Twitter user recounts 'genuinely terrifying' Emilia Clarke stalker experience
A Twitter user has shared their “disturbing Emilia Clarke-related story”, where they witnessed a “celeb stalker-type” man harass and shout abuse at the Game of Thrones star at the stage door of her show The Seagull.
According to the user, the “genuinely terrifying” man claimed he had been ignored by Clarke when he showed up at other red carpet events and shouted hateful things at her while speculating on ways to meet her.
In a thread shared by user @ReinaVCosplay, she said, “So, I have a disturbing Emilia Clarke-related story from when I saw “The Seagull” that I don’t believe I ever shared before, but it makes me understand why she disappears so much.”
Clarke starred in the Anton Chekhov play at The Playhouse Theatre in London this year, prior to the show’s shutdown amidst the coronavirus pandemic
Clarke has previously spoken about her experience with stalking in the past to The Guardian, with incidents including a stalker leaving gifts outside her front door and two others who were described as ‘extremely unwell, another extremely mean.’
The user flagged the thread for mentions of aggression and stalking and said she had been waiting at the stage door, where other fans of Emilia Clarke were also waiting for the cast to emerge - including a man she nicknamed "Drunkie" who she said was "obviously drunk & belligerent."
She claimed that the man swore and used abusive language about Clarke when describing her to other fans nearby. He also claimed he had tried to speak with her at other red carpets, however she "didn't respond."
After the show, I stage-door’ed, knowing no one would come out b/c those were the early stages of COVID precautions but trying for it anyway. It’s usually a nice chance to be surrounded by fellow fans, gushing about how much they love her.
But, there was this one guy.— Reina Valentine (Sometimes) Cosplay (@ReinaVCosplay)
The unnamed man was accompanied by a friend, who was sober, tried to keep him at “bay” and later asked the user out for a drink. The friend also reportedly “explained that he does this a lot, tries to meet celebs and hates on them. And Drunkie proved him correct repeating his Emilia hate to all nearby.”
However, things escalated as Clarke emerged from the theatre and went straight towards her car. The user explained that as Clarke had been “photographed in a car” in a side street to avoid being spotted previously, the waiting fans “respected that and avoided it.” The man did not and she claimed he began shouting at Clarke to come out, then attempted to approach her unattended car. Eventually, the man was convinced by his friend to leave.
The user continued, “He was relentlessly & loudly saying awful things about Emilia and you could see the windows where the cast probably was. He was loud enough to hear and purposely. He really wanted Emilia to know she was terrible in his eyes, which he implied was the only interaction that matters.”
“You hear about these kinds of celeb stalker-type stories all the time. But, it was genuinely terrifying to see in-person. See the hate this guy was spewing and the anger in his face towards someone whose only crime was not responding to him,” the user continued. “That was scary as an everyday woman, who has experienced this with 'scorned' guys.”
“I can only imagine how it must be for a public figure. So, I get it. If that was my life, I’d be THE most hermiting hermit to ever hermit. It was really jarring as a fan & bystander,” the user finished.
Evening Standard Insider has reached out to Emilia Clarke's team for comment
.Clarke previously told The Guardian that being stalked was “just horrible” and said it could be “confusing”, as some of them believed they were in relationships with her.
She discussed trying to balance the fear of her stalkers with her relationship to her fans, explaining: ”Having a relationship with people I don’t know is a big part of what I signed up for. I care about what art does to people. But it carries with it a responsibility, and when you leave your front door you take that with you. And it’s a difficult path to navigate.”
A post shared by @ emilia_clarke on Jan 28, 2020 at 11:05am PST
“Because sometimes you get grabbed physically and your instincts kick in. When you see shock being registered on someone else’s face, you’re like, ‘Where’s the danger?’ And then you realise, oh, it’s me – I’m the danger,” she continued.
According to Paladin, a National Stalking Advocacy Service in the UK, up to 700,000 women are stalked on average each year based on data between 2009-2012 and "only 15% of cases of stalking and 16% of cases of harassment recorded by the police result in a charge and prosecution."
