Top 10 Bizarre Celebrity Contract Demands
Talk about outrageous celebrity demands. From fresh cotton boxers for Moby, to a full diva experience for Mariah Carey, to a bag of pirate booty for the Foo Fighters, these celebrities have some ridiculous backstage riders. WatchMojo counts down ten bizarre celebrity contract demands.
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Top Ten Bizarre Celebrity Contract Demands
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When booking these celebrities, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Bizarre Celebrity Contract Demands. For this list, we’re looking at reported celebrity contract riders that stand out for being strange, outrageous, or unreasonable.
#10: Fresh Cotton Boxers Moby
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Compared to other requests on this list, this one made by Moby is modest, if a bit personal. According to a contract rider from 1999, the musician wanted several pairs of both socks and underwear, specifically cotton boxer shorts. Such items would be considered the worst Christmas gifts for children anywhere, let alone a high profile celebrity, so it raises some important questions. For example, did Moby need to wear the requested socks and underwear to go on stage, and couldn’t he have picked this stuff up at a Target before the show?
#9: The Diva Experience Mariah Carey
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This diva demands a lot from herself, and she expects some perks to come her way when she’s on tour. For her green room, Mariah wants the temperature to be 75 degrees Fahrenheit and to be equipped with two air purifiers. To relax her throat before a big performance, Carey has been known to sip on Cristal champagne accompanied by a bendy straw. But as far as “personnel” goes, the singer requests someone who is dutifully bound to throw away her gum after she’s done chewing it, and another person to provide help when she’s going up a flight of stairs.
#8: A Bag of Pirate Booty Foo Fighters
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Mocking the stereotype of outrageous demands made by rockers when they go on tour, the Foo Fighters have taken a playful tone with their contracts, as they snuck in some facetious language when outlining what they wanted – like an unexplained bag of pirate booty. From a 2008 rider, they also asked for cereal that was not previously used for a Dio concert, an assortment of cream cheeses, and that they preferred to be served vegetable soup since meaty soup supposedly gave the roadies gas. In addition, the rider refers to bacon as “God’s currency”, and includes The Foos Recipe for ice – spoiler, it involves freezing water.
#7: No Animal Products Paul McCartney
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Socially conscious of animal rights, Paul McCartney’s vegetarian lifestyle plays a big part in his show contracts. The rock legend wants no animal products in his dressing room or backstage, which includes the food and furniture materials. Additionally, his limos can’t have seats made out of leather or animal prints, even if it’s fake. While Sir Paul takes great care to steer clear of products that come from animals, his contract – or at least a 2002 world tour rider – does have one blind spot: 24 bars of Ivory Soap, which, while not containing actual ivory, does contain material derived from animal fat.
#6: Glam Rock Décor Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga certainly has a reputation for having rather offbeat tastes, which are represented in a 14-page rider that was made public in 2013 courtesy of a lawsuit filed by Gaga’s former assistant. In addition to things like Jameson whisky, lemon grass tea and strawberry jam, the rider tells us that Gaga wanted her dressing room to have a glam rock vibe, asking for posters of icons like Queen and David Bowie to be placed on the walls. And, presumably to keep her company before a show, she wanted a mannequin that had puffy, pink pubes.
#5: No Carnations, No Conversations Katy Perry
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Katy Perry knows what she wants, and it shows in her 45-page rider. Among these things are French lamps, a director’s chair with her name on it, a total absence of carnations, and someone whose sole task is to prepare cut up fruits and vegetables. But what stands out as the most extreme provision in the rider is that the singer reportedly doesn’t want anyone who works in her staff to say a word to her before a show – especially not the chauffeurs. So if you got into the service business on the off chance that you could one day mingle with Katy Perry, don’t get your hopes up.
#4: Gummi Bears & a Bald Hooker Marilyn Manson
Given Marilyn Manson’s dark demeanor, you could imagine the requests that fill his green room would be a chamber of horrors, but for the most part, that’s not the case. Among the items Manson has asked promoters to supply backstage before concerts include Haribo brand gummi bears, chocolate candy, and a half-gallon of 2% milk, which seem pretty tame for an aspiring Antichrist Superstar. However, he does push the boundaries a bit with his reported and unique request for a “bald, toothless hooker,” which wouldn't be most people's first choice in bedroom buddy, but to each their own...
#3: A Personal Chef... & an 'Army' Madonna
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It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s a fan of Madonna that she has extravagant tastes when she goes on tour. According to InTouch Weekly, the pop diva wants to be surrounded by an entourage composed of 200 hundred people. She wants 30 bodyguards to look over her for protection and personal chefs to make vegan food exclusively. If that already doesn’t seem like too much, 20 international lines are requested, perhaps so everyone from the entourage can phone home - and furniture is even moved from Madonna’s house to her dressing room so she can feel more at home.
#2: An All-White Trailer Jennifer Lopez
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When asked to appear in a video for a charity song benefitting African AIDS program in 2001, J-Lo agreed, but only under the right conditions. In exchange for her 90 minutes of work to make the video, she wanted a trailer where everything had to be white, including the flowers, curtains, and candles. The star also wanted Cuban food, which she reportedly then didn’t eat. What’s more, the rider included requests for chocolate chip cookies and pie a-la mode, but absolutely no tomato, apple, or grape juice. Odder still were the entertainment requirements, which demanded an assortment of music that included Marc Anthony and Matchbox 20. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. - A Rose Petal-Filled Toilet Barbra Streisand - A Pond Full of Koi Eminem
#1: No Brown M&Ms Van Halen
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Throughout the ‘80s, Van Halen had a provision tucked away in their rider that said their backstage bowl of M&Ms couldn’t contain any brown pieces. On its face, the request sounds needlessly ridiculous, as all M&M’s taste the same, regardless of color. However, this request was really a clever ploy devised by lead singer David Lee Roth, who wanted to test how committed the promoter was to details. Before the show, Roth would check the M&M’s bowl, and if there weren’t any brown ones, he’d know it was safe to go on stage, but seeing brown M&Ms was a warning sign that there may be unexpected trouble.
