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Between game shows, reality TV, and social media, there are more chances than ever to accidentally (sometimes literally) stumble into fame. Someone asked people online “What’s your “15 seconds of fame” moment?” and netizens shared their experiences.
From live TV fails and trivia game victories, to being featured in the news, people who had a brief moment in the spotlight shared their stories. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorite examples, and if you have any experiences of being briefly famous, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
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#1
I beat a man half to death for ra$&@ my sister and got 4 years in prison when I got out I had the biggest party thrown for me by some people I knew and tons of random people who gave me cards with cash to start over I tried not to accept because I’d do it again and I’d think any brother would do it for there sister,but they wouldn’t take no for a answer and met my now fiancée there been with her ever since….never thought violence and prison would change my life forever for the good 😊
#2
When I was 10, I got hit by a car.
Dented the fender with my knee, broke the windshield with my back, flew 10 feet, when they slammed on the brakes and didn't get hurt.
Local paper wrote about it with the title " boy hits car, car damaged"
Someone sent it to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and he talked about me and showed the newspaper clipping with my picture. Said something like, " The terminators kid is running around and to be careful
#3
A documentary crew was visiting the hospital I worked at. They were filming the average shifts of doctors and nurses etc. I didn't want to be part of it and as I came around the corner, there they all were, coming straight toward me and talking to another nurse. I immediately turned left to get away, tripped over a wet floor sign and fell flat on my face. When the documentary aired, they included the quick talk with the nurse and all you could see in the background was me run, fall and then see my feet poking out of a cupboard.
#4
I voiced a video game and when I recently looked up the game reviews on Reddit, people said one of the most annoying aspects of the game is my voice!
#7
I once donated a signed piece of tv show merch to a charity auction and it turned out to be the main attraction that people were really battling over. No one knew it came from me or anything but it was pretty cool sitting in the audience watching people fight over something I contributed.
#8
I was at a Transiberian Orchestra Concert. I was really into it and after a solid guitar solo from one of the bandmembers, I looked at him and stuck my fist in the air. Well, he saw it, looked at me, and did the same. He then encouraged the rest of the crowd to do the same when they were "feeling it"! Moments like those make you feel like you can command legions.
#9
I'm a white Aussie woman, in my mid 20's I was flying to the USA and had a layover in Japan- Narita Airport. Went to the food court Macdonalds and I don't really know what what was said, but it became clear the girl at the counter mistook me for someone famous. Next thing I know I'm being mobbed and asked for pics with everyone! I just went with it and now have a pic of me sitting on the counter of the Maccas with about 80 Japanese people all posing with me very excited. I still have no idea who I was meant to be. I'm average looking and don't wear make up or fancy clothes.
#11
I was (14yo, 1985) a recipient of of one of the early Cochlear Implants this side of the country. I went on speaking engagements, did some interviews, articles in newspapers and teen magazines, did a benefit with Woody Paige (he wrote the newspaper articles too) and I met with prospective patients around the state for a couple years.
I stopped wearing my implant a few years after high school. I had had enough. Silence is golden! Remain a staunch supporter but it wasn't for me.
#12
I was on Google Street View. Recognizably.
That's global, man!
Kate 10 months ago
Y'know those plywood cutouts of wide butts that are supposed to look like someone is bending over in the garden and pulling weeds or something? Yeah, we've never had one. Which confused me for a sec when I looked up my parents' house years ago on Google. Mom says she had no idea the Google car was even there.
LauraDragonWench 10 months ago
*snortlaugh* That's a story that'll circulate around family reunions for generations to come. 😄
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shawn mckinney 10 months ago
My coworker was pleasantly surprised when I Googled his home and he saw himself painting his house.
MontanaMariner 10 months ago
Awww.... are internet strangers downvoting me? Don't care.
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Charles McChristy 10 months ago
Same thing happened to me, but I was standing completely naked hanging halfway out the door because I was letting my dog out. Thank goodness they blur the faces.
Lady Gypsy Rain 10 months ago
Joining the likes of Jack Whitehall!! Congrats. At least, as long as you’re ok with the results. Jack Whitehall on the other hand, slightly embarrassed.
Lindy Mac 10 months ago
There was a street view pic of a guy mooning the car ON HIS FRONT STEPS. What a nutter. Yeah, they blurred his tush... I forgot to check the house number but they usually do. Blurring house numbers always makes it fun to find the place you need to go to. Google is such a kidder.
MotorcycleDoggo 10 months ago
I'm on there too (old picture now). I was taking a photo of the Google car.
AnonymousApple 10 months ago
My ex and I were too. We were on her porch and she was showing me her newly completed thigh tattoo, and Google caught her on her porch with her jeans down lol.
UncleJohn3000 10 months ago
Google Street View caught me in the hammock last summer. It's still posted.
#13
My husband’s 15 minutes of fame is when we went and saw Bert Kreischer and as Bert was joking about having a hairy a*****e I pointed at my husband and for the rest of the bit he kept pointing at my husband and saying things like “this guy knows what I’m talking about.” My husband was mortified and it was the best birthday I’ve had in awhile lol
#15
Tagged along with a friend to a house party where I barely knew anyone. Was walking in the kitchen when someone decided to prep a big fruit salad and I offered to help with the mango because just a couple days prior I had watched a Youtube tutorial on how to easily cut up a mango. (Cut off “flat” sides, cross score, flip inside out to get a “mango hedgehog”, cut off spikes, easy!). I had never tried that technique before but still gave it a shot. Somehow I managed to pull it off perfectly. When I looked up everyone in the kitchen was astounded by how skillfully I had prepped that mango. One of my buddies female friends so much so, that we ended up hooking up that evening and had a months long fling.
