Taylor Swift
Stalkers: 2017 Proved to be a Terrifying Year for Celebs
We often throw the word “stalker” around to imply that someone has copied another person, comments too much on their Instagram, or a friend has become a little too enthusiastic about spending time together, but the reality is that real-life stalking is dangerous, often deadly, and changes the quality of someone’s life. And while the life of a celebrity seems luxe and glamorous, stalking comes with the territory and every week it seems there’s a new story about a famous person requiring an order of protection from a fan who has gone too far. And while the letter of the law says “stay back 100 feet,” often that doesn’t dissuade obsessive fans. Here are some of the craziest/scariest stories from just 2017 alone where some of the world’s biggest names have literally been hunted down by fans in the name of love, hate, and obsession.
Ellen Page is the latest Hollywood celeb to receive death threats. The actress reported the threats, which came back in June from an anonymous Instagram user, to police who are working to trace the IP address of the person threatening to kidnap and kill her.
A man accused of stalking Rihanna was arrested May 217 — but even he himself has reportedly said that it won’t stop him. Salmir Feratovic was arrested outside Rihanna’s New York home and charged with criminal trespassing. He was released after spending the night in jail. Not surprisingly, this May incident didn’t mark the first time he attempted to go to RiRi’s home — he was reportedly stopped outside her home twice in 2016, once while allegedly carrying a knife. Rihanna is tough and has security but when a stalker is known to have stated that being arrested wouldn’t deter him from trying to find her, the threat and the fear is real.
Singer and producer Moby also faced a stalker situation recently. A woman named Kelly Lord who was ordered to stay 100 yards away from his home, work and car, after allegedly attempting to steal his mail last year, was reportedly spotted on his surveillance video at his Hollywood, California home. Cops were called, but by the time they arrived, she was gone. No doubt Moby is keeping those cameras turned on.
Sandra Bullock was granted a permanent restraining order against Joshua Corbett, the man who has been stalking her for years. Corbett suffers from bipolar schizophrenia and had been in a mental health institution after an incident in 2014 where Corbett was found roaming Bullock’s home. She hid in a closet and called the police when she discovered him there (How scary is that??!! Sounds like a movie, doesn’t it?). Corbett was released from the facility early – unbeknownst to Bullock – and she and her lawyers had to scramble to request that permanent restraining order.
It’s scary enough to be stalked by a stranger, but what about when you’re threatened by the father of your child? Bethenny Frankel has filed charges against her ex-husband, Jason Hoppy, and in June 2017 he was arraigned on one count of stalking in the third degree and one count of stalking in the fourth degree. Frankel now has an order of protection against Hoppy, and she claims he threatened to “destroy” her after he showed up unexpectedly at their 6-year-old daughter Bryn’s school.
Marvin Magallanes, the man who twice tried to drive a car through the gate to Kylie Jenner’s home last year turned himself in and admitted to police that he killed a 49-year-old homeless man back in January 2017. Magallanes has referred to Jenner as his “soul mate” and was committed to a psych ward after one of his attempts to break through her front gate but successfully escaped from it. We know it’s sometimes hard to have sympathy for Kylie but this is a very really threat to her safety.
If Kylie’s situation weren’t scary enough, sister Kendall also experienced a chilling situation: her stalker, Shavaughn McKenzie, did manage to get through her front gate and accosted her while she was pulling into her driveway in late 2016. She recalled to a judge, “I’ve never been so scared in my life.” The judge granted her a permanent restraining order against McKenzie, who had a habit of trailing Kendall, banging on her windows and following her car before his arrest.
“Real Housewives of Orange County” star Gretchen Rossi was allegedly stalked by a former friend, Jay Photoglou, and early this summer, he allegedly attacked her boyfriend Slade Smiley. Photoglou reportedly approached Smiley from behind and hit him in the head outside a Newport Beach, California restaurant. Photoglou has since been charged with assault and battery.
This past June, Carmen Electra sought a permanent restraining order against a fan, Daniel Lablanc, who is convinced the pair are engaged. Electra already had a temporary restraining order against Lablanc, but when he showed up on her doorstep in June 2017 because he believed they were getting married, she called the cops and he was hauled away for evaluation.
We all know that Taylor Swift’s public feud with Katy Perry is the stuff of tabloids, but Swift’s stalker used it as part of his attempts to get her attention. Mohammad Jaffar was arrested in March 2017 after months of harassment, ringing Taylor’s doorbell non-stop, leaving dozens of messages for her managers, and ultimately climbing onto the roof of her New York City penthouse and staying there for four hours. After his arrest, Jaffar told a detective he worked for Perry and helped get her career started.
This list seems to grow ever longer by the day, and we think it shows a pretty terrifying side of the reality of celebrity. So perhaps when you are wishing you were in that designer gown walking the red carpet or leaving a restaurant to a sea of paparazzi shouting your name, think about how nice it is that for most of us we can curl up on our couches and binge watch our favorite shows or do our food shopping without the world knowing, anyone following us or watching us through a window. Certainly there are fabulous perks to celebrity but these stalker stories just might give us all a little pause. Want to read more about the scary price of fame? Click here.
