Enquirer: Julia Roberts flipped out and threw a pillow on a plane

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I was looking through our archives trying to find more examples of Julia Roberts being a diva, and the best examples of that come from a 2010 article by journalist Roger Friedman. Friedman detailed the ways that Roberts snubbed people during her Eat, Pray, Love promotional tour. Apparently Julia mistook Friedman for another journalist and was rude to him while promoting Duplicity the previous year, so he remembered that and reported how she had a private party surrounded by bodyguards at what was supposed to be the general after party for Eat, Pray, Love. Only the people Roberts wanted to be invited were allowed into her little enclave. The others – including family members of the cast, prominent journalists and author Elizabeth Gilbert, were relegated to the general party downstairs. Friedman is a seasoned NY-area journalist and wrote that he’s been to plenty of a-lister parties and that “This was the first time ever that a private party was given upstairs and the stars were isolated.

So Roberts thinks the rules are different for her, she’s not a particularly gracious person, and that’s why I believe this story from The Enquirer’s Mike Walker, who reports that Julia yelled and threw a pillow on a plane when it didn’t meet her specifications. (Walker also reported in 2012 that Roberts complained on the set of August: Osage County that Meryl Streep’s trailer was better than hers.)

Julia Roberts exploded in a screaming temper tantrum that triggered a scary sky-high pillow fight with a cabin “flunky” about a private L.A. – N.Y. flight! Reported my sky witness: “Julia flat out FREAKED, snarling that the attendant had given her the ‘wrong kind of pillow!’… Pretty Woman screeched at startled staffers, ‘What is this? This isn’t the kind I asked for!” Pitching a fit that would not quit, Julia furiously flung the pillow into the aisle just before takeoff – then stared nonstop daggers at the crew.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, January 9, 2017]

I get sending something back if you asked for something different, especially in this case. I also suspect this account is somewhat exaggerated, but if Julia raised her voice and threw a pillow there’s no excuse for that. How hard it is just to be nice to people and say “may I please have this other thing?” It costs nothing to be polite and it works out better for everyone in the long run. I’m always nice to airline attendants especially, because those people have thankless jobs and they also have the power to make your flying experience miserable. Julia is already ahead of he plebes though, she was on a private plane. It’s not the worst thing ever. Try coach for a long international flight.

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83 Responses to “Enquirer: Julia Roberts flipped out and threw a pillow on a plane”

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  1. JustME says:

    It’s known that Julia is not this nice grinning lady, she’s quite the diva.

    • Dolkite says:

      People thinks she’s so sweet because she looks that way. After hearing the way she treated her sister (or was it cousin?), mocking her weight and everything, made me realize that, as with all celebs, I don’t know a thing about her beyond what someone wrote for her to say in a movie.

    • almondmilk says:

      It’s the *National Enquirer* though.

      Fun facts: The quadruple chinned orange clown Don the con, is tight with the owner of NE. Very tight. Watch the headlines, usually people he dislikes and has personal vendettas against (no he doesn’t need a reason, not does he even need to know them personally, because he’s a weird creepy psycho bish) are getting skewered by the NE.

      • Debbie Do (@debbiedonothing) says:

        Julia was a huge supporter of Hillary. That’s how she got on Trump & Pecker’s radar.

      • Kori says:

        Yep. Look through their cover pages the last few months. It’s gross how in the tank they are. Vile, sexist–the whole thing.

    • snappyfish says:

      The true judge of character is how you treat someone you don’t need to treat well. She is classless mean girl. Always has been…more reference you ask? A Low Vera

      • Michelle says:

        I remember that incident. She was sleeping with the woman’s husband (who is now hers ) and wore that stupid, immature shirt. I remember being so disgusted. She had no class or respect then, I wouldn’t expect her to be any less uncouth now. I like some of her movies but dislike the woman herself immensely.

  2. Digital Unicorn (aKa Betti) says:

    Even thou it’s the Enquirer I can believe this. She’s always had quite the unpleasant div rep.

    • HadleyB says:

      Same and unless its a story about how aliens stole my baby — they get stories out to the public before any other media outlet.

      The AUTHOR was downstairs? I mean what? She is a such a Kunt. I never liked her and always felt this kuny vibe from her from the get go but everyone loved her and her laugh act.

      Ugh.