TL;DR Handled a mango, got the girl.
#17
There was a while when American eagle in Times Square had a thing where if you took a picture in their store, it would show up on their massive billboard in the square for 15 seconds. The biggest one there. You didn’t have to purchase anything. So my friend and I went in and they took our picture and sure enough within a couple minutes we were on the biggest screen in Times Square!
And it never went away 😂 I guess nobody else wanted to do it…. Because our picture stayed there all night. We returned after dinner and a show and it was still there. Still wonder how many people saw that goofy picture of us just smiling at the camera.
#18
I used to do gymnastics, and to this day I can still just pull a backflip pretty much anywhere
So I was out clubbing w some friends, and we’re at the dance floor, and this group of guys decided to make a circle, so ppl are dancing and s**t. And a lot of girls were taking turns twerking, which there’s nothing wrong w that, but everyone was kinda waiting for someone to do smth else. So I go in and I do my little backflip, and I thought that would be the end of it.
Everyone starts cheering and going crazy as if I just scored the winning point at the Super Bowl. And for a while ppl kept like following me as we were leaving to get to our table, and the same group of guys even bought us a round of shots.
Obvs the hype ended up dying as the night went on, but I felt pretty cool abt myself, like a lil adrenaline came in lmao
#19
Russell Howard asked me a question while he was performing stand-up in a tiny venue, and my panicked answer made him laugh so hard he bought me a drink afterwards. Most of the details of our interaction are lost to adrenaline, sadly, but he was nice.
#20
I made a reference to one of the fanfictions I wrote. And somebody was like, "HOLY S**T, IS THAT _______" they shouted it out in the middle of a grocery store......... that was my 15 seconds of fame moment.
#21
Cramming a hotdog in my mouth while a famous golf shot was made in a Major. It is a rerun in a lot of sports highlight reels.
#22
I became somewhat known in the retro gaming community for doing this insane YouTube video on an obscure shooter (SHMUP) from 1992. I’d go to cons and get recognized. It was incredibly bizarre but wonderful at the same time. It led to me meeting a somewhat well known game dev. In 2019 he invited me out to San Francisco to a game release party where I spent the day with a bunch of legendary game devs as well as Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song. Good times.
#24
I was the only kid in sixth grade who could spell "psychology". And then everybody clapped. No, really.
#25
I was one of the little kids trick or treating in the opening sequence of Halloweentown.
#26
When I was a child, maybe 8 or 9, my mum took us to London, and we were just on the way out of the natural history museum and there were a couple of people on the street with a camera asking passers by if they wanted to be on TV.
Long story short, I ended up on the Disney channel (in the UK anyway) announcing one of the nominations for some awards show, i think in an ad for the show and not in the show itself. Anyway, looking directly into the camera, I was instructed to say "this year, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrect was absolutely magical", and throw my arm towards the camera like I was casting a spell.
My poor grandmother recorded hours and hours of that damn channel so I could see the footage (we didn't have Disney Channel at home) and did manage to get it. Clearly the take where I threw my arm out didn't make it as they used one of the other ones where I awkwardly look off camera at my mum. I expect that tape is long gone now, but think about it from time to time. It's my go to if I ever need to share one interesting fact about myself.
#27
I ate 100 chicken wings in one sitting as a teenager and the chef came out to tell me he was impressed
#28
Profiled on Humans of New York.
Said profile also appears in Humans of NY Stories (book).
#30
I slapped some choking kid on the back at Disney world when I was 16. His parents didn’t realize he was choking. I didn’t even know if that was what I was supposed to do. It worked though. The awkward little emo I was hated the amount of attention it got, even if it was only a few minutes worth.
#31
I was on a TV show back in the day called Forgive or Forget. In a previous episode, I’d seen this young woman who was being abused by her boyfriend, but couldn’t afford to leave so I wrote the show to tell them if she was really interested in leaving she could stay with me in my New York apartment until she got it together. I’m single with no kids still.
So I went on the show and I was excited to meet her and then **do you know what this b***h did**? After the show, she asked me if her boyfriend could also move in with us. I was so through. Removed myself from the situation.
*But I looked good on television* 🤣. I wish I could find the episode. It was around 1999, before Robin Givens took over the show.
#32
I was the victim of a popular prank video on Tiktok that went viral. It's completely ruined my Social life
#33
I was on who wants to be a millionaire, i didnt participate but i was the one who came as a friend for the participant, after that episoded aired on the next day at school i was pretty popular. After 2 days nobody gave a s**t anymore.
#34
My dog was in the Latin-American soap opera, ¿Donde Esta Elisa? - he was even in the opening credits. (This is more towards my ex-wife's 15 minutes).
For me, I was on ESPN during the 1992-1993 HCAA hockey championship. I was in the pep band for UMaine and they put the camera right on me playing my tenor sax.
.. and yes, the UMaine Black Bears won. :D
#35
I was in college when the Virginia Tech shooting happened. My school had some sort of memorial service, and a couple friends and I decided to go because we had nothing better to do and it just kinda felt right.
Turns out the photographer for our school newspaper was there and my friends and I ended up on the front page, holding our candles.
Nothing really came of it but it was kinda wild to see my face on the newsstands.
#37
I was car-spotting and filming cars in London when a Lamborghini caught fire from revving too hard.
