15 Celebrity Bodyguards Spill the Beans: Unveiling Best and Worst Protection Assignments

I worked at a concert venue while in college and had to guard the dressing room and escort the actors to the stage. Never had a bad experience.

Top 2 stories:

1. Ludacris smoked out his entire room and the only time I have ever been high was from the contact high from standing next to the door.

2. A guy in gym shorts and a t-shirt comes walking in the restricted area. I ask him for his pass and he says that he doesn't have it with him. Told him that he couldn't be there and that if he didn't leave I would have to escort him from the building. Turns out the guy was Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn. After he was all dressed and waiting to go on, he made a point to come up to me and apologize for not having his credentials with him. I told him that I didn't recognize him without his hat. Really nice guy.                                                                     Credit: u/seemeatthezoo

Not really that interesting, but I helped protect Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch from crazy fans during a show. We basically had to hold the line and pass passed-out girls over it to the EMTs. I really had no business being out there since I was pretty scrawny and 14 or 15 years old, but my friend's dad was running the party. Got to meet Marky Mark who was super friendly and threw a mean gang-style handshake where all I could do was stay loose and go with it. Then we ate some fried chicken with the group backstage. The End.

Credit: u/seemeatthezoo

Best: KRS-1, Warren G, Duggie Fresh, Snoop Dogg, Robb Zombie, (was very cool and humble) Damian Marley, Too Short, Travis Barker, Kidd from Kidd and Play, Jim Belushi, every p*rn star I've had to watch was cool as hell. And a bunch more.

Worst: just about any sports athlete sucks except hockey players. Everyone I met was very nice!

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Not supposed to really dwell into it but a few that really stood out good and bad. Also should point out not a bodyguard but do different "work" for these individuals.

The one celeb that breaks all my female friends' hearts when I have to tell them her true demeanor is;

Gwen Steffani. Seriously, three different occasions and I would rather roll around in a bed of broken syringes using my crack whores than deal with her ever again. Flip side is Gavin Rossdale is the chilliest most humble laid-back guy ever.

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When a certain Die Hard star was filming in our city, with his demi-star wife they stayed at the hotel where I worked. The armed guards (plural) stood at the door to their suite until the end of their shift at which time they came down to have a drink at the bar across the street where the hotel employees all 'refreshed' after work. They were very entertaining, generous guys that knew what they did was silly but they managed to stay respectful of their "boss" while laughing about the fact that a turkey sandwich from room service was the biggest threat they had ever faced.

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When I was younger I worked security, I had to escort John Cena somewhere, and I was told not to let any fans near him. A fan saw him, and asked for an autograph which caused more fans to see him, he said it was fine to let them near him and signed an autograph for every single fan.

He apologized for making me wait and gave me a Snickers chocolate bar when we got to his dressing room.

This was when he was new on the scene and not very popular, I will always remember that about him. When people say he's a nice guy, they are not exaggerating.

Credit: u/seemeatthezoo

Most surprising were the Beckhams, both of them. Again, most polite, down-to-earth, good caring people. I could never talk smack about Posh Spice ever again or make fun of David

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I was a bodyguard for Fay Wray during a silent film festival in San Francisco. She was incredible. Sweet, elegant, all that stuff.

It was quite interesting being threatened by a throng of gay men when I wouldn't let them get near her (on her orders). Had to get a little physical with one of them (no, not **that** way).

10/10 would bodyguard again - if she were still alive.

Credit: ShitsInPringlesCans

I was a bodyguard for Eminem from the spring of 2000 (right before The Marshall Mathers LP was released) up until about the fall of 2004 (right around when Encore was released).

I can write a book about it. You never would have guessed Eminem was a celebrity. He was exceedingly humble, somewhat awkward, and rarely a d**k to people. He treated all of his staff, ranging from sound engineers to those who prepared food at the studio, very kindly and well. He never used his celebrity status to bully or throw contempt toward others and actually shied away from it. Eminem's younger half-brother Nate, though, was a different story and used his relationship with Eminem to get him passes everywhere and into a different girl's pants every night.