    • manda says:

      Actually, the enquirer is known for being right more than not–they’ve been sued in the past. The mom from the Partridge family sued them and won. So, generally, they don’t publish stuff unless they can back it up

    • Louise177 says:

      I don’t believe this story because it was in such a public place. When something happens on a plane or restaurant and there’s no photos or video it makes me wonder. I also disagree that NE is usually right. They got a lot more wrong than right. For some reason why they break a story, they get the benefit of the doubt. Most tabloids don’t get sued because of the libel and defamation laws. It’s really difficult to prove.

    • Sarah says:

      My friend in Lake Placid was asked to stay late after closing to do someone’s hair. In walks Julia roberts, who pretended the entire time to be a bartender from a local bar. She gave a fake name and all. At the end of the appointment, a man came in with clothes and jewelry, and helped the “bartender” get dressed. She never admitted to who she was.
      My friend stopped at the bar on the way home and asked if so and so worked there. They never heard of her.
      I always thought that was just so,bizarre.

  3. RussianBlueCat says:

    This does not sound like she was upset about just a pillow. Maybe the rumours about Julia’s marriage being on the rocks are true? She may have had a argument with her husband and decided to take out her frustrations on the poor flight attendant? I can see an announcement coming out this year

  4. Julia says:

    “Diva” is a polite euphemism for rudeness and a blatant manifestation of deep insecurity.

    • Lahdidahbaby says:

      As in “A Low Vera.” She’ll never erase that from the public memory. It says everything.

      • NewYearNewShambles says:

        Is there a story behind this? I’m curious.

      • Crumpet says:

        NYShambles: Danny Moder was married to Vera Seinburg when he met Julia on the site of that forgettable movie she made with Brad Pitt. Danny was one of the camera men and she decided he was hers. She got mad when Vera balked at some point during the divorce proceedings and paraded around for the paps in a t-shirt on which was written ‘A Low Vera’.

      • doofus says:

        If I remember correctly…

        the camera man she married was married when they got involved. the guy’s wife is named Vera, and I guess she was NOT going quietly into that good night so Roberts, ever so classy, wore a t-shirt with that printed on it.

        Aloe Vera = A Low Vera

        as in, she was “going low”. and yet, the woman who pursued a married man and the cheating man himself?…TOTALLY klassy, guys…

      • Shambles says:

        Oh, wow. Not a good look.

      • Christin says:

        The photos of her strutting for paps in that navy blazer and homemade t-shirt survive on the ‘net.

        She was in her 30s then, so I have no doubt of the saying “when someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

      • Pam_L says:

        Wasn’t Julia also in a relationship with Benjamin Bratt when she went after Danny Moder?

  5. Dinah says:

    Julia is no longer The Pretty Woman she would still love to be.

    • NewYearNewShambles says:

      +1
      I was just thinking that she used to have such great hair and it’s completely ruined. Makes me think twice about wanting to try different hair colors.

      • Crumpet says:

        It looks like she is dealing with the same thing I am. Thinning hair due to age. When you compare her hairline now to what she used to have, plus the volume difference, it’s pretty clear. It sucks, let me tell you. My daughter’s hair is SO thick and luxurious and I love to play with it. Then I got fix my hair so the you can’t see my scalp. 🙁

      • Shambles says:

        I’m sorry, Crumpet 🙁
        You’re not alone, my mom uses powder to cover her scalp because she deals with the same thing you do.
        My comment on Julia’s hair was more about the texture– she used to have such lovely natural curls. Can that change with age as well?

      • It'sJustBlanche says:

        Pretty sure her hair hasn’t changed that much. She used a lot of pieces and extensions back in her heyday. That was never all her hair. Remember what crap it was when it was short?

      • Azurea says:

        Drink a few cups of nettle tea a day!

      • Jag says:

        Also have your doctor check your vitamin B12 and vitamin D to make sure that they’re not low, and make sure to ask how much protein you should be eating daily. (From plant or animal sources – whichever he or she says is best.)

        Make sure that you’re allowed to take diuretics if you’re going to drink nettle tea, as it affects the kidneys directly.

      • Lipreng says:

        My curls were absolutely ruined after a Keratin treatment. Years later, my curls are strangely limp and have strange form.