I had a large bottle of water on hand to help put out the car fire.
#38
I roasted a celebrity that shall remain nameless in 2020 on Twitter, so many likes retweets replies and… bad DMs I ended up getting so scared I deleted my account.
#39
Years ago when I was a teenager I was in one of those Truth anti-tobacco commercials. My role was the popular girl at a beach party that missed out on the fun because she just HAD to go have a smoke.
They made me take huge puffs from a real cigarette to induce coughing, it was nuts lol
I never got a copy of the finished commercial but I got to see it before it aired.
#40
I was ranked world number 3 in my sport for 4 years. I’ve been interviewed for sport specific news publications in various countries.
#41
I had a number one iTunes podcast and the logo for my podcast (and my face) was on a screen behind Steve Jobs while he was describing the top podcasts on iTunes. It was an Apple event for the iPod mini in 2005.
#42
I got scouted off the street in NYC to be in a shoot for a hair salon, which got printed in a few small magazines. The shoot was ridiculous and so were the hair pieces they put on me. They had one concept for a photo that was “think tank” themed, so they literally… had me stand inside a giant fish tank with f****n e=mc^2 and chemistry equations on a chalkboard behind it. While wearing what I can only describe as waist-length puffy witch hair. While I was having my makeup done, the hair salon guy came around and said he didn’t like the “c*m lips” they gave me which—I agreed with, foundation lips are weird but *man* what a weird thing to say to someone you just met. There was also an older, actually signed model who was clearly going through something and felt threatened by me for whatever reason. She was also a vegan, and they had us in a photo together and made her stand in front of a grill holding a slab of meat with tongs?? With like some Whoville looking hairstyle. The whole thing was a mess 😂
#43
My mum won a BAFTA. Not really MY 15 second of fame, but it doesn’t stop me telling people.
If we’re talking exclusively MINE, I was very briefly featured on The One Show, in passing footage.
#44
Hanging out with the GZA and The Funky Nomads while GZA and my 12 year old played chess.
I will forever be famous to my son for this event! Thanks GZA!
For those who don’t know GZA is a member of the Wu Tang Clan.
#45
Went to a professional baseball game in military uniform as a “member of the women’s council”. Went on the field and everything before the game. I was the only male in the group (not actually part of the council) but my female army roommate gave me and another female medic the tickets and we weren’t aware it was an event.
The guy reading the names paused before reading mine. Made it a wee bit awkward 🤣
#46
John Daily made fun of me on the Daily show for a picture that was taken of me drunk at a football game. The same picture was on the front page of the newspaper and on every highlight of the game. Colorado 62 Nebraska 36
#47
I hugged prime Britney Spears when I was 16 and she was dating Justin Timberlake, she came into the store I was working at and I told her to have a Merry Christmas
#49
I was on Good Morning America for about 15-30 seconds. Still have the video saved somewhere.
#50
A friend of mine posted a clip of us playing Lethal Company on TikTok that blew up and became the most watched clip of the game for a while. I had no idea until a bunch of people sent it to me and were like “is this you?”
What do you think ?
Katie Lutesinger 10 months ago
Another upvote from me! Go you!! (Seriously, BP comment upvotes are like crack cocaine for me).
Load More Replies... Katie Lutesinger 10 months ago
I was a reasonably successful mid-list author of fantasy novels for a few years. I'm still an author of fantasy novels, of course, but all it took was a couple of years of no big releases and the "fame" part was over. Calling it 15 minutes of fame is incredibly accurate; it seemed like pretty much overnight the public had gone from knowing who I was to never having heard of me. But it was nice while it lasted.
Gavin Johnson 10 months ago
I was Time ‘Person of the Year’ in 2006. I’m still wondering if I should put it on my C.V.
two-sided llama 10 months ago
just searched that up. That's a funny trick thought you were famous
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DB 10 months ago
I was featured on my company's career website for a few years, even after I left.
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
My work mate recently showed me a picture of her on her school's website- from at least 10 years after she went there, not long before she left that country
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I_imagine_even_worse_w***s 10 months ago
Posting here because comments not open on other articles. Please stop posting products like buzzfeed!!
Fynne 10 months ago
When I was about four, I would sing a song from a tv show thing called Doctor Horribles Sing-Along Blog starring Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris. Anyway, a video of tiny me singing was uploaded to YouTube by my dad and got about 25k views. Nathan Fillion also responded to the video on Facebook I think.
The Original Bruno 10 months ago (edited)
I have more "famous" moments, (which might break my anonymity. Not that anyone would ever say, "Oh, he's that guy!" but I don't trust data miners) but this a smallish moment that got slightly beyond my intents: At the height of his fame, Chris Rock did a free concert at my religiously affiliated university. Normally, he's VERY funny. This time, however, he read the room horribly wrong. Maybe he thought we were all itching to rebel against what he presumed to be repression. He started talking about stealing smells of girls' body parts, etc. I was there on a sort of a date. (You know, the kind where you're both trying to figure out what sort of relationship you're looking for?) I found him very unfunny and I could see the girl I liked was very uncomfortable, so I said, "let's ditch this." I knew it was a gamble because comics will mercilessly roast someone who leaves. But apparently, our departure provided cover for others to leave. It started to look like a protest movement as several dozen people left. He was quite shaken.
