A fan ambushed Amy Schumer and demanded a photo. That's not OK.
After a scary run-in with a fan who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, Amy Schumer set some boundaries.
Over the weekend, Amy Schumer made a surprising, bold declaration: no more photos with fans.
Why? Well, here's how she explained it in an Instagram post, showing the overzealous fan's picture he snapped of himself with Schumer (she wound up being just a blur in the background):
"This guy in front of his family just ran up next to me scared the shit out of me. Put a camera in my face. I asked him to stop and he said " no it's America and we paid for you" this was in front of his daughter. I was saying stop and no. Great message to your kid. Yes legally you are allowed to take a picture of me. But I was asking you to stop and saying no. I will not take picture with people anymore and it's because of this dude in Greenville."
Amy Schumer. Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Peabody Awards.
"No, it's America, we paid for you?" Um, what?
Later, she walked her position back a bit, explaining that yes, she'll still take photos with fans who are nice and respectful of her space.
It might be controversial to say this, but celebrities do not "owe" their fans anything. They're people, just like any of us.
I don't know what it's like being Amy Schumer. I can't really imagine what it's like having your every move photographed, being constantly bombarded for autographs, or just generally having your personal space taken away from you.
While, yes, as Schumer said in her original post, the man was legally allowed to take her photo, there's a difference between something being legal and something being right or being done respectfully. What happened in that situation was not right or respectful.
What happened in that situation was a violation of Schumer's personal boundaries with a lack of respect and consent.
Schumer and Jimmy Fallon. Photo by Theo Wargo/NBC/Getty Images for "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
Thanks to technology, the entitlement we feel toward access to celebrities has been getting worse lately.
Earlier this year, Demi Lovato dealt with an "Instagram stalker" famous for snapping pictures with celebrities and exaggerating how they encountered one another. In August 2014, someone released the private, personal photos of more than 100 celebrities — Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, Kaley Cuoco, and others — online.
Demi Lovato. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.
On Twitter and Facebook, people demand attention from their favorite celebs, and it seems like the bar for "public figure" keeps getting increasingly lower.
Even so, whether someone has starred in blockbuster films or whether they're just your average everyday person, we don't have a "right" to anybody's time or anybody's body.
Creating a culture of consent starts by respecting other people's boundaries in all situations, no matter how you're interacting with them or how you know them.
Again, Schumer has since said that she'll "still take pictures with nice people when I choose to if it's a good time for that. But I don't owe you anything. So don't take [a photo] if I say no."
What's that called, folks? Basic human decency. It's pretty easy.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."