      • Lady D says:

        At 54 my eyebrows were very sparse, almost no body hair anywhere, and my hair was thinning. I started taking Silica with zinc in it and 6 months later my eyebrows were back, I had to shave my arms daily and my hair is thick and shiny again. It also prevents extremely dry skin. The skin on my shins used to turn almost silver and papery it got so dry. I haven’t seen dry skin since I started taking it. You can get it at the vitamin section of your local drugstore.

      • Cora says:

        @Lady D
        Thanks for the tip! I’m going to try that. Is there a particular dose that is recommended?

      • shannon says:

        @ Crumpet and anyone else going through age related hair loss. I have been using Nioxin and it is really working. I get it on Amazon where it is cheaper. I will try the nettle tea suggestions. I usually try natural alternatives first, but it can be so devastating to start losing your hair, so I took my hair stylists suggestion of using Nioxin and thankfully it works.

  6. Jayna says:

    I don’t believe it. So much of Mike Walker’s stories are pure crap or beyond exaggerated.

    • Esmom says:

      Me neither. While I can believe that Julia might be standoffish or rude sometimes, this story reads like BS.

    • Ramona says:

      Agreed. In the social media age I have a very hard time believing allegations of public bad behavior that not one social media denizen mentioned. Or that whoever did report it, took it to the decaying National Enquirer and not TMZ or DM. Rule 1 of making stories up is to target a woman people love to hate and Mike Wallace locked in on Julia years ago.

  7. Jb says:

    My husband flies private planes. They once had the wrong sheet set for a passenger flying an overnight flight to Europe. It was a huge deal. This – not surprising at all. Private flight attendants have a very tough job at times.

    • Christin says:

      I would imagine it’s worse, because some fliers feel more entitled and think fewer eyes and ears are around. Similar to how some people are more rude on the telephone than in person.

    • Dolkite says:

      I wasn’t flying private, but a friend of mine put me down for a Muslim meal just to be a dick not long after 9/11 on a flight. They were pretty nervous because they ended up forgetting the special meal and were relieved to find I’ll eat anything.

  8. AnnieO says:

    Gee, it sounds like social services should be called, her husband should file for divorce and take their children away from her. Then he should keep her from seeing the children unless a therapist is present. She should have to submit to weekly random drug tests and daily therapy….

  9. celebgossiplover says:

    I met her when I lived in Malibu- she is very rude to fans and other mothers in the school. She has a terrible reputation in Malibu- no one likes her there.

  10. Lisa says:

    I bet men in the industry act like that all the time. And blacklist journalists they don’t like. They’re all divas. “She had a private party surrounded by bodyguards at what was supposed to be the general after party for Eat, Pray, Love” – I would imagine this is pretty typical!

    • Betina says:

      It really isn’t all that common for stars to isolate at a wrap party as far as I know. I’ve been to a few and and I also have friends in the industry and from what I’ve seen and heard, everyone was mingling. It isn’t open to the public it is all people who have been involved in creating the movie, so they are all invited, its much more of an equal thing then you would think. So for a star to basically hold court upstairs, surrounded by security and isolate …I’ve never heard of that before. Maybe its done all the time, I’ve been out of the scene a long time but that sounds unusual to me.

      Also, I had a friend who was an extra on a JR movie, maybe 4 or 5th movie in to JR’s career. My friend was very attractive, she’d been in a few movies as an extra and had gotten chosen to be n extra in this film. It’s a public setting with extra in it, A bar I think.

      So the scene gets filmed a couple times, they are given a break and then everyone is called back in to film it again only my friend is told she is not needed, not just for the day but for the entire movie. My friend had done fine, everyone seemed happy with her. My friend knew someone on set and was told that JR has a rule that no women better looking then she is, can be in a scene with her. So she got my friend s^&% canned from the movie.

      So that, and then stealing another woman’s husband and being TOTALLY ungracious about it, never liked her after that. I won’t go see her stuff unless she is just a small part in the movie like Ocean’s movies.

  11. giulia says:

    I can believe julia’s aloof and controlling with the plebs but also have seen where a journalist has it in for someone and constructs a narrative about that person. So not quite buying tjis story

    • tracking says:

      +1

    • Crumpet says:

      Yeah, I can see her being extremely rude for not getting the pillow she asked for, but screeching and throwing? I doubt it.

