On the Cannes red carpet last night, Kelly Rowland was caught raising a very pointed forefinger to a member of the film festival staff. We can’t be sure what she said, but any woman knows what the general aura of her body language was saying. “Back the f*** up.”
There is a chance that Rowland’s actions were completely warranted — some online commenters note that the Cannes staff member appears to be stepping on the back of her dress, others have pointed out the invasion of her personal space. But it got us thinking about how there has been a distinct drought in diva behaviour as of late.
Self aware celebs accustomed to being perpetually filmed are too smart now, too keen to appear relatable, to pull the diva breaks. Sabrina Carpenter isn’t exactly going to kickdrop a paparazzo’s camera anytime soon, and Anya Taylor-Joy doesn’t seem the type to go DEFCON-1 when she can hear someone chewing gum on a film set. We’re not saying we endorse these behaviours — far from it — but what a time it was when celebrities could be really petulant, hey?
In honour of this era, we look back on nine of the best, worst and wildest diva moments in recent celeb history.
JLo’s all-white dressing room
It has long been rumoured that Jennifer Lopez has some extensive feng shui requests for her on-tour dressing rooms, and this one was later confirmed by Dannii Minogue. Speaking on a podcast, Minogue recalled a time when she and JLo were both on Top of the Pops. She said: “I was told everything [in the dressing room] had to be white, including the sofa. I asked to go in and see the room as she wasn't there in that moment... I was lapping up every detail.”
Mariah Carey’s refusal to sing on Carpool Karaoke
The standard Carpool Karaoke innings is around 15 minutes. Mariah Carey’s? A solid five. This is because the singer decided — while sat in the car — that she did not want to sing as part of this, um, singing-focused segment, so she simply didn’t.
The most Carey provided James Corden with was a bit of riffing and harmonising, before stating that she’d been up all night and didn’t want to sing, but would be up for having a little chat. I would pay good money to hear recordings of the producers’ conversations on this set.
The rumour that Beyoncé demands red toilet paper
As well as rumours of private toilet seats, which have since been debunked, Beyoncé has long been haunted by the rumour that she requires red toilet paper as part of her tour rider.
It kicked off after a tabloid claimed that Beyoncé had requested a healthy supply of Renova — “the sexiest paper on earth” — crimson red toilet tissue for the Mr and Mrs Carter world tour. The press had a field day with this news, which prompted “I Wiped My Butt With Red Toilet Paper Like Beyoncé” first-person articles and other speculation around Queen Bey’s rider.
Elon Musk’s requirement that no one wear bright colours
The SpaceX founder was already known to be quite the oddball, but in 2023 a revelation about Musk’s hatred of bright colours pushed him over to diva territory, if not further. Last year, Former SpaceX employees told Reuters that Elon Musk hated bright colours so much he told them to avoid wearing yellow-coloured safety clothes in the work place. Yikes.
Britney Spears’s portrait of Princess Di
Britney Spears is a huge fan of Princess Diana. Spears has referenced this as recently as 2021, when she posted a picture of Diana to her Instagram with the caption, “She never wanted to be the queen. She wanted to be the heart of the people!” And ten years prior, while performing at the O2 Arena, Spears allegedly requested a framed photo of Princess Di be added to her dressing room. "Britney adores the monarchy. Diana was in many ways her inspiration,” a source told the Mirror in 2011.
Kanye West’s hatred of glass
Remember when Kanye West tried to run a school? Called Donda Academy? Well, it didn’t go very well, for a multitude of reasons. One of the most entertaining, though, is the claim that there were no windows because Kanye... didn’t like glass. “In the middle of the main classroom, a skylight was left without glass inevitably allowing rain to fall directly inside, where water would soak into the floor, which would lead to a moldy smell for the next few days,” said one legal case against Ye’s running of the school.
The infamous Christian Bale on-set breakdown of ‘08
What a tantrum this was. Back in 2008, on the set of Terminator Salvation, Christian Bale lost it when the director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, walked into his eyeline during a take. "F*ck's sake man, you're amateur,” he says in the rant, among other expletives. The audio clip went viral, or as viral as something can go in 2009 (when it was eventually leaked) and Bale had to apologise profusely for his actions. Explaining that he was “half” in character, he said: “I was out of order beyond belief. I make no excuses for it."
When Naomi Campbell rocked up to community service wearing a ballgown
Oh Naomi. While we in no way support the reason for her doing community service in the first place — she was accused of assaulting a former employee by throwing a phone at them — the fact that she turned up to the final date of her community service wearing a Dolce and Gabbana ball gown was quite something. “What do they expect me to do, walk in looking all drib and drab?” she told W Magazine. “I’ve never looked drib and drab in my life.”
Madonna’s toilet seat request
There’s one running theme to divadom and that’s the demand that your toilet situation should always be exactly as you like it. Much like Beyoncé, Madonna has been hit with the private toilet seat rumour, though hers appears to be true. During her tour in 2012, a source told the Boston Herald that a new toilet seat appears everywhere she goes. Even earlier news reports from 2006 assert that the seat must still be wrapped in plastic when she uses it and that it must be removed straight after she leaves to stop anyone trying to sell it on eBay.
This checks out, given a separate rumour that Madge once had her dressing room entirely sterilised after she’d left so there were no traces of her DNA remaining. But that’s not the best part. The title of the album she was touring in 2012? MDNA.