Tiny Dancer 10 months ago
In the '70s, when I was in high school, my parents' band recorded an album (with my name in the liner notes) which was nominated for a JUNO (Canada's Grammy!) and they had a local hit with one of the songs. For weeks, I was greeted by the kids at school singing the chorus when I entered the classroom every morning. In my adult years, I ran a very popular X-Files site that FOX shut down three times (it was saved by an Aussie fan who hosted it on his server far from their clutches, waah-haa-haa!). I shall always be very proud of that era of my life, ducking the FOX suits with my little fan site.
Magnifico Giganticus (it) 10 months ago
I can recite the alphabet backwards and this is my 15 seconds!
Petra Schaap 10 months ago
we were at a big John Fogerty show in Los Angeles, front row. At one moment John pointed at us and told the audience we came all the way from Europe :-D everyone cheered for us. After the show, i was so emotional for so many reasons and turned away from my friends to cry in a corner, when all of a sudden this guy looked at me and yelled to his friends "HERES THAT CHICK FROM EUROPE!!!" and the next moment we had to take pictures with a bunch of strangers, while mascara running down my cheeks. Turns out that when Fogerty introduced us to the crowd, we were on the big screen!
Jacob B. 10 months ago
I got one, but goes way back. I was doing printing for a sponsored after school trade craft. Well, when I got to the point to do screen printing, for shoots and giggles I did the Soviet red star and yellow hammer and sickle and put it on the back of t-shirts and sweat shirts. My father would use me as free labor in his construction business on Saturdays and school holidays. So on Labor Day, I put on one the shirts and went to work. My mom saw the news that day and saw my backside and signature shirt and the reporter said "but some still have to work today".
Rick Seiden 10 months ago
When I was in my 20s I was in Orlando at a Raiders of the Lost Ark live action event in one of the parks. They needed two people to scream, so they asked the audience to scream if they wanted to be in the show. I can get VERY loud when I want to. I just screamed as loud as I could. The guy on stage whipped his head in my direction really fast and called me down. I got to be in the show as a random screamer. I think we were supposed to scream at snakes. "Why did it have to be snakes?" (I really do think it was snakes, though)
Apatheist Account2 10 months ago
Been on three TV quiz shows in the UK...two of them I was on for the full show, so I think I've had far more than my official 15 minutes...in fact, all told, it probably comes to about an hour and a half :) I know it's greedy but I want to do more, including every different type - I have yet to do any with a team of strangers, on a buzzer, or a pilot or first series. Got an audition for a pilot of a show next week though...here's hoping :)
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
Which shows were you on? I would have loved to be on the Aussie version of Pointless with my dad, but it was such a short lived show we missed the boat! I read a book by one of the Aussie Chasers a while ago and he was talking about all the quiz shows he was on before he became the chaser. Started as a teen, not even winning all of them, so you never know, you could have a bigger future ahead :)
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Trisec Tebeakesse 10 months ago
A group of us went to the Obama inauguration. We started the "Na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" chant where we were standing. Watching the video later, we heard that on TV!
Headless Horseman 10 months ago (edited)
I know the girl who lived in a house in the background of a Twilight movie. I also know the girl who was in the background of a scene that made it into the movie. It's possible that my dog is barking in the background of the same scene, I saw the girl walking with her friend as I was walking with my dog and my dog barked at her a lot while we walked past the filming. I haven't seen the movies, so I don't know any more details other than the scene was filmed in St. Helens, Oregon and it was filmed by one of the only alleys in the entire town. Also, since I grew up in St. Helens, everyone asks me about Halloweentown. Let me tell you, it is not worth the visit to see the vehicle and giant movie props they bring by every year. I have told this to many people and they always tell me I was right when they come back from seeing it. It's crowded, loud, in a tiny courtyard with HUNDREDS of people and $20 hot dogs.
Sky Render 10 months ago
I guess my big "moment of fame" (as it were) was when a fan translation I'd done of a very popular Super Nintendo RPG got a direct reference in the Game Boy Advance port of said game. That reference did not return for the recent remaster, sadly.
Elio 10 months ago
I got mentioned in a local newspaper along with some of my classmates because one of the local banks was doing outreach at my school when I was in 5th grade. My main takeaway about banking is that the money counter is fun. My dad ended up on the news because they found a human skeleton at one of the sites he was working at and they had to halt construction.
Taswell the fox(he/him) 10 months ago
These were cool! I met the voice actor for Larry the Cucumber once (Veggietales)
Tamara Augustine 10 months ago
I was on the front page of my local newspaper! The photographer was taking a lovely photo of a duck in the grass and there I was in the background. :)
Jaguarundi 10 months ago
I was separated from my family at the New York World's Fair for several hours. When I was found, I was playing with the model trains with "John-John" Kennedy, the late President John F. Kennedy's son. A photograph of the two of us playing with the trains was in Life Magazine. I remember that the model train set had an exploding volcano that we took turns setting off to erupt.My mother almost caused an incident with the Secret Service when she tried to retrieve me. Jacqueline Kennedy intervened and had an agent escort me back to my Mom.
ConstantlyJon 10 months ago
I follow a very large sports blog and sometimes write longform pieces for them. Eeeeevery once in a while I make it on the front page of the blog in a quick mention. Has happened a few times and makes my week every time it happens. (sidenote: GO BLUE)
Big Chungus 10 months ago
I once captured the universal studio globe when Pokemon go was big, I held that b***h for a minute lol
Alan Jay Weiner 10 months ago
I've got two minor ones - the dojo I go to had a fund-raiser. One of the things we could do was board breaking, which I love doing (it's remarkably easy and fun). The local newspaper printed a photo of me breaking 5 boards. Another maybe one-tenth of a second of fame; I was an extra in Little Women. At the beginning of the film when she's running down the street, she passes a woman and a police officer. If you grab *just* the right time, and enlarge it, you can see my face between them under an umbrella. I was filmed in a number of other scenes, but they didn't use them. Was amazing to see all the work they did for what probably ended up as five minutes of the movie. Hundreds of extras, at least a hundred crew members, dozens of cameras, etc.