    • Backstage Bitchy says:

      Also this wasn’t a wrap party. A wrap party is for cast and crew and yes it’s pretty egalitarian. This was a press event type party. I work in that world frequently and it is not at all unusual for big stars to set up individual areas, protected by body guards, for themselves and their pals and family. Sometimes each big star has his/ her own area and they barely mix, except for set-up photos where they play nice. Otherwise the stars are wide open to being cornered and questioned by he press and fans who are there. It’s not nearly as intimate as a wrap party. I’m not saying JR is not a diva, but her having a party area separate from “the families of cast members” is not at ALL unusual.

  12. Bex says:

    Julia is a diva and I could well believe that she’d act like this but I know somebody who worked on A:OC who said that, to the best of his knowledge, the trailer story wasn’t true or was massively exaggerated and this is the same writer so I’ll take it with a pinch of salt.

  13. So_Cal Sam says:

    Oh, the stories I could tell… Many years ago I worked as a Publicist in the Entertainment Industry. In my experience it was usually not the talent that caused problems, but their “people” who did. I worked with Julia on numerous occassions and she is a Diva, and that is with a capital D-I-V-A. We’re talking Mariah Carey territory here. She is the best example of my theory about working with the talent being the easy pary of my job not always being the case. Everyone that I know who has met her has only had negative things to say about her. Even one of my friends from college (25 years ago and we went to school n the Midwest) had a bad experience with her. She was staying at a Ritz Carlton and my friend worked there part-time as a server. She complained about everything – imaginary spots on her glass, dirty silverware, the food wasn’t prepared correctly, etc. Come on, this is a 5 star hotel with a 5 star restaurant. Get real lady. Oh, and you know those celebs who don’t want you to look them in the eye? My friend got into trouble for that, too. Seriously, we were Communications majors. We were taught to look people in the eye when engaging in conversation with them! After being a cold hearded b***h to him, of course she didn’t leave a tip. So, long story short – she has been a rude, nasty person since she became famous. Oh, and we must not forget about the “A Low Vera” t-shirt she wore in a very publc place so as to be photographed while sending her married boyfriend’s wife (now her husband’s ex-wife) a message to move aside. Just cannot stand peole like her!

    • Bex says:

      There are so many stories like this floating around about her. Yet somehow her reputation outside of gossip sites seems relatively intact. How does she pull that off?

    • So_Cal Sam says:

      @Bex: 1) She has an excellent team (Publicist, Agent, Manager, etc.) that have the power to keep things out of the press, which is why most of the stuff you will hear about her come off of social media sites and gossip blogs; and 2) Allthough she has a house in Malibu, she tends to stay away from the Hollywood scene and lives primarily in New Mexico with her family when not working. I wonder if anyone reading this lives near her in NM has had any encounters with her?

      • Bex says:

        By the sounds of it, that publicist deserves a raise!

      • CItyHeat says:

        I remember a similar thread on here a few years back about JR. one poster claimed to have been at a party in NM where JR was present, The basic story was JR basically ignored / did not talk to or acknowledge a single other woman at the party,….but of course flirted with every single man, particularly assertively engaging those who were attractive and not flocking to her.

        Friend of mine went to the Emmys the (a?) year that Benjamin PRatt was nominated and JR was his date. They stayed at the same hotel, and my friend ran into her at the gym and near the concierge. Per friend, JR was just a basic bitch all around. Remember something about her arching her eyebrow and being snotty about the price of cappuccino.

        That’s all I’ve got, 😊

    • Christin says:

      One story I recall is a co-star mentioning she’d long ago waited on JR (the former was a struggling actress; JR a big star). JR supposedly asked if she’d been rude to her. Why would that be the response, if one is typically respectful?

  14. S says:

    So, I’m not really a Julia Roberts fan, and actually have zero problem believing she’s not the down-to-earth nice girl she wants people to think BUT … 1) It’s The Enquirer, official propaganda arm for Donald Trump who, just last week, stated they had “proof” that Obama was not born in the U.S. so, yeah, credibility is zero with that one lately. 2) It’s supposed to have happened on a private plane, meaning their “source” couldn’t be too many people, all of whom could lose their job for saying such things, so a tiny tabloid pay-for-gossip story probably isn’t worth the risk. 3) Even if 100% true, throwing a pillow — soft, fluffy, harmless — and giving people a mean look isn’t exactly headline news. I mean, sure, it’s rude. It’s worthy of an eyeroll, no doubt, but a story saying someone “flipped out”? Eh, my outrage, or even my oh-no-she-didn’t, meter has to be set a lot higher than that, or I’d be constantly up in arms. (Conversely, the very meh-ness of the gossip does swing it towards being more credible vs, say, something that said Julia got mad and threw knives at babies.)

