10 celebrities who've had to deal with creepy stalkers: From Taylor Swift to Sandra Bullock
From John Lennon to Madonna, here are 10 celebs who were harassed by their stalkers
Recently, a man was arrested outside Taylor Swift's New York apartment for allegedly trespassing on the singer's property. The 'Lover' singer, however, is not the only celebrity who faced the nightmare of being stalked and followed. From John Lennon getting shot by his stalker to Robert Pattinson going on a date with his, the list of celebrity stalking incidents is diverse. Let's take a look at it.
1. Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has been bothered not once but twice by stalkers. In 2015, a man named Frank Edward Hoover started stalking her incessantly. Hoover even sent threatening letters to her father saying he would kill their entire family. Claiming he was the “real son of God", Hoover said Swift's family was “the evil family of devils”. After getting arrested in 2016, he was sentenced to a decade of probation starting in 2018, as per Newsweek. In January 2024, the 'Lavender Haze' singer faced the horror of stalking again after a man was arrested outside her New York apartment for alleged stalking and attempts to break into the place.
2. John Lennon
Beatles singer John Lennon probably suffered one of the most gruesome encounters with a stalker. He was murdered by maniac Mark David Chapman in 1980, who waited outside the Dakota Apartments on the Upper West Side. After Lennon signed an album for him, Chapman fatally shot Lennon. He then opened a copy of JD Salinger’s 'The Catcher in the Rye' and waited for the cops. Chapman, who claimed the book inspired him to murder Lennon, is currently serving a life sentence, according to Crime Museum.
3. Madonna
Madonna had to deal with the problem in 1995 when her security guards shot her stalker Robert Dewey Hoskins after he hopped the fence at her Hollywood Hills estate. Fortunately, the Queen of Pop was in Miami during that time. Hoskins previously threatened her security guards that either he would marry her or slit her throat. After getting convicted, Hoskins served a 10-year prison sentence.
4. Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson probably had one of the most unique encounters with a stalker. While the 'Twilight' actor was filming a movie in Spain, he said there was a woman who would wait in front of his apartment "every day" for weeks. Instead of avoiding her, Pattinson told Creme Magazine that he decided to go on a date with her, as per GQ. "I was so bored and lonely that I went out and had dinner with her," he said, before adding, "I just complained about everything in my life and she never came back.”
5. Sandra Bullock
Unlike Pattinson, Sandra Bullock's experience with her stalker was chilling. In 2014, the 'Gravity' actress was alone at her home in Bel Air when her stalker Joshua Corbett broke into her home. She recounted the experience later and said, "It was the one night that Louis wasn’t with me,” referring to her son, who was four years old then. She continued, “It was the one night that our nanny goes, ‘Let me just take him to my apartment which is up the street because you’re going to be out late.'” When the stalker got into her apartment, the actress ran to the closet and dialed 911. Corbett died in 2018 in his Los Angeles home after a stand-off with police. The incident, nevertheless, gave Bullock a PTSD.
6. Christina Grimmie
'The Voice' singer and YouTube star Christina Grimmie died at the age of 22 when her obsessive stalker Kevin James Loibl went up to her following a show in Orlando and shot her at point-blank range. Loibl allegedly became obsessed with the singer and seeing her photo with another man unhinged him. He later shot himself, Orlando Sentinel reported.
7. Selena Gomez
Apart from Taylor Swift, her BFF Selena Gomez also had a bitter experience with a stalker. In 2014, Selena Gomez was infamously stalked by a man named Che Cruz. He even broke into the guest house of her Calabasas, California, mansion several times. He was later ordered to stay away from the songstress and undergo a psychological evaluation.
8. Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow was stalked and terrorized for more than a decade by a man named Dante Michael Soiu. The stalker sent her over 65 packages containing letters and pornographic objects in six years.
9. Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster had to face one of the most terrifying experiences with a stalker when in the 1980s. Watching her performance in 'Taxi Driver', a man named John Hinkley Jr became obsessed with the actress and enrolled himself at Yale University to be closer to the actress when she was a student at the prestigious university. To prove his love, he even attempted to assassinate former president Ronald Reagan in 1981 by shooting him in the chest. The president, nevertheless, made a full recovery and Hinkley was sentenced to be in a mental institution for the rest of his life, as per Grunge.
10. Theresa Saldana
Theresa Saldana was stalked by a man named Arthur Richard Jackson, who attacked the actress in the 1980s by stabbing her ten times with a hunting knife. She was in the hospital for months and fortunately, made a full recovery. Jackson was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After he started sending threatening letters to Saldana, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he remained until he died in 2004.
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