Heather Evans 10 months ago
I was eating a cheeseburger in the background of a McDonald's commercial in 1988. Unfortunately a VCR was an expensive thing that we didn't own so I was never able to see a recording of it.
Himory TheDreamer 10 months ago
My 15 minutes of fame is being recognized in random websites and social media by people that saw my account on a certain game.
mSpencer 10 months ago
I was arrested for a protest. It circulated from the local news (Orlando Florida) up to the BBC! And my grandparents gave me such s**t
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
Not quite as interesting but, my mum and stepdad were on the footage of a protest once, holding a sign saying 'Mary, Joseph and Jesus were refugees too'.
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EmBree 10 months ago
My best friend and I worked at the same restaurant and a TV team came to report on our exceptional buffet. My friend wanted to be on TV, I didn't. The reporter interviewed our boss and my friend kept trying to be close to the action cleaning tables and fussing about, while I stayed away. The interview was over, the camera man focused on filming the food and I thought it safe to run past them. The reporter grabbed me and asked a couple of question. I wanted to die and my friend wanted to kill me for "steeling the show". We all gathered around the TV the next day to see the reportage. It was the reporter commenting on the food, then they played funny cartoon music as the camera showed the food and ended up focusing on my friend's butt. That was all. I was happy, my boss and my friend was not.
BarkingSpider 10 months ago
I got interviewed at a comic convention once and I guess it was on a local radio station, but I made one stupid comment during the conversation and that is the clip they put in the news... they also talked to my daughter who was 5 or 6 at the time and she was so cute and articulate, but they didn't use any of it which was a bummer.
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 10 months ago
Any military vets here? Somewhere in storage is a vcr tape with a commercial that was filmed for the armed forces network. It was, oh, 2003 or 4, reminding you to to turn in your absentee ballot for the US elections. Monty Python-ish, involved hurling a dummy via catapult over a wall. Actors were local SCA group around middle Tennessee. I'm the little girl at the top of the stairs, really long hair, blue and white dress. Camera is quick to follow the main actor, so less than 15 seconds for me, more like 2.5 lol
Maehem 10 months ago
At the age of 11 or 12, I was at the beach with my family when a very popular news company set up a camera on shore. I noticed the camera following me as I was swimming around. Wasn't until we got home a few days later, that I found they had done a piece on a boy who had drowned there the week before. 😅 Never watched the footage though.
two-sided llama 10 months ago (edited)
I'm on an episode of amazing hotel ( the BBC show).In the Kasbah Tamout episode, my family was in the dining room while they were filming. They also had a magician at dinner and there was a part where they filmed me and my family reacting to the magician. It was very cool. ( also my uncle appears in the Will Ferrell lose in New York scene in Elf in the background)
Nerd Groupie 10 months ago
I was raised in a very small rural town. It was the 90's and I love magazines (Teen, Seventeen, YM, etc) I wrote in to one that was lesser known and shorter lived than those. I was chosen for a story they did on "a day in the life of a teenage girl" and there were 4 of us from all around the US and Canada. The writer interviewed me over the phone and sent a professional photographer to my hometown to take my photos. We waited months for "my" issue to come out and our town store ordered extra copies. The actual article ended up being pretty cringe (the main photo they used didn't even show my face and the writer made SO many mistakes, I really have to wonder if she even bothered to take notes or just winged it) but I definitely was known around my school for a bit!
Nerd Groupie 10 months ago
Just noticed this posted as a reply to a comment instead of the article. Sorry!
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GoldminerGirl 10 months ago
In the early 80’s, my husband was involved in Road Rally’s, and competed 2 or 3 of the Cannonball Run races across the country. When arriving at the finish line in the Detroit area, I was waiting for him with a large bouquet of roses. The event was televised and the cameraman zoomed in on me for about 10 seconds and I ended up on the next episode of “Speed Week”. Didn’t know it until one of my husband’s friends ask him “hey Wayne, was that your wife I saw on Speed Week Sunday?” Thought it was kinda cool!
mysterious(all pronouns) 10 months ago
I got mentioned in a (positive) review at my job, which felt really great, also I am briefly in a few shots in a documentary.
Raven DeathShade 10 months ago
I was in my local paper for a production of Clue that I was in. We got a standing ovation opening night. (For those of you who don't know, Clue is a murder mystery board game adapted in the 80s into a movie.) I was my favorite character, Miss Scarlet. Unfortunately, the picture of me and the rest of the cast was ruined due to the fact my ex was in it, but still.
Remi (He/Him) 10 months ago
When I was in my early twenties, there was a Finnish actor in a drama series who looked enough like me that I had people asking me for an autograph or come talk about the series several times. That was a weird two years until they killed off the character.
Bidango Smith 10 months ago
I was more famous than a Kardashian for a full BuzzFeed week. Goggle, "The Beth Project"
Fora Nakit 10 months ago
I never understood that "fame" need. I grew up among well-known, and famous people. My step-sister and step-mother have their own Wikipedia page, even my less famous family members were friends with some famous or significant people ( not the same thing usually). When I think about all the interviews that they had to make, how careful they had to be when going in public... no thanks. I love the fact that nobody knows me.
