Living the celebrity life has to be pretty crazy. Traveling day in and day out, having fans and paparazzi following you everywhere you go, getting front row tickets to every “must see” concert or sporting event — there are lots of perks (and a few downfalls) to being famous. But overall, it seems pretty safe to say that it’s nothing like the life most of us live every day.
Every once in a while, this sort of special treatment and over-the-top reality that celebrities find themselves in can go to their heads. They get so used to having everything ‘just so’ and partaking in the best of the best, that they start making crazy demands. Here are 18 of the most ridiculous celebrity demands ever — read on to find out who needs puppies in their dressing room and who asks for the fridge to be stocked with Lunchables.
18. Christina Aguilera: The Police Escort
We’ve never pictured Christina Aguilera as a particularly mellow celebrity, so the fact that her 2000 tour rider had four pages of requests wasn’t totally surprising. Among the craziest of her demands? A police escort. Apparently, the pop princess can’t tolerate traffic and all of the various delays and hindrances it can cause, so she requested an escort to and from all venues. More specifically, she demanded, “under no circumstances are the vehicles to be allowed to encounter any delays due to traffic.” Seems pretty high maintenance, no? Traffic is just a fact of life, Christina, and we’ve all got to deal with it every now and then.
17. Justin Timberlake: The Doorknob Obsession
We had no idea that Justin Timberlake was this obsessed with cleanliness, but it turns out he’s a little bit of a germaphobe. Every time he’s performing at a venue, he requires that someone goes around and disinfects every single doorknob in the backstage area. And this doesn’t just happen before he arrives, but every two hours for as long as he remains at the venue. The same goes for the doorknobs at the hotels he stays at. He could just be really concerned about getting sick, but this one seems a little OTT if you ask us.
16. Mariah Carey: The Gum Dispenser
Mariah Carey is known to be one of the most demanding celebrities in Hollywood. The diva has a whole string of crazy demands on her rider including having a plethora of puppies, bunnies, and kittens delivered to her dressing room right before she’s set to hit the stage in order to help her calm her nerves. But there’s one demand that’s even crazier than that — the gum dispenser. At one point, she required an attendant whose sole job it was to take the pop singer’s chewed gum and dispose of it for her in a trash can. Imagine how demeaning that job would be! Hopefully it paid well at least.
15. Selena Gomez: No Justins
We love Selena Gomez, but she has a stipulation on her rider that seems just a little over the top. After her 2014 break up with Justin Bieber, the pop star declared that she would no longer work with anyone that shared a moniker with her ex. A few unlucky crewmembers were named Justin and had to be given nicknames for the duration of the tour. We get it, the grieving process can be a hard one, but this seems like a pretty extreme reaction. Maybe just blast breakup songs in your dressing room next time? That seems a little more sane. Not all Justins are the same, after all!
14. Rihanna: The Fur Rug
Rihanna has impeccable taste. Just look at her Fenty beauty line, the Savage X Fenty lingerie line, and her ridiculously attractive boyfriend, Saudi Arabian billionaire Hassan Jameel, if you need proof. Well, keeping in line with her flawless taste, Rihanna had a string of interior design requests for her tour dressing rooms on her 2010 “Last Girl on Earth” tour. Among them? A 6-foot comfortable couch with 6-8 animal print throw pillows on top, a large plush throw rug that, she clearly specified, must be clean as she will be walking on it barefoot, and 6 Archipelago ‘Black Forest’ candles. She also asked that the room is draped with black curtains with a layer of icy blue chiffon on top. Maybe when you have an eye for design that is that strong you just can’t tolerate scrubby looking rooms?
13. Jay Z: The 7 Rooms
Jay-Z is one of the biggest rappers in the game, and we’re sure that he travels with a pretty sizable entourage, but we’re not so sure it’s big enough to fill all seven dressing rooms that he requires from each tour destination. He’s either bringing an awful lot of people with him, planning on throwing some pretty massive backstage parties, or really feels like he needs a room for every day of the week. Jay-Z also has a pretty long list of food and drink requirements for the rooms, including, most bizarrely, jars of high-quality peanut butter and jelly. Is a classic pb&j; the Roc Nation founder’s pre-show meal?
12. Joe Jonas: Puppies, puppies, puppies
While on tour in Australia, Joe Jonas revealed his craziest rider demand while on a morning radio show. He asks that there be 12 puppies waiting for him in his dressing room. The former Jonas Brothers member revealed that he doesn’t always get his wish, but that every once in a while “a city will show up with 12 puppies” for him. We’re not sure what anyone really needs with a dozen puppies, but since the rest of his rider is pretty tame (only a few requests for specific snack food, etc.), we’re willing to give this one to him.
11. Kevin Hart: The Women
Kevin Hart has by far the grossest demand out of any celebrity on our list. He asks that each venue provide 5 women, between the ages of 21-27, all with an athletic/sexy build. He wants them to arrive one hour before the event starts and to stay an hour after it’s over. He’ll provide the wardrobe—t-shirts and leggings with the event logo printed on them—but the only sizes available are x-small, small and medium. We don’t even want to know what he has these girls for, but it seems like a pretty creepy request, and we can only hope (especially after his cheating scandal and the recent arrival of his son) that this stipulation has been removed from his most current rider.