Also, Eminem was a serious fan of pistols (always carrying one on him, even after his arrests :O) and was, at certain times, quite a heavy prescription drug user. Your fans were the biggest issue. Eminem could barely go anywhere and concerts, tours, and any public appearances (especially around late 2002 when both The Eminem Show and the film 8 Mile were totally dominating popular culture) were the most chaotic experiences I have ever had.

I do want to say, it is extremely important to never judge celebrities or make assumptions about them or what they do because they totally can (and many totally do) lose their minds with the exorbitant amount of fame and excess they are exposed to.

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My most humorous bodyguard job was for Shaq. He came into my club and I was assigned to him. I was 6'5, 230 lbs at the time, and he dwarfed me. It was just funny that he made me look like a child, but it was my job to "protect" him. Nothing crazy happened, I just had to keep people from trying to walk up and take pictures/harass him all night.

The worst person was Chris Brown for obvious reasons.

Credit: u/seemeatthezoo

Worst: Adam Lambert...I never met or worked for someone so heartless and rude. I was asked to take care of his private security one night as a favor for his tour manager. He literally came up to me, put his arm on my shoulder, and said " Unless you see a thousand people bothering me, stay the f**k away as possible."...I couldn't believe that someone I was asked to protect said that. I did my best to be professional and held every ounce of strength not to kill the guy myself. He purposely made my night a living hell.

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"I worked for KISS backstage by the dressing rooms. These four random bros came through the stair doors with backstage passes, and they asked to go in the dressing room (assuring me they'd done it before at a KISS concert). Well, the VIP passes for the crew had little stickers we had to check for, and as I was checking, two of the guys just went into the dressing room Gene Simmons was in."

"I went to get them, but the stage manager was already shoving them out and then proceeded to scream at me. I tried explaining I was checking the passes and they just barged in, but he kept berating me. 

Gene Simmons came to the door and said: 'It's okay, don't worry.' The guys were long gone, but the SM sent me to a different post outside Paul Stanley's room instead. He was an awesome dude. We chatted for a couple of minutes about a fantasy novel I was reading. So, the band was awesome (the SM not so much)."

Credit: u/Camel_Holocaust

"The greatest person I did security for was Pope John Paul II. He was funny as hell when he found out I was an atheist. He laughed and said: 'How do you feel about protecting me?' and I replied: 'Well, at least I know if I die protecting you and I was wrong about God, it would definitely put a huge notch in the good category.' He laughed, offered to bless me, and I let him."

Worst: Tony Robbins. Guy was an absolute tool. Never mind the fact that he made all his wealth by taking advantage of gullible people and his behavior just adds to his douchiness. He demanded that his hotel room be a certain temperature at all times and when it was a couple of degrees off he lost his shit and started yelling at the hotel staff.

I had to escort him up to his room after one of his seminars and his "staff" (groupies and hangers-on) stated that I had to be 20 feet away at all times or I would be disturbing his "aura". How the hell am I supposed to protect him if I have to stand that far away? He also had this weird machine contraption that looked like a mix between an enema machine and a giant dildo. I had no idea what the hell it was for and I didn't ask. Weird dude overall.

Best: Snoop Dogg or "Snoop Lion" now. He was totally chill. Asked that I put the Steelers game on for him and gave me a wad of cash to pay for a bunch of Playstation 2's to bring up to his room since he and his entourage were going to have a major Madden tournament in the evening. Also instructed me to only allow children near him and no adults since he only signs autographs for little kids. Actually, a very well-spoken and respectful individual considering what he's known for in his career.

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Robert Duvall. Excellent Excellent man. He keeps a book with him and when he eats out he logs it, so he knows to eat there, not to eat there, and what to eat. Had a nice lunch at a small joint, just about to get the check when someone finally recognized him. There were only about 20 people in there and only 10 wanted an autograph (was in the time before cell phone cameras) the others just simply took a handshake.

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