Papa 10 months ago
I agree. My wife and I were in a restaurant about 20 years ago and Chuck Norris came in. The man could barely eat his meal with all the people coming up to him. I would not want to be famous.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 10 months ago
I never even had 15 seconds of fame, but my step brother was in the Aussie movie Evil Angels (now titled A cry in the dark) about the Azaria Chamberlin missing child case. I think he was only in a few frames. Last year my stepdad tried to find it online after my stepbrother died, but couldn't, but I think my other brother has the dvd stored in my house somewhere. One of my brothers also 'sold' (it was effectively an engineered charity) a painting to a well known ex-afl footballer when he was 10, for $150 which he bought an N64 with. Turns out the guy that bought it actually did put it up in his home, and it was still there when he met him again about 10 years later. Many of my family members met multiple players from the football team they supported and were in snippets of the news when they did, as publicity for a disability charity etc. My mum has some of the footage on a dvd, because a family friend worked for the news channel at the time and recorded it onto disc for us. My sister
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
was recently director of photography and lead camera person for a multimedia short film called Upside-down people that aired in Capitol theatre and will be going online at some stage. So all in all, I am surrounded by many people who are more interesting then me!
Load More Replies...
Moosy Girl 10 months ago
I got nominated for a "… of the year" award, noped out of that situation pretty quickly after hearing I’d have to give a speech if I won. :p
Katie Lutesinger 10 months ago
Another upvote from me! Go you!! (Seriously, BP comment upvotes are like crack cocaine for me).
Load More Replies... Katie Lutesinger 10 months ago
I was a reasonably successful mid-list author of fantasy novels for a few years. I'm still an author of fantasy novels, of course, but all it took was a couple of years of no big releases and the "fame" part was over. Calling it 15 minutes of fame is incredibly accurate; it seemed like pretty much overnight the public had gone from knowing who I was to never having heard of me. But it was nice while it lasted.
Gavin Johnson 10 months ago
I was Time ‘Person of the Year’ in 2006. I’m still wondering if I should put it on my C.V.
two-sided llama 10 months ago
just searched that up. That's a funny trick thought you were famous
Load More Replies... DB 10 months ago
I was featured on my company's career website for a few years, even after I left.
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
My work mate recently showed me a picture of her on her school's website- from at least 10 years after she went there, not long before she left that country
Load More Replies... I_imagine_even_worse_w***s 10 months ago
Posting here because comments not open on other articles. Please stop posting products like buzzfeed!!
Fynne 10 months ago
When I was about four, I would sing a song from a tv show thing called Doctor Horribles Sing-Along Blog starring Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris. Anyway, a video of tiny me singing was uploaded to YouTube by my dad and got about 25k views. Nathan Fillion also responded to the video on Facebook I think.
The Original Bruno 10 months ago (edited)
I have more "famous" moments, (which might break my anonymity. Not that anyone would ever say, "Oh, he's that guy!" but I don't trust data miners) but this a smallish moment that got slightly beyond my intents: At the height of his fame, Chris Rock did a free concert at my religiously affiliated university. Normally, he's VERY funny. This time, however, he read the room horribly wrong. Maybe he thought we were all itching to rebel against what he presumed to be repression. He started talking about stealing smells of girls' body parts, etc. I was there on a sort of a date. (You know, the kind where you're both trying to figure out what sort of relationship you're looking for?) I found him very unfunny and I could see the girl I liked was very uncomfortable, so I said, "let's ditch this." I knew it was a gamble because comics will mercilessly roast someone who leaves. But apparently, our departure provided cover for others to leave. It started to look like a protest movement as several dozen people left. He was quite shaken.
Tiny Dancer 10 months ago
In the '70s, when I was in high school, my parents' band recorded an album (with my name in the liner notes) which was nominated for a JUNO (Canada's Grammy!) and they had a local hit with one of the songs. For weeks, I was greeted by the kids at school singing the chorus when I entered the classroom every morning. In my adult years, I ran a very popular X-Files site that FOX shut down three times (it was saved by an Aussie fan who hosted it on his server far from their clutches, waah-haa-haa!). I shall always be very proud of that era of my life, ducking the FOX suits with my little fan site.
Magnifico Giganticus (it) 10 months ago
I can recite the alphabet backwards and this is my 15 seconds!
Petra Schaap 10 months ago
we were at a big John Fogerty show in Los Angeles, front row. At one moment John pointed at us and told the audience we came all the way from Europe :-D everyone cheered for us. After the show, i was so emotional for so many reasons and turned away from my friends to cry in a corner, when all of a sudden this guy looked at me and yelled to his friends "HERES THAT CHICK FROM EUROPE!!!" and the next moment we had to take pictures with a bunch of strangers, while mascara running down my cheeks. Turns out that when Fogerty introduced us to the crowd, we were on the big screen!
Jacob B. 10 months ago
I got one, but goes way back. I was doing printing for a sponsored after school trade craft. Well, when I got to the point to do screen printing, for shoots and giggles I did the Soviet red star and yellow hammer and sickle and put it on the back of t-shirts and sweat shirts. My father would use me as free labor in his construction business on Saturdays and school holidays. So on Labor Day, I put on one the shirts and went to work. My mom saw the news that day and saw my backside and signature shirt and the reporter said "but some still have to work today".
