Fame comes with a price, and sometimes you pay with your own safety. Idolizing another human being goes back to primal era, and some people can’t battle their animal nature. They begin haunting the people they’re fixated on.

Sometimes they simply want to get a celebrity’s attention, other times they’re dreaming of getting a taste of the celebrity lifestyle. Following the widely discussed attack on Kim Kardashian, we’re remembering other famous people who were assaulted: from harmless spooks to stone-cold murders.
 

Will Smith

LifeNews

Red carpets aren’t as glamorous as they look. You have to follow your publicist’s instructions, pose awkwardly, don’t go blind after all the flashing lights, and, in Will Smith’s case, also make sure no one is trying to kiss you.

Back in 2012 while promoting Men in Black 3 Smith fell victim to notorious Ukranian TV host/prankster Vitalii Sediuk, who told Smith he was his “biggest fan,” asked for a hug and then tried to kiss actor on the cheek. Smith retreated as fast as he could and gave the passionate fan a little warning slap. If only anybody would warn Smith that this man also presented a bouquet of hydrangeas to Madonna — her least favorite flowers.

Taylor Swift

YouTube

While promoting her "Bad Blood" single, Tay-Tay was projecting an image of untouchable leather-clad badass. Wel,l as it turned out, she wasn’t as untouchable as she thought — a frantic fan tried grabbing unsuspecting pop singer’s leg while she performed the song in Canada. Taylor looked genuinely frightened.

Brad Pitt

Splash

If you think getting a slap on the face by Will Smith stopped Ukranian prankster Vitalii Sediuk, then you thought wrong. He kept his wild red carpet tactics and later hit Brad Pitt in the face at the premiere of Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent. Pitt wasn’t hurt, but Sediuk got arrested. His excuse? Apparently, he believes celebrities need to tighten their security. Good idea.

Miley Cyrus

Getty

The scary reality of pop stardom is that you get both good and bad fans. But some unlucky celebrities also get the worst kind of followers: stalkers.

Miley Cyrus’ most notorious stalker was named Jason Luis Rivera, and he was convinced that he and Miley were an official item, claiming the two were “friends for five years.” He was caught climbing over the gates to Cyrus' house with a pair of scissors in his backpack. We suppose he was planning to have a collage making master-class with Miley that night?

Avril Lavigne

YouTube

She was a popstar, he was a fan, can we make it any more obvious? Back in 2011 Canadian pop girl wonder Avril Lavigne was enjoying her time on stage and getting ready for another song when a fan climbed to the stage and ran straight at her. Look at her expression in this video and hear her scream: this is one of these moments that inspire a singer to write songs with titles like “What The Hell.” 

Harry Styles

YouTube

When you’re in the world’s hottest boyband, there are a lot of people wanting to get inside your pants. But there’s also the ones who want to… well, hit your groin with a bottle. That’s what happened to One Direction’s long-haired teen idol Harry Styles in 2015. A fan (or more likely a jealous boyfriend of a fan) threw a big bottle to the stage that hit the singer in the most sensible area. Maybe just send him a mean tweet instead of a bottle next time?

Paris Hilton

YouTube

The biggest socialite of '00s enjoyed her time causing trouble and even spent time behind bars, but she was also one of the victims of a sneaky teenage criminal clique, later immortalized in the The Bling Ring movie.

Hilton’s princess-castle-like mansion was the main target of a group of Calabasas-based teenagers who kept coming inside her house while Paris was away (yes, she kept the key under the mat). We still can’t decide which is crazier: that Paris didn’t realize her house was broken into until later or that she eventually let the movie based on the events be shot inside her actual house.

Tom Cruise

YouTube

Think reporting from a movie premiere is boring? Follow the example of British Channel 4’s presenter and take a fake microphone to an event which is actually a water gun. That’s what happened in 2005 at War of the World premiere where Tom Cruise got squirted during the interview with a pranking journalist. “Why did you do that?” the stunned actor asked repeatedly before concluding, “You’re a jerk.”

Lindsay Lohan

Getty

There’s a lot to criticize about Lindsay’s behavior, but back in 2008 she had to answer for her decision to wear real fur. The anti-fur activists flour-bombed the actress, who was wearing a fur coat on her way to a nightclub. At least that’s the least harmful powder one can get covered in on a night out. 