10. Britney Spears: A Framed Princess Diana
This was more of a one-time request than a consistent demand, but, while making a stop on her 2011 tour in London’s O2 Arena, pop diva Britney Spears made an addendum to her rider demanding that a framed picture of Princess Diana be hung in her dressing room next to the delivery of fish, chips, and mushy peas. Apparently, BritBrit “adores the monarchy” and Princess Diana is a personal idol and inspiration for the singer. We’re all guilty of having posters of celebrities covering the walls of our bedrooms at one point or another, but this seems a little silly nonetheless.
9. Lindsay Lohan: The Vladimir Putin Meeting
This demand has us more confused than anything else. While negotiating her appearance on a Russian talk show in 2016, Lindsay Lohan requested that she be granted a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. We’re not sure how much the two would have had in common, or what they would have spoken about, but the former actress was insistent that it happen. She also requested a year-long visa, a private jet, and an appearance fee of $650,000. Those seem like pretty intense requests for a 5-minute segment on a mid-ranking, foreign talk show. But then again, LiLo spent quite a while out of touch with reality, so maybe we shouldn’t be all that surprised.
8. George Clooney: The Beach Hut
You might think that the longer you’ve been in the business, the more relaxed you’d be about your rider demands, but it seems to be exactly the opposite. Just look at George Clooney. Before shooting Gravity in 2013, the seasoned actor asked that a hot tub, custom-made beach hut, and a basketball court be constructed next to his on-set trailer. The Hollywood veteran had no problem demanding that a large chunk of the project’s budget be put towards making his experiences as luxurious as possible. We wonder how much use he would have even gotten out of those extras? Wouldn’t he just be shooting most of the time he was on set anyways?
7. Eminem: The Lunchables
Eminem has always been very upfront with his fans about his humble upbringing, so we’re not shocked that the mega-talented rapper has kept his rider’s demands pretty low-key. He literally has no furniture requests, and there’s no long list of alcohol requirements like other celebs have. Instead, there are just pages and pages detailing the food his room should be stocked with. Slim Shady would like 22 cans of Red Bull, 6 Lunchables (3 turkey and cheese, and 3 ham and cheese), and several cartons of Dannon Light & Fit yogurt, among other things. Maybe he just gets the munchies a lot?
6. Ne-Yo: Kettle One
Ne-Yo seems to have a penchant for cleanliness as well. The R&B; crooner asks that his dressing rooms on tour have Dove body wash, Listerine, Crest toothpaste, Nivea spray deodorant, a “medium bristle” toothbrush, and Nivea or Jergens lotions (he’s apparently pretty loyal to his favorite brands). On top of that, he wants a bottle of Kettle One vodka. But not for drinking, as you’d probably assume. Rather, he needs it for cleaning things. His rider doesn’t stipulate which things he’ll be cleaning with the liquor (Clothes? Shoes? Equipment?) but it’s listed as a necessity, so it must be for something good.
5. Prince: A New Home
Nope, this one is not a joke. In 2007 Prince actually asked that a venue build him a brand new, luxury, five-bedroom home on the grounds of London’s O2 Arena. The “Purple Rain” singer intended to use the mansion as a home base for all future London visits. Shockingly, the demand was agreed to, and while construction was completed, the venue also footed the bill for Prince and his entire crew to reside in a five-star hotel (where Prince’s room alone cost a whopping £2,100 a night!). Only for Prince. No other celebrity on earth would have ever gotten this kind of royal treatment.
4. Will Ferrell: Things on Wheels
Considering the fact that this demand came from Will Ferrell, we’re not too sure how serious it was… but while on a press tour for his 2008 film Semi-Pro, the actor asked to have a whole host of bizarre objects on wheels. He required one flight of stairs (6 feet high) on wheels, one fake tree (15-20 feet high) on wheels, and one rainbow (which could be painted on canvas) on wheels. He also wanted an electric, three-wheel mobility scooter and a “Janet Jackson style” headset microphone. We have no idea what the funny man wanted with all of these wheeled things, but we sure hope someone gave them to him.
3. Cher: The Wig Room
Cher’s done just as much touring, if not more, than any of the other celebrities on this list. Apparently, all of those tours have given her time to figure out exactly what she needs while on the road. She needs a TV with cable to watch plenty of movies, a room for Dr. Stacey (who, it seems, is her massage therapist), and a separate room for her wigs (though she is gracious enough to allow that wardrobe and wigs can share a room in certain circumstances). Also, the star and all members of her entourage refuse to wear those plastic backstage passes, so she requires that all venue workers have their faces memorized before arrival.
2. Kanye West: The Alcohol
Kanye West is not alone in demanding that his dressing room have a fully stocked bar—almost every other person on this list makes alcohol demands as well — but he definitely requires more liquor than anyone else. He needs Hennessey, Sky Vodka, Absolut Vodka, Patron Silver, and 24 cans of Heineken Beer. He also added on an alcohol slushy machine for his “Saint Pablo” tour (which was featured on Kim Kardashian’s Instagram a couple of times). And it’s not just the liquor demands that are intense, Kanye also needs about a dozen different mixers for his drinks, and a healthy amount of disposable plastic cups. Think of the environment, Yeezy!
1. Beyoncé: The Red Toilet Paper
Beyoncé is very particular about every aspect of the backstage area at her concerts and appearances. Her list of diva-like demands are long and detailed, and include things like: hand-carved ice balls (for soothing her throat), freshly painted white walls in all of the hallways, new toilet seats, red toilet paper, 100% pure cotton clothing for all crew members and venue workers, and titanium drinking straws for the special alkaline water that must be served at exactly 21 degrees. She definitely outdoes her husband (and every other star on this list, tbh) when it comes to the most ridiculous celebrity demands.