Barnorama All Fun In The Barn
Dive into the untold tales of celeb life before the red carpet with these 29 firsthand accounts.
“Dad is good friends with all the guys from slipknot, they’re still really nice, cool guys. Infact one of them even introduced my mom to my dad, still married.”
“I went to high school with Seth Rogen. He was a very funny guy, and couldn’t really keep quiet in class because he was always thinking up funny s**t.
Our math teacher came up with a solution to this: Seth would have the floor to himself for five minutes every Monday. In exchange, he’d keep quiet the rest of the week.
It was great. Seth would do a hilarious monologue every week, telling outrageous stories about what he’d been up to over the weekend, often integrating the teacher and members of the class in the story.”
“My Mom knew Eminem before he was famous. She has this story where he accidentally set her curtains on fire.
The full story: She said her and her friend where in a room of a house my mom was baby sitting in, when he came in the window and was being annoying and at some point the idea came up to play with a lighter and a can of aqua-net and *her and her friend* set fire to the curtains while he leaped out the window.”
“Kendrick Lamar grew up in my neigborhood in west compton. He still brings all his day-1 friends to his shows and supports the up and coming local artist. He also comes through the hood with no security often giving out shoes and what-not to the kids. Real humble guy.”
“I grew up with Ryan Dunn, and considered him a brother and was even his room mate for a spell. He would spend holidays with my family. We were friends since we were 14 and continued to stay friends until his death. He was always the best dude, and fame just made him closer with his real friends. There was never a time in his life either before or after his fame that he wasnt the nicest guy in the world.”
“My dad went to high school with George Lucas. According to him, Lucas was a quiet guy and was always writing or drawing in a notebook he carried around. He doesn’t blame the fact that Lucas doesn’t really like Modesto. It’s an awful place.
My sister was in high school musicals with Jeremy Renner. She never thought he’d be as famous as he is now, but she said he was one of the hardest working individuals she’d ever seen. Once again, this was in Modesto, and she doesn’t blame Jeremy for hating our horrible city.
Unfortunately, the only marginally famous person I went to high school with was the lead singer of Deafheaven, George Clarke. You may know them from the album Sunbather, and the incredibly polarizing view they have among metal fans. I think George would not like my saying this, but he was heavily involved in musical theater at the time. It’s strange hearing his screaming vocals and reminiscing about the fact that he was the lead role in *Bye Bye Birdie*. To his credit though, he played the most amazing villain in *Arsenic and Old Lace*. And, of course, he also hates Modesto.”
“Demi Lovato. She was a b***h to everybody and everybody hated her. She actually was the bully. Then she started with Disney and she couldn’t take the criticism he world gave her. I guess that’s why people are bullies, right? They’re insecure. I think she’s nice now though, I dont judge people by how they were when they were young.”
“Dated the (now former) COO of Mozilla in grade 8.
Honestly, in hindsight, he was the only kid in our group of friends that was a truly outstanding human being. Even at age 13 he was insightful and bright. Kind and unique.
I’m not sure if that’s the type of famous you’re looking for, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up on the same ‘tech celeb’ list as Jobs, Gates, etc.”
“I went to middle school with Ronda Rousey (Female UFC Undefeated Bantamwieght Champion), she was pretty quiet in school, super introverted. I have not seen her in over ten years, but it’s amazing to see her now, she’s a total outspoken bad**s who scares the s**t out of me.”
“I’m friends with Kiriko Takemura AKA Kyaru Pamyu Pamyu
She hasn’t changed much. She’s happier because she gets to make a living doing what she likes, but show biz in Japan is different from what I hear. Her music videos (and music) are weird as f**k and really fun to watch.”
“Chris Evans (Captain America in the Avengers movies and the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies from about 10 years ago) lived down the street from me and was my babysitter. His mom directs the plays at my town’s high school. I haven’t seen him since I was little, but when he was in high school he was just a normal dude. Nothing about him screamed “I’m gonna be famous one day.” It was just sorta, “I’m good at this acting thing and it just so happens that people who are good at acting get famous.” Also, my mom used to be a casting director for Tim Burton and lived next door to George Clooney back in like 1989. We went back to her old house when we were visiting LA and saw him with his entourage. My mom said that the only difference is the people who hang around him, and that other than the fact that he has an entourage now he’s exactly the same.”
“Danny Whitney — aka “Larry the Cable Guy” graduated from our small Christian school. I always thought he was a goofball who wasn’t that funny. I’m kind of the “serious type” and he was NEVER serious. It got old fast with me. I tried to avoid him.
