Stalking YouTubers? (And Celebrities)

***Information on how you can deal with stalking or help someone you know who might be being stalked is at the bottom of this post.

There are many YouTubers who have had to make videos or tweets stating that there have been people who have found out where they lived, or just shown up to their house, or left things at their house, or just hung around. (Kind of like paparazzi.) There's even been people who have found hotels that a Youtuber is staying at for a convention or something, found out their room number and went to their room (uninvited) to meet them. (One YouTuber had that happen on their honeymoon)
That is crazy, and such an invasion of privacy. And quite frankly, it's kind of creepy.
I mean, they had to actually make videos or tweets to tell people not to do that. I'm pretty sure it should just be common sense, right?
Stalking is a serious issue. It's life threatening, and it can be crippling and terrifying. Whether you are someone who is just an innocent fan who really wants to meet the person that you look up to, or you are someone who is literally obsessed, it's wrong.

There are lines and boundaries. Youtubers, or even just celebrities in general are, regardless of their public image or what-have-you, still people who have private lives, personal boundaries and emotions. They're still people.

I can understand wanting to meet them, but you cannot just show up at their house or hotel room.

It just baffles me that people would go out of their way to stalk people like that. They have public meet ups at conventions or other places for a reason: so that if you want to meet them, you can. It's one thing to consider them a friend, especially if watching their videos has helped you get through some tough times, but that doesn't make them your actual friend. They're not going to give you special treatment or give you special attention. They might respond to your tweets sometimes (also, I mean, they probably get lots of tweets, especially if they have a shit ton of fans, so it's unfair to harass them or start hating them or whatever just because you feel that they "ignored" you. Even if they saw what you said, they are not obligated to send you a response), maybe thank you for the support and wish you well with whatever you may be going through, but they don't actually know you, so their boundaries still stand, and when you try to cross those boundaries, it gets weird and if you keep going, it gets creepy and maybe even scary. Hell, there's even YouTubers who add fans on facebook, but that still doesn't make you actual friends. Tons of people add strangers on facebook every day that they never even talk to, or have ever talked to before.
You have to remember that no matter how much you pay attention to them and their lives, to them you're still a stranger. They're not going to be any less cautious or private with you just because you're someone who is a fan of what they do or who they are, or you're someone who thinks you are "in love" with them or whatever the case may be.
Sure, they appreciate you being their fan and offerring your support of what they do, maybe they'll even reply to your tweets or what-have-you, but they still don't know you.

I mean, some of the people who wind up stalking a YouTuber or a Celebrity, or showing up at their house, aren't even fans and don't even like the person they're stalking. Sometimes it's a case where it's the paparazzi and they just don't know when to stop or they intentionally keep going, or even decide to provoke the celebrity they're after. I mean, they could all be less invasive in general, but most paparazzi are creeps.

And sometimes it's a case where someone who is interested or obsessed in/with a famous individual, or an individual who is well-known, will go after that person's significant other out of jealousy and hatred and the delusion that that person belongs to them and not the person they're actually with. They'll send death-threats, or just plain harass that individual because in their mind, that will make the other person that they hate or are jealous of go away and then the celebrity they're obsessed with will somehow be theirs? I don't know. It's crazy, it's creepy, and I don't understand why people do this stuff.

You wouldn't do that stuff to normal everyday people, right? So why do it to these people? It's just inappropriate.

(Here are some crazy)

Celebrity Stalker Stories: (as an example of the kind of stuff that is NOT okay.)

• Selena Gomez: 46-year-old Thomas Brodnicki began stalking then 19-year-old Selena Gomez in 2011, and he allegedly told his shrink he was going to kill Gomez. According to TMZ, Brodnicki traveled from Chicago to LA to meet Selena and visited her workplace at least three times.

• Jennifer Lopez: In August 2013, a man broke into Lopez's Hamptons home and remained undetected in the guest house for six days. J.Lo already had a protective order against him for contacting her mother earlier in the year. 

• Jennifer Aniston: In 2010, Jason R. Peyton traveled cross-country in a delusional attempt to marry Jennifer Aniston. Police found him with a sharp object, duct tape and love notes to the "Friends" star. Authorities said he was stopped after spending days trying to find Aniston on Sunset Boulevard. 

• Catherine Zeta-Jones: Dawnette Knight, 35, stalked and threatened Catherine Zeta-Jones multiple times between 2003 and 2004 after she claimed she was in love with Zeta-Jones' husband, Michael Douglas. In a letter Knight wrote to Douglas, she said she was "going to slice [Catherine Zeta-Jones] up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs." 

• Alec Baldwin: A Canadian actress, Genevieve Sabourin, was arrested on charges of stalking and aggravated harassment after sending Alec Baldwin emails for several weeks and disturbing notes professing her love for him. Sabourin showed up at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where Baldwin was hosting a screening of "Last Tango in Paris," and she had to be removed by security. She also turned up unannounced at his home on Long Island and went to his address in lower Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood while he wasn't there. 

• Jodie Foster: John Hinckley Jr., a 23-year-old who became obsessed with Foster after seeing her in "Taxi Driver," followed her around Yale's campus, called her on the phone, and eventually shot president Ronald Reagan and three others in an attempt to impress her. 

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Information provided by: Victimsofcrime.org

If you need immediate assistance, the Victim Connect Helpline provides information and referrals for victims of all crime and can be reached at 855-4-VICTIM (855-484-2846). 

Things you can do:

Stalking is unpredictable and dangerous. No two stalking situations are alike. There are no guarantees that what works for one person will work for another, yet you can take steps to increase your safety.

• If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
• Trust your instincts. Don't downplay the danger. If you feel you are unsafe, you probably are.
• Take threats seriously. Danger generally is higher when the stalker talks about suicide or murder, or when a victim tries to leave or end the relationship.
• Contact a crisis hotline, victim services agency, or a domestic violence or rape crisis program. They can help you devise a safety plan, give you information about local laws, weigh options such as seeking a protection order, and refer you to other services.
• Develop a safety plan, including things like changing your routine, arranging a place to stay, and having a friend or relative go places with you. Also, decide in advance what to do if the stalker shows up at your home, work, school, or somewhere else. Tell people how they can help you. Click here to learn more about safety plans.
• Don't communicate with the stalker or respond to attempts to contact you.
• Keep evidence of the stalking. When the stalker follows you or contacts you, write down the time, date, and place. Keep emails, text messages, phone messages, letters, or notes. Photograph anything of yours the stalker damages and any injuries the stalker causes. Ask witnesses to write down what they saw. Click here to download a stalking incident and behavior log.
• Contact the police. Every state has stalking laws. The stalker may also have broken other laws by doing things like assaulting you or stealing or destroying your property.
• Consider getting a court order that tells the stalker to stay away from you.
• Tell family, friends, roommates, and co-workers about the stalking and seek their support.
• Tell security staff at your job or school. Ask them to help watch out for your safety.

If someone you know is being stalked:

• Listen.
• Show support.
• Don't blame the victim for the crime.
• Remember that every situation is different, and allow the person being stalked to make choices about how to handle it.
• Find someone you can talk to about the situation.
• Take steps to ensure your own safety