  15. Kyle says:

    Back around the time of just before Erin Brockovitch up to the filming of The Mexican, I was about 3 degrees of separation from the Julia Roberts / Benjamin Bratt relationship. During that time, I would often hear negative stories about Julia and how awful and dismissive she could be, almost always to other woman. She apparently loved being the “cool girl” among the men and didn’t like other women (including the female actress I sort of knew) to threaten her position with the boys.

    During the award season for Erin Brockovitch there was a lot of talk about how Julia had been having a an affair with Danny Moder. But in pursuit of the Oscar, she couldn’t be tainted by that scandal. So julia and her team somehow forced Benjamin Bratt to stay with her for appearances until the Oscars were over. I can’t recall what they were supposed to have threatened him with to get him to stay, since he was supposed to have been furious with her for the cheating (she was still with Danny during Award season too), and the way she had treated some of his female friends.

    Anyway, just a long 3rd or 4th hand story I remember about her from that time. I’ve never liked her since then. I believe she’s awful to other women and that she is entitled, manipulative and vindictive. As a last note, I never understood how she won that Oscar either. She was basically playing every character she has ever played.

    • Chick b. says:

      This I always thought was pretty obvious and wondered why the press didn’t call her on it. Bratt looked like he was chewing glass at that ceremony. He had probably already fallen for Talia Soto so I’m curious what his motivation was for showing up.

  16. cindy says:

    Man she scares me. And I don’t scare easy. I wonder if she will get more vicious as she ages and loses the surface “charm”. She was great in Mystic Pizza though….

  17. Libra girl says:

    CANNOT STAND THIS WOMAN.

  18. Ruyana says:

    I still remember how truly *awful* she was to her sister before her sister’s death and I read that Julia made really nasty comments about her after her death. Remember when Julia wanted her husband and he was married to a woman named Vera? And Julia wore a T-shirt with “A lo-Vera” on it. She’s always come off as a bit vicious.

  19. Donna says:

    Back when Runaway Bride was being filmed on the lower eastern shore of Maryland, the local papers printed numerous stories about how nasty she was (I’m from Maryland). I was done with her after her treatment of Moder’s ex-wife, Vera. Frankly, I wonder just how happy he is with her.

  20. Colleen says:

    No surprise here. She’s always publicly been a bitch to those around her. No grace whatsoever.

  21. stinky says:

    I’m kind of imagining being on a cross-country private flight… pretending it’s me in this sitch.
    Maybe she went out of her way to request a down pillow – knowing she needed to sleep, etc.
    Maybe everyone assured her it was handled…
    but then they hand her some shit foam pillow … (?)
    I don’t know, I can kind of imagine being pissed off about it.
    I doubt I would be screaming, but I’m pretty sure I’d be pissed off.
    Maybe she’d have brought along her own pillow had she known, etc. etc.
    She’s paying a lot to fly private, ya know.
    Its still low-class to be unkind, tho.
    Always.

  22. Notaboveit says:

    Oh, she is just such a See You Next Tuesday. Unless you are a man, that is. Probably just so insecure and getting worse as her looks fade. God knows, her body has been gone for years !

  23. Riley says:

    There have been so many articles about her treating people poorly, it’s hard to believe that this isn’t true,

  24. Redgrl says:

    Never thought she was a particularly good actress – a lot of horse-laughing and throwing her hair around.

    • crazydaisy says:

      She’s a terrible actress! With great legs. All about the legs, and giant mouth (male fantasy material) and (original) lush hair. Her bro Eric is a great actor. She is a personality.

  25. Michael says:

    She was personally incredibly rude to me many years ago when they were filming My Best Friend’s Wedding here in Chicago. She has been dead to me ever since. Even if her Estee Lauder commercial comes on, I will turn off the TV. Everyone else in the cast was perfectly lovely, except her. They even tried to make excuses for her.