Leona Lewis

Xposure

When writing a memoir, make sure to put enough punch lines in the stories you’re sharing. Unfortunately, in Leona Lewis’ case, the punch was more than real when she was punched in the face by a violent man at the signing of her autobiography in 2011. It turned out the attacker was British wannabe singer Peter Kopwalczyk, who was rejected by The X Factor — the same show that brought Lewis her fame.

Morrissey

TMZ

Sometimes your lyrics are mirrored by real-life events. Morrissey was singing “Someday Goodbye Will Be Farewell” in San Jose in 2014, when several men from the audience got on the stage and tackled him to the ground. Several days after, almost the same thing happened at his Denver show. The man surely has affectionate fans.

Steve Buscemi

YouTube

Be careful of who you’re going to a bar with. Actor Steve Buscemi learned his lesson the hard way back in 2001, when he went out drinking with fellow actor Vince Vaughn, who got into a fight over some ladies with other patrons. Buscemi, who was trying to break the fight, got stabbed several times until the police came in and pepper sprayed the brawl away.

Sean Bean

AVClub

Sean Bean’s characters are usually up for some epic fights, and turns out the actor isn’t the one to back away from a dangerous situation in real life either. That’s why in 2011 he got into a fight outside a bar in London with some passers-by who decided it was a good idea to offend Bean’s girlfriend. The actor ended up with some bruises and cuts by broken glass. He then returned to the bar to get another drink. 

Noel Gallagher

Kyle Gustafson

Liam and Noel Gallagher have had their share of family rumblings (both on stage and behind the scenes), but sometimes they get a threat from the outside. Like in 2008, when Oasis were attacked on the stage by a 48-year-old fan in Toronto who shoved the musician into a set of speakers and broke three of his ribs. A couple of years later Gallagher told the interviewer he was in a lot of pain following the attack and would “never really recover.”

Snooki

YouTube

Remember the golden times when all we cared about was the gelled-up, spray-tanned, alcohol-consuming clique that occupied the far-from-glamorous Jersey Shore? Then you’ll surely recall what they call the reality TV goldmine in the MTV’s reality series’ first season: the moment when poor Snooki got punched in the face by mean-spirited nightclub patron Brad Ferro.

Apparently, it wasn’t staged at all. The man, who turned out to be a high school gym teacher, lost his job following the assault and eventually joined the army ‘cause he couldn’t find another job. And they say reality TV fame doesn’t last long!

Theresa Saldana

AP Photo/Craig Molenhouse

Long before the internet could help you find out almost anything you may want to know about your celebrity obsession, you had to work harder to follow your idols. That’s why back in 1982 actress Theresa Saldana (known for her roles in Raging Bull and I Wanna Hold Your Hand) was stabbed by a stalking fan, who tracked her whereabouts with the help of private investigator. Saldana was attacked outside her West Hollywood home and barely made it out alive. She passed away this past June.

Rihanna

TMZ

Young love burns bright. It can also hurt you a lot; just take a look at Rihanna and Chris Brown. The world was adoring the loving R&B couple before the shocking news broke in 2009 of Brown brutally assaulting his girlfriend assisted with a horrifying shot of Rihanna’s beaten up face. The couple eventually worked it out and even dated for a bit several years later, but the shadow of that incident will haunt Brown forever. Rightfully so.

Kim Kardashian

Getty

Kim Kardashian suffered not one, but two assaults by the Ukrainian prankster we’ve already mentioned: he first tried pushing her to the ground in 2014 and recently tried kissing her bottom. But nothing can compare to the horrors the socialite suffered right inside her Paris residence on October 3 when she was robbed at gunpoint by five assailants dressed as cops. As the story is still developing, we’re expecting to learn more about the shocking attack soon.

Selena

AP Photo

The Mexican-American singer was insanely popular in the late '80s and early '90s — her empire was running smoothly and needed a wise manager. That’s why Selena’s family hired Yolanda Saldivar to handle Selena’s fashion boutiques and fan club.

Eventually Salvidar’s embezzlement and obsession of Selena became transparent, but Salvidar convinced Selena to meet with her and shot her boss/idol right in a hotel room. The 23-year-old singer died in surgery and Salvidar is still serving her life sentence.

Christina Grimmie

Maker Music

The summer of 2016 brought the world a series of tragedies, but Orlando suffered the most back in June. Just a day before the bloodbath at Pulse nightclub, The Voice alumni Christina Grimmie was meeting fans after a show when a man (pretending to be a fan) walked up to her and shot her four times before killing himself. Grimmie died in the hospital that evening. The motive of the horrible crime remains unknown.