hands down-Marc Singer…classy guy-true gentleman.
That sucks about your bad experiences. That’s one of the reasons I am hesitant about waiting in line for “big stars.” If I was to get Mark Hamill’s autograph and have a bad experience, I would be so upset. So I’d almost rather not have the opportunity to meet people I really look up to, if that makes sense.
I rarely get autographs, so I’ve never really had a horrible experience. At Star Wars Celebration III, the woman who did the modeling for Mara Jade was kind of snotty, and you could tell she didn’t want to be there, which was funny because she was hardly well-known and should be grateful that people even wanted her autograph. Everyone else was really nice, especially Daniel Logan. At Dragon*Con I’ve only gotten autographs from some Harry Potter actors (who all seemed tired but were also gracious) and authors, who are my favorite people to talk to.
I enjoyed my two Dragon*Cons, but feel like it’s becoming less about the fans and more about making money and getting “big guests.” While it’s awesome that big-name stars were there, it’s also disheartening that they charge so much money for an autograph/photo and treat fans poorly. If you don’t want to go to a convention, don’t go! There are many celebrities who love being there. It’s also disappointing that you really can’t take your own photos any more. I don’t mind paying for a chance to meet a celebrity and an autograph, but I want my own photo. That’s why I love the smaller panels at Dragon*Con - you get a chance to really meet and mingle with the guests.
And wow, this was a really long comment!
It seems to me I am the only frequent reader of this site that adored every minute of Dragon*Con (and this was my fourth). Sure, there was certain things such as disorganization, but overall I had a fantastic time. Unfortunately, I had heard things about Stewart which is why–as much as I look up to him as an actor–didn’t even bother trying to get his autograph. Shatner was the other one I had no interest in seeing. One of the best experiences I had, believe it or not, was with Nimoy. That man was warm, gracious, humble, and just having a complete ball it seemed like. Makes you wonder how he and Shatner are even friends. But the best person out of all the guests who attended this year? Terry Gilliam. That man was *God* to talk to! No only did he sign and get pics for free, his autograph sessions went about an hour over because he took his time to talk to several people in line at once. In fact, he was utterly horrorified when me and a friend informed him about other guests charging for autographs. As an aspiring filmmaker, the experience was fantastic.
That’s a shame, Kel, about Stewart. I had a friend who met him once and said he was the nicest fella ever, and even appreciated that my pal was one of those Picard-worshiper types.
I can empathize a bit - I met Dave Mustaine from Megadeth and he was a fuckin’ jerk, didn’t even look at me when I said: “Thanks for the music, man” - but at least everyone KNOWS he’s a jerk. Go fig.
(Every other rock star I’ve met has been super cool, tho. Go fig again?)
I find it funny that my original intention in going to D*C this year (my first ever) was in the hopes of meeting Shatner, Nimoy and Stewart–and I never laid an eye on them. I didn’t even try to.
Total agreement on Barry Bostwick–I attended the I Was A Paranormal & SciFi TV Show Guest Star panel with him and he was hilarious (everyone on the panel was). The back-and-forth banter between him and Bruce Davison (and Alan Ruck when he chipped in) was gold.
Which brings me to Alan Ruck. Hands-down my favorite celebrity of the weekend. He was polite and funny, and when I got up the courage to ask him a question at the panel he gave me a five-minute answer while speaking to *me* the whole time. We kept running into him throughout the weekend and by the time Monday rolled around he was all “Hey! It’s you guys!” Lovely, LOVELY man.
Was also really charmed by Bruce Davison, Eric Roberts (great handshake), and Karen Allen. Karen hopped up and sat on her own table to take a picture with me, and even asked to check it afterwards to make sure we both liked it.
Thumbs down go to Michael Biehn (just … not really impressed) and Anthony Daniels–Anthony for the sole reason of being a no-show to his Friday (and only) panel. I was more gutted than I like to admit since I adored reading his Wonder Column in the Star Wars Insider and he seemed like a great guy. I’m wondering if he got stuck traveling, but NO ONE could find him and it was obvious the track director was very unhappy.
Overall, AWESOME experience for my first con ever and cannot wait to go back next year!
That’s so awesome about Bostwick! He seems like he’d be a really neat guy, and thanks for showing that he is! I hate it when celebrities try to denounce whatever they’re most popular for, so it’s nice to hear he embraces RHPS as it is–the best thing ever.
A bad celebrity experience? At DragonCon 2009 I attempted a long-distance photo of Shatner and Nimoy from a position in the second floor lobby of the Hilton. One of DragonCon’s, or perhaps Shatner’s, thugs pushed my camera into my face and then two of them grabbed my arms and held me while they removed my badge from my neck. I had waited in line 2 hours for that badge, and paid $50 for it, and I barely had it for another 2 hours before I was essentially assaulted by what they call security. And there were no visible prohibitions for photography at my position. DragonCon officials since then have been rude and uncaring, if in fact that’s what they were. I’ve never been able to determine who really runs anything at DragonCon or who they are. I still can’t get a straight, consistent answer that makes sense regarding photography there. Even the Hilton just said you can only take pictures of your family, which doesn’t make sense considering people were taking photos all over that area, especially of the costumers. It was a terrible experience for my first time there, one I will not be repeating.