“How VIP do we gotta get? We need another hit guys…

There are few things more hilariously entertaining than witnessing a C-List ‘celebrity’ losing the plot and demanding “Do you known who I am?” to bemused security staff when being refused admission to a club, venue or restaurant that they feel entitled to enter. But sometimes, just sometimes, you can’t help feeling a twinge of sympathy for the rich and famous as it slowly dawns upon them that their lofty social status means sweet fuck all when they’re confronted by people who genuinely have no idea who these people are. 

We should make clear, here, that this anecdote does not involve any rage-filled celebrities throwing their toys out of the pram, but it’s a little reminder that, sometimes, even the most famous people in the world will find themselves in situations where their reputation and status will count for absolutely nothing. 

Appearing on US TV chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, indie rocker Beck recalled the night, in 2016, where he and Paul McCartney, joined by Taylor Hawkins (the late Foo Fighters drummer) and film star Woody Harrelson, were denied entry to a post-Grammy Awards party in Los Angeles.

“We were together, and he [McCartney] said, ‘My wife wants to go dancing.’ I said, I think Mark Ronson is DJ-ing, we could go there. So we go to Hollywood, and we had the wrong address. We go to the place and it was all gates closed, doors are closed, and he’s rattling on the gate, like, ‘Hello!‘ And then we circle around and go to another bar, and it’s locked. And then we see some people, and some SUVs, and we’re like, Okay, that’s the party!