He made a couple of cable specials and I still didn’t think he was funny, but he was getting funny. They he invented “Larry the Cable Guy” and the rest is history. Since then, we’ve crossed paths occasionally and he’s very centered and a really nice person. He has a child with issues and that has made him compassionate.
Just for the record — the “country thing” his just his schtick. He grew up in South Florida and was not country at all. He’s still a bit crude for my tastes, but I feel a lot better about him now. He’s one of those who doesn’t seem to have become a worse person the more fame he has acquired. I’m happy for his success.”
“I went to school with Carl Edwards. Super nice, intelligent, funny guy. Bumped into him a couple of times in college and he seemed a touch vain and aloof. Then he became a extremely successful NASCAR driver, and any time I run into him, he’s back to being the jovial, genial dude I always knew. He maintains his hometown roots, and does what he can to help friends finance business ventures and artistic endeavors.”
“Went to middle and high school with Natalie Portman. Nothing changed. If you didn’t know she was famous, you wouldn’t know it from how she acted. She kept the same friends, the same boyfriend, stayed the same tiny, reserved smart girl (or so it seemed). She was just in class less.”
“I’m close friends with Jemaine Clement (Grammy award Winner, MIB III, Flight of the Conchords etc etc…) and close to his brother Te Maia also. Jemaine has remained a pretty solid normal person, I still talk to him on FB (Cause he’s always out of town…) and the celebrity hasn’t got to his head one bit… We still talk about our kids and talk s**t..”
“Okay this is going to disappear into oblivion and no one will ever see it. Ariana Grande, this girl went to high school and middle school with me. She is was and will forever be a fake as f**k b***h. All my friends know to turn the radio off when her songs come on. I will be the first to admit she has an amazing voice but d**n girl learn to be humble! But hey its hard to be humble when you’re the queen of the jungle! I’m not even sure she knows what a real conversation sounds like. Everything she ever did and ever will to is to get attention. Of course by the time freshman year rolled around she was hardly ever at school because she was acting full time in New York. Fun fact her parents payed off our school to basically give her a diploma. She was also told she could not attend our high school graduation after she tried to bring like 50 people from her entourage and cancel the live streaming of the even due to security risks. We went to international high school many of our classmates parents wouldn’t see their child graduate without the live streaming. I have a million stories about her and I LOVE sharing them. But to sum up this rant, when I read she hoped all her fans would die… I wasn’t even a little surprised. She would absolutely say something like that, and mean every word.”
“I live in Stratford, Ontario, home of the Biebs. I didn’t know him personally, but knew his friends. From what I can hear, he was an a****t before and after fame. He was suspended for pouring coffee on a teacher and then flipping her off. Recently, he was kicked out of the local theater for punching an old lady who reported him to the ushers for smoking pot in the theater.
So really nothing changed…”
“Whoopi Goldberg smoked me and a friend out in Berkley in the early eighties for his birthday. She was smart nice and hilarious. I think she has just gotten smarter nicer and funnier and maybe a little grayer.”
“I’m from Auckland, NZ, where Lorde grew up.
She used to not be able to afford pies.
Now she can afford pies. Other than that, so far she seems cool.”
“I went to HS with Chris Mintz-Plasse. We weren’t great friends, but friendly classmates. He was always pretty funny/goofy, always lighthearted joking. I’ve seen him once since he was in superbad, and it was pleasant. I only hear good things.”
“I knew magician Rich Ferguson (the one who sneezes his head off and the gif comes up every now and then) he and i are still very close and even after he went on ellen and on tour he has continued to be one of the nicest men i know”
“My wife grew up with Eric Church and Madison Bumgarner. She says that Madison has not changed one bit but Eric was never the bad boy country type. He drove Camry and wore Polo shirts. Both are nice guys though when we have had conversations.”
“My mom taught A.J. Green, an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. He grew up down South. She taught him 8th grade math, twice.
My brother graduated high school a few years before him but has said that he was a nice enough kid. Now he’s just a popular icon for young aspiring african Americans wanting to play professional football. He is continually supportive of youth and high school football in our town, though, so I wouldn’t say that he’s strayed too far from his roots.”
“I went to middle and high school with Chris Pratt. Basically, he was the same kind of character he plays on Parks and Recreation. He was popular, but always nice to everyone, even the non- popular kids, and he was really funny too. I haven’t seen him in years, but I assume he’s still pretty cool. All in all, fame couldn’t have happened to a cooler person.”
