From being kidnapped at gunpoint to getting shot at by peers,
these public figures have survived physically violent attacks by the public.
In October 2022, all comedian Chris Redd wanted to do was put on a good
show for his fans at the Comedy Cellar, a famous venue in New York City. Instead,
as reported by TMZ, he was immediately assaulted once he arrived. The blow to
his face was powerful enough to knock him off his feet, and after standing back up,
he realized that he'd been cut too deep to chase after his attacker. The Saturday Night
Live alum later recalled what happened on the podcast The Last Laugh, as he explained,
"There's blood on the stairs of the Comedy Cellar, 'cause I got hit, and I was like,
'Ahh, my set!' That's all I could think about. 'I guh-gotta go talk to the people!'"
Once Redd realized that the bleeding was significant enough that he could
no longer perform that night, he was quickly taken to the hospital,
where his wounds were stitched up and he was able to recover. Unfortunately,
nobody was able to catch the assailant before he bolted from the scene.
Back in 2004, Benedict Cumberbatch endured a life-altering experience
that he was sure he wouldn't survive. While filming the BBC miniseries To the
Ends of the Earth in South Africa, he was kidnapped at gunpoint on the side
of the road after the vehicle he and his co-stars were in had a flat tire.
Cumberbatch and the other actors were then forced into the trunk of their abductors'
car and taken underneath a bridge, tied up, and told to crouch on the ground. At that moment,
Cumberbatch thought they were going to execute him, but instead, the six kidnappers fled the
scene. In 2016, the actor told Vanity Fair how the incident changed his perspective, as he revealed,
As rapper Megan Thee Stallion was trying to leave a party with friends at Kylie
Jenner's house in July 2020, a nightmare became a reality,
as fellow rapper Tory Lanez allegedly fired at her from a nearby vehicle. Megan later recalled
the harrowing experience with Gayle King during an interview on CBS Mornings, as she revealed,
"I was really scared, 'cause I had never been shot at before."
Lanez pleaded not guilty to the charges and has denied doing any wrongdoing,
despite video footage, a medical report of the bullet wound to Megan's foot,
and a police report of the incident. To make matters even worse, Megan has since
faced harassment on the internet, along with accusations that she lied about the incident.
According to NPR, while speaking in court at Tory Lanez's trial in December 2022, Megan stated that
the attack has left a lasting detrimental impact on her physical and mental wellness.
After an impressive string of movie and TV performances in the 80s and 90s,
Rick Moranis has long since left the limelight. Then one day in 2020, he was walking along a New
York City sidewalk when he was violently punched in the head. The attack was captured by security
footage released by the NYPD in October of the same year. After Moranis went down,
the assailant simply kept strolling down the street as if nothing had happened.
Soon after, the suspect was found and charged with the assault,
along with crimes against four other victims. As reported by PIX11 News,
Marquis Ventura pled guilty and was sentenced to two years behind bars, followed by three
years of court-mandated supervision. The conviction was far from his first,
as he'd already been arrested on 13 earlier occasions, including five felony charges.
Luckily for Moranis, he didn't suffer any serious injuries,
just some pain in his head, hip, and back. He released a short statement to Deadline saying,
50 Cent is one of the most famous rappers of the 21st century. Unfortunately for the artist,
a good deal of his notoriety came about after he miraculously survived a horrific,
life-threatening attack during the outset of his career in May 2000. While in a parked car, he was
fired upon multiple times, with several of the projectiles causing wounds to his legs and face.
Somehow 50 Cent managed to survive the ordeal after being
rushed to the hospital. During a 2013 appearance on The Howard Stern Show,
he revealed that the shooting occurred because of a misunderstanding. After a man was robbed,
he assumed that the rapper was involved and hired someone to take him out. When Stern tried
to praise the musician for being so tough for surviving nine bullet wounds, 50 humbly responded:
"Well, I don't know what the criterias are for street credibility."
"That's it!"
"Or if there's a — if there's something that creates more merit for you."
The rapper then added,
He was at least able to joke about the incident after so much time had passed. When Stern's
co-host Robin Quivers said that he must not have been hit anywhere important, 50 replied:
"Everything's important."