Rick Seiden 10 months ago
When I was in my 20s I was in Orlando at a Raiders of the Lost Ark live action event in one of the parks. They needed two people to scream, so they asked the audience to scream if they wanted to be in the show. I can get VERY loud when I want to. I just screamed as loud as I could. The guy on stage whipped his head in my direction really fast and called me down. I got to be in the show as a random screamer. I think we were supposed to scream at snakes. "Why did it have to be snakes?" (I really do think it was snakes, though)
Apatheist Account2 10 months ago
Been on three TV quiz shows in the UK...two of them I was on for the full show, so I think I've had far more than my official 15 minutes...in fact, all told, it probably comes to about an hour and a half :) I know it's greedy but I want to do more, including every different type - I have yet to do any with a team of strangers, on a buzzer, or a pilot or first series. Got an audition for a pilot of a show next week though...here's hoping :)
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
Which shows were you on? I would have loved to be on the Aussie version of Pointless with my dad, but it was such a short lived show we missed the boat! I read a book by one of the Aussie Chasers a while ago and he was talking about all the quiz shows he was on before he became the chaser. Started as a teen, not even winning all of them, so you never know, you could have a bigger future ahead :)
Load More Replies... Trisec Tebeakesse 10 months ago
A group of us went to the Obama inauguration. We started the "Na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" chant where we were standing. Watching the video later, we heard that on TV!
Headless Horseman 10 months ago (edited)
I know the girl who lived in a house in the background of a Twilight movie. I also know the girl who was in the background of a scene that made it into the movie. It's possible that my dog is barking in the background of the same scene, I saw the girl walking with her friend as I was walking with my dog and my dog barked at her a lot while we walked past the filming. I haven't seen the movies, so I don't know any more details other than the scene was filmed in St. Helens, Oregon and it was filmed by one of the only alleys in the entire town. Also, since I grew up in St. Helens, everyone asks me about Halloweentown. Let me tell you, it is not worth the visit to see the vehicle and giant movie props they bring by every year. I have told this to many people and they always tell me I was right when they come back from seeing it. It's crowded, loud, in a tiny courtyard with HUNDREDS of people and $20 hot dogs.
Sky Render 10 months ago
I guess my big "moment of fame" (as it were) was when a fan translation I'd done of a very popular Super Nintendo RPG got a direct reference in the Game Boy Advance port of said game. That reference did not return for the recent remaster, sadly.
Elio 10 months ago
I got mentioned in a local newspaper along with some of my classmates because one of the local banks was doing outreach at my school when I was in 5th grade. My main takeaway about banking is that the money counter is fun. My dad ended up on the news because they found a human skeleton at one of the sites he was working at and they had to halt construction.
Taswell the fox(he/him) 10 months ago
These were cool! I met the voice actor for Larry the Cucumber once (Veggietales)
Tamara Augustine 10 months ago
I was on the front page of my local newspaper! The photographer was taking a lovely photo of a duck in the grass and there I was in the background. :)
Jaguarundi 10 months ago
I was separated from my family at the New York World's Fair for several hours. When I was found, I was playing with the model trains with "John-John" Kennedy, the late President John F. Kennedy's son. A photograph of the two of us playing with the trains was in Life Magazine. I remember that the model train set had an exploding volcano that we took turns setting off to erupt.My mother almost caused an incident with the Secret Service when she tried to retrieve me. Jacqueline Kennedy intervened and had an agent escort me back to my Mom.
ConstantlyJon 10 months ago
I follow a very large sports blog and sometimes write longform pieces for them. Eeeeevery once in a while I make it on the front page of the blog in a quick mention. Has happened a few times and makes my week every time it happens. (sidenote: GO BLUE)
Big Chungus 10 months ago
I once captured the universal studio globe when Pokemon go was big, I held that b***h for a minute lol
Alan Jay Weiner 10 months ago
I've got two minor ones - the dojo I go to had a fund-raiser. One of the things we could do was board breaking, which I love doing (it's remarkably easy and fun). The local newspaper printed a photo of me breaking 5 boards. Another maybe one-tenth of a second of fame; I was an extra in Little Women. At the beginning of the film when she's running down the street, she passes a woman and a police officer. If you grab *just* the right time, and enlarge it, you can see my face between them under an umbrella. I was filmed in a number of other scenes, but they didn't use them. Was amazing to see all the work they did for what probably ended up as five minutes of the movie. Hundreds of extras, at least a hundred crew members, dozens of cameras, etc.
Heather Evans 10 months ago
I was eating a cheeseburger in the background of a McDonald's commercial in 1988. Unfortunately a VCR was an expensive thing that we didn't own so I was never able to see a recording of it.
Himory TheDreamer 10 months ago
My 15 minutes of fame is being recognized in random websites and social media by people that saw my account on a certain game.
mSpencer 10 months ago
I was arrested for a protest. It circulated from the local news (Orlando Florida) up to the BBC! And my grandparents gave me such s**t
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
Not quite as interesting but, my mum and stepdad were on the footage of a protest once, holding a sign saying 'Mary, Joseph and Jesus were refugees too'.
Load More Replies... EmBree 10 months ago
My best friend and I worked at the same restaurant and a TV team came to report on our exceptional buffet. My friend wanted to be on TV, I didn't. The reporter interviewed our boss and my friend kept trying to be close to the action cleaning tables and fussing about, while I stayed away. The interview was over, the camera man focused on filming the food and I thought it safe to run past them. The reporter grabbed me and asked a couple of question. I wanted to die and my friend wanted to kill me for "steeling the show". We all gathered around the TV the next day to see the reportage. It was the reporter commenting on the food, then they played funny cartoon music as the camera showed the food and ended up focusing on my friend's butt. That was all. I was happy, my boss and my friend was not.