After Taking the Stand, Swift Comes Out Victorious in Groping Trial
Taylor Swift is the top of our girlcrush list right now. This talented singer may live a very public life and we might think we know everything about her and her relationships but there is one aspect of her personal life that for quite some time she fought relatively quietly. That was until her day in court. Swift took the witness stand in the case against the DJ who groped he and told it like it was. She did not back down. She spoke for all of us; and she made sure she was heard. And heard she was. A jury returned a verdict after only four hours finding that back in 2013, Colorado radio DJ, David Mueller groped her. In deposition testimony prior to trial here’s what Taylor said happened. While posing for a photo with Mueller, “he took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek, and no matter how much I scooted over, it was still there. It was completely intentional. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.” At trial she was just as clear, even more so really. One of our favorite Swift responses while on the stand was to the question as to why her skirt wasn’t ruffled in the front if she were groped, “Because my ass is located in the back of my body,” the singer responded.
Note that Mueller got himself in the position of fighting Swift in court. Swift did not report the incident to police (which, by the way, she could have–his alleged actions could have supported a criminal charge) but rather, promptly told her mother and her team about it who notified Mueller’s employer. No one from Swift’s side asked for Mueller to be fired. They simply reported the incident and allowed the radio station to handle it. Wisely, the station fired Mueller. Not so wisely, Mueller sued Swift for slander in 2015, claiming he never touched her and suffered damages including the loss of his job as well as other professional opportunities as a result of her claims.
Swift did not stand by and allow Mueller to contradict her and filed a counterclaim for assault and battery. In May 2017, the court threw out Mueller’s claims of slander and the matter only went forward on intentional interference with a contract and tortious interference with prospective business relations (in addition to the counts in Swift’s counterclaim). Interestingly, after Swift testified her attorney moved that she be dismissed from Mueller’s suit altogether as Mueller had not presented sufficient evidence to show that Swift had interfered with anything. The judge agreed and Swift was dismissed as a defendant–only her mother and Bell, her radio manager remained. Mueller didn’t win against the remaining defendants either. In addition to finding that Mueller groped Swift the jury also found that neither Swift’s mother nor her radio manager did anything wrong–they had not tortuously interfered with anything regarding Mueller’s career. Bottom line: Mueller lost all around.
Swift only sued for $1.00 and that is what the jury awarded but after the verdict the ever-classy Swift acknowledged her privileged position in society and said, “I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organization that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.” Is there anyone cooler than Taylor Swift? We at PROOF don’t think so and want to add our thank you to the long list of thank yous she has been getting since taking up this fight. Thank you, Taylor you’re “Fearless!”
Taylor Swift Groping Case Goes to Trial
Taylor Swift may live a very public life and we might think we know everything about her relationships, her childhood, and her career, but there is one aspect of her personal life that she has remained fairly quiet about… until now. Swift is expected to take the stand in a civil suit involving an alleged assault by a Colorado radio DJ, David Mueller, as a result of groping. The incident occurred in 2013, and as Swift explained in her deposition that while posing for a photo with Mueller, “he took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek, and no matter how much I scooted over, it was still there. It was completely intentional. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.” Swift did not report the incident to police (which, by the way, she could have–his alleged actions could have supported a criminal charge) but did tell her team about it who notified Mueller’s employer; Mueller was fired from his job at 98.5 KYGO. He sued Swift for slander in 2015, claiming he never touched her and suffered damages including the loss of his job as well as other professional opportunities as a result of her claims.
Swift did not stand by and allow Mueller to contradict her (at the very worst, he’s calling her a liar; at the least, saying she had him confused with someone else) and filed a counterclaim for assault. In May 2017, the court threw out Mueller’s slander claims and the matter is now going forward on other counts raised in Mueller’s complaint including intentional interference with a contract and tortious interference with prospective business relations as well the counts in Swift’s counterclaim
Note that this is a civil case. There are no criminal charges, no jail time at issue. The eight person jury, made up of 6 women and 2 men, will decide who is liable here–that’s the term, not guilt or innocence. Among other things, they will decide whether Mueller assaulted Swift or Swift interfered with his contract with KYGO causing him to suffer damages. Mueller says his life was ruined by Swift’s claims and seeks up to $3 million; Swift has said if she receives any money damages, she will donate them to “charitable organizations dedicated to protecting women from similar acts of sexual assault and personal disregard.”
Swift as well as her mother are expected to testify along with another eye witness. A critical piece of evidence which, by now, most have seen, is the photograph from the incident–Mueller’s hand certainly appears to be behind Swift. Was it simply behind her or was it under her skirt and on her buttock? That’s the main issue the jury will decide as far as Swift’s claims.
While we at PROOF know this is not the most serious of cases (as does Swift–we indicated above that she could have, but did not, report the incident to police), we do not agree with those who refer to this case flippantly and we applaud Swift for filing a counterclaim, for using her resources and her access to make a point for herself and on behalf of other women who have been similarly victimized and violated physically without consent. Swift has said she hoped to “serv[e] as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.” You go, Taylor.