"So, 50, how lame is this-"
"Let me shoot you in one of your unimportant areas, Robin."
"Yeah, right. What's an unimportant area? You're right."
In one of the most brutal and well-publicized attacks on a celebrity in recent times,
writer Salman Rushdie was stabbed onstage in New York City when he was
about to give a lecture in August 2022. The assailant, Hadi Matar,
was eventually held back by several bystanders who rushed in to help.
Unfortunately, as the The New York Times reported, he'd already caused considerable damage and tried
to continue his assault even while being restrained. Rushdie managed to survive,
but at great cost. His agent Andrew Wylie told the Spanish newspaper El País,
Rushdie had hoped to re-emerge back into society after years of hiding due to threats to his life
brought on by declarations from the Iranian government. His controversial 1988 novel The
Satanic Verses was considered highly offensive to that Islamic regime, which resulted in the issuing
of a fatwa calling for his death. In a jailhouse interview with the New York Post, Matar admitted,
Long before he was famous, actor Isaiah Washington was the victim of a terrifying
attack while he was still a teenager after he purposefully angered someone armed with
a firearm. This mistake resulted in severe consequences for the future star of Grey's
Anatomy. For years, he didn't speak publicly about many details regarding
the traumatic experience, but he eventually revealed to TV Guide,
Washington continued to open up about the incident in the hopes of preventing those
younger than him from making the same mistake. During an appearance on the
court show Judge Hatchett, he offered some guidance to a troubled teen, as he explained,
"I'm 42, and there was a time I never thought I would see 25."
Even celebrities are not immune to the racially motivated violence that has plagued society for
centuries. Case in point: in March 2022, Karen Fukuhara, star of Suicide Squad and The Boys,
revealed on Instagram that while walking to a café, she was struck in the head by a stranger
on the street who then proceeded to scream at her before walking away. She was fortunate
that the attack didn't cause any serious harm, but it nevertheless clearly traumatized her.
Although the incident was shocking in the moment, Fukuhara admitted that she has faced
harassment because of her ethnic background far too often in her life. As she revealed,
Because of the event's high profile, there was plenty of coverage surrounding Will Smith slapping
Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. However, this wasn't the only case of a comedian who was
physically assaulted on stage that year. In May, Dave Chappelle was the victim of a similar attack
at the end of one of his shows at the Hollywood Bowl. The attack quickly went viral online,
and the details of the excursion were confirmed by an official report released by the LAPD.
"And all of a sudden, we look on the screen, and we just see a guy attack."
As Chappelle walked offstage, a man in the crowd named Isaiah Lee rushed at the
comedian to tackle him while carrying a replica firearm. Security quickly stepped in to detain
the assailant before he was able to cause any serious harm. After Lee was taken into custody,
a blade was found attached to the fake pistol. Lee felt justified in his actions
because of Chappelle's history of discriminatory remarks. As he explained to the New York Post,
Lee felt insulted not only because of his sexual orientation,
but also because of Chappelle's comments about homelessness,
a traumatic experience that Lee himself has suffered through. As he continued,
Actor Steve Buscemi was the victim of a brutal attack in April 2001,
and he wasn't the only one involved in the chaotic bar brawl. He was, however,
the most seriously harmed person involved in the violent encounter. He was in Wilmington, North
Carolina at the time to shoot the movie Domestic Disturbance. During a break in filming, he and his
co-star Vince Vaughn went to a local establishment called Firebelly to have a few drinks.
Later that night, a fight broke out after a local woman began talking with Vaughn,
which her boyfriend reportedly did not appreciate.
The altercation quickly escalated to the point that the police were alerted,
but that wasn't before Buscemi suffered knife wounds on his arms, above one eye,
under his jaw, and in his neck. A source who witnessed the attack told Entertainment Weekly,
Luckily for Buscemi, he received adequate medical attention in time,
first at a local hospital, and then he was flown to New York in order to undergo plastic
surgery and made a full recovery. Vaughn was arrested for his part in the brawl,
along with two local men. While Vaughn and one of the local men were only arrested,
the other local man was charged for assault with a deadly weapon on Buscemi.