“Went to high school with Michael Phelps. He was working extremely hard to get where he’s been, even through HS. He’s been very very dedicated to his sport for a long time.
I’m one of like 5 girls in the school who he *didn’t* have s*x with. No, I’m not upset about that. He’s always been a manwh*re. But hey, he who wears the crown gets the spoils, right?”
“My aunt went to high school with Robert Downey Jr and said he was an a*****e in class to everyone especially the teacher because he knew he would become something whether he finished school or not because his family was wealthy and his dad had actor hookups.”
“I know Brandon SooHoo, the Asian d**g lord kid from Tropic Thunder. He’s a really cool, nice guy. Doesn’t like it when people refer to him as famous. Pretty normal kid even after being in such a big movie at his age. He’s also a really fun guy to party with.”
“My little sister is friends with Lorde. I’ve only had a few conversations with her before she got super famous and she was always kinda edgy and full of creativity. Nice to see her music reflects herself too.”
“I didn’t know him really and he was already famous when this happened.
I’m from Shawnee, Oklahoma and my great aunt is good friends with Brad Pitt’s grandma. We stop by her house for some reason, I can’t remember what for but when we got there I really really had to p**s. So, when we get there I immediately go straight for the bathroom to my surprise I walk in on Brad Pitt dropping a deuce. I was mortified, mostly because I was only 9 and secondly I had no f*****g idea **Brad Pitt** was there. Like, I knew he was her grandson but I spent a lot of time there, saw all the pictures of him she had on her walls.
I was so embarrsed, I just walked to my ain’t and was like “Brad Pitt is here…” and she looks at me confused and goes “I told you William came to visit”. Yeah, I didn’t know that was his real name.”
“Brother went to school with Jennifer Lawrence. He didn’t know her too well, but said one time in English class she knocked over a pencil sharpener onto his balls.”
“I was friends with Katy Perry
Her name is Katy Hudson. Before she did pop music she was a Christian artist. My friends dad was her manager and she went to my church. She was an awesome person who truly had an amazing voice. Our youth group at the time would listen to her songs and we actually had a listening party to help decide what would go on her final album. Her Christian album tanked. Mostly because she was way ahead of her time as far as sound goes. She was writing a lot of her own stuff at the time and she was really talented. Really she was too talented to be pigeon-holed in such a strange genre. When her album kind of flopped she moved back to California and would return on occasion, but she changed a lot and you could see it in her. I think the last time I saw her personally was 2002-2003. Next time I heard from her was when I kissed a girl came out. I remember sitting at work and it came on the radio and instantly recognized the voice (seriously listen to her sing, she has a very unique voice) they said her name after the song was over and I looked her up and made the connection. It was probably one of the strangest moments of my life. To think at one point in time I ate pizza in a closet with her. She’s good people and I tell everyone that.”
“My friend’s (second) cousin is Pitbull.
He said they never really talked much because, as a kid, Pitbull was pretty rude. eh.”
“My uncle dated Layla El when she used to be a Miami Heat dancer. But when she got the whole WWE gig, she became way too busy to be him. She was always nice though. She knew I was a big fan and offered to have dinner with us when she came back down.”
“My aunt grew up in Philadelphia with Will Smith and apparently he’d constantly ask her out only to get sent home by my grandfather. My aunt says he was a big geek. I’m just glad I don’t have to see Jayden at thanksgiving.”
“My dad used to teach actors as one of his first careers. He taught quite a few people, but the two that really stood out to him were Drake Bell and Josh Peck from the children’s show Drake and Josh. He hasn’t talked to them in about 20 yrs., but apparently at the time they were both a******s.”
“I’ve known pole vaulter Jack Whitt for close to ten years. He’s always been a really good dude. Fame hasn’t changed him much if at all, although he isn’t some A list celebrity.”
“I live in Louisville, and had a few friends who went to HS with Jennifer Lawrence and even met her back in grade school and saw her out in high school but never though anything of her. My buddy actually hooked up with her in HS and apparently she was weirdly overly dramatic in bed. Like any little thing and she was screaming loudly. She was a very odd girl back in the day and I always remember her being the girl with abnormally long arms.”
“I got a friend who’s cousins with mark and Donnie walhburg. One story I took from him was that the family reunion episode of their show was staged and neither one went to the real family reunion. So it sounds like they’re a*s holes.”
“When the Trailer Park Boys first started filming, they were actually using people’s homes for sets. Whenever they broke stuff, they would fix it themselves. I worked at a hardware store and sold them a lot of stuff. They were basically normal people that dressed like they still thought it was the late 90s.”