BarkingSpider 10 months ago
I got interviewed at a comic convention once and I guess it was on a local radio station, but I made one stupid comment during the conversation and that is the clip they put in the news... they also talked to my daughter who was 5 or 6 at the time and she was so cute and articulate, but they didn't use any of it which was a bummer.
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 10 months ago
Any military vets here? Somewhere in storage is a vcr tape with a commercial that was filmed for the armed forces network. It was, oh, 2003 or 4, reminding you to to turn in your absentee ballot for the US elections. Monty Python-ish, involved hurling a dummy via catapult over a wall. Actors were local SCA group around middle Tennessee. I'm the little girl at the top of the stairs, really long hair, blue and white dress. Camera is quick to follow the main actor, so less than 15 seconds for me, more like 2.5 lol
Maehem 10 months ago
At the age of 11 or 12, I was at the beach with my family when a very popular news company set up a camera on shore. I noticed the camera following me as I was swimming around. Wasn't until we got home a few days later, that I found they had done a piece on a boy who had drowned there the week before. 😅 Never watched the footage though.
two-sided llama 10 months ago (edited)
I'm on an episode of amazing hotel ( the BBC show).In the Kasbah Tamout episode, my family was in the dining room while they were filming. They also had a magician at dinner and there was a part where they filmed me and my family reacting to the magician. It was very cool. ( also my uncle appears in the Will Ferrell lose in New York scene in Elf in the background)
Nerd Groupie 10 months ago
I was raised in a very small rural town. It was the 90's and I love magazines (Teen, Seventeen, YM, etc) I wrote in to one that was lesser known and shorter lived than those. I was chosen for a story they did on "a day in the life of a teenage girl" and there were 4 of us from all around the US and Canada. The writer interviewed me over the phone and sent a professional photographer to my hometown to take my photos. We waited months for "my" issue to come out and our town store ordered extra copies. The actual article ended up being pretty cringe (the main photo they used didn't even show my face and the writer made SO many mistakes, I really have to wonder if she even bothered to take notes or just winged it) but I definitely was known around my school for a bit!
Nerd Groupie 10 months ago
Just noticed this posted as a reply to a comment instead of the article. Sorry!
Load More Replies... GoldminerGirl 10 months ago
In the early 80’s, my husband was involved in Road Rally’s, and competed 2 or 3 of the Cannonball Run races across the country. When arriving at the finish line in the Detroit area, I was waiting for him with a large bouquet of roses. The event was televised and the cameraman zoomed in on me for about 10 seconds and I ended up on the next episode of “Speed Week”. Didn’t know it until one of my husband’s friends ask him “hey Wayne, was that your wife I saw on Speed Week Sunday?” Thought it was kinda cool!
mysterious(all pronouns) 10 months ago
I got mentioned in a (positive) review at my job, which felt really great, also I am briefly in a few shots in a documentary.
Raven DeathShade 10 months ago
I was in my local paper for a production of Clue that I was in. We got a standing ovation opening night. (For those of you who don't know, Clue is a murder mystery board game adapted in the 80s into a movie.) I was my favorite character, Miss Scarlet. Unfortunately, the picture of me and the rest of the cast was ruined due to the fact my ex was in it, but still.
Remi (He/Him) 10 months ago
When I was in my early twenties, there was a Finnish actor in a drama series who looked enough like me that I had people asking me for an autograph or come talk about the series several times. That was a weird two years until they killed off the character.
Bidango Smith 10 months ago
I was more famous than a Kardashian for a full BuzzFeed week. Goggle, "The Beth Project"
Fora Nakit 10 months ago
I never understood that "fame" need. I grew up among well-known, and famous people. My step-sister and step-mother have their own Wikipedia page, even my less famous family members were friends with some famous or significant people ( not the same thing usually). When I think about all the interviews that they had to make, how careful they had to be when going in public... no thanks. I love the fact that nobody knows me.
Papa 10 months ago
I agree. My wife and I were in a restaurant about 20 years ago and Chuck Norris came in. The man could barely eat his meal with all the people coming up to him. I would not want to be famous.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 10 months ago
I never even had 15 seconds of fame, but my step brother was in the Aussie movie Evil Angels (now titled A cry in the dark) about the Azaria Chamberlin missing child case. I think he was only in a few frames. Last year my stepdad tried to find it online after my stepbrother died, but couldn't, but I think my other brother has the dvd stored in my house somewhere. One of my brothers also 'sold' (it was effectively an engineered charity) a painting to a well known ex-afl footballer when he was 10, for $150 which he bought an N64 with. Turns out the guy that bought it actually did put it up in his home, and it was still there when he met him again about 10 years later. Many of my family members met multiple players from the football team they supported and were in snippets of the news when they did, as publicity for a disability charity etc. My mum has some of the footage on a dvd, because a family friend worked for the news channel at the time and recorded it onto disc for us. My sister
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
was recently director of photography and lead camera person for a multimedia short film called Upside-down people that aired in Capitol theatre and will be going online at some stage. So all in all, I am surrounded by many people who are more interesting then me!
Load More Replies... Moosy Girl 10 months ago
I got nominated for a "… of the year" award, noped out of that situation pretty quickly after hearing I’d have to give a speech if I won. :p
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