History Main / ScrewTheRulesImFamous

When adding examples for Real Life, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement please take caution on what you write down]]. We do not wish to have this turn into a page for complaining about celebrities tropers don't like.

* A bizarre case of DiplomaticImmunity as well as this trope. Back around the late '80s when Music/JamesBrown was called the "Ambassador of Soul'', his wife tried to invoke diplomatic immunity to avoid her traffic charges. It didn't work.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has several people like this. The ex-Olympic Medalist turned PE teacher Kamoshida, [[spoiler: who sexually and physically abuses his students]], the artist Madarame [[spoiler: who keeps his pupil malnourished and profits off plagiarizing their own artwork]], and Prime Minister candidate Masayoshi Shido [[spoiler: the head of the conspiracy against the Phantom Thieves, and responsible for one character being framed for defending a woman from his drunken wrath, another's depression, and the death of a third's father]]. The position these people are in makes it easy for them to hide their crimes from society and necessitates the Thieves' actions against them.

* Reggae artist Smiley Culture's song "Police Officer" was about an incident where he was arrested for drug possession, but let go after he was recognized as a famous musician. Became a FunnyAneurysmMoment when police showed up at his house with a search warrant for drugs. During the raid, he allegedly committed suicide, supposedly because his fame had faded and he couldn't use his status to get out of the charge.

* When the famous 19th century cricketer WG Grace was called out during an exhibition game, he brushed off the umpire with a lordly "Silly man! They've come here to watch me bat, not listen to you."[[/folder]]

* [[WebComic/{{Sonichu}} Christine Weston Chandler]] tried to use this trope and self-proclaim herself as a "celebrity" to justify her actions of groping several visitors and even [[ForcefulKiss kissing a woman's cheek without consent]] at Too Many Games 2018. Unsurprisingly, it did not work and she was kicked out.

->'''Edith:''' It's illegal to be married to two people at the same time, Dewey!\\

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Vacation", Grizzly tries to get a stressed-out, overworked Nom Nom through an airport in disguise so he can get to a spa resort. When the stewardess won't let Nom Nom on the plane, he gets mad and tells her he's the web-famous celebrity, Nom Nom the koala. Unfortunately, he accidentally activates the intercom while trying to browbeat her, and ends up blabbing his identity to nearly everyone in the airport. Cue [[EveryoneChasingYou wacky chase scene]].

* An episode of ''Manga/YoureUnderArrest'' has the cast dealing with a celebrity idol named Toki, who constantly violates parking regulations, thinking he can get away with it because of being a celebrity. It is later found out that his driving infringement records were all deleted, and to make things worse, a traffic safety campaign is to be held near the precinct, and will be advertised by Toki. So Natsumi, Miyuki, and Ken devise a plan to exploit Toki for breaking traffic rules: the three chase Toki toward the precinct, where he is unaware that the media and press arrived early, and he crashes his car in front of ''everyone'', ruining his reputation forever.

* The antagonist of ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'' is Steele, the lead dog of a champion sled dog team. The opening scene shows a race in progress, coming into the home stretch. Steele nips at a rival dog's leg, taking the opponent out of stride, causing the team as a whole to tumble to a halt. Nevertheless, Steele is hailed as a wonder dog among both the residents of Nome, Alaska and most of his fellow dogs. Later in the film, after losing an exhibition to determine the sled dog team to retrieve the medicine to Balto, Steele attacked Balto [[CrimeOfSelfDefense so him fighting back would make Balto look too feral to be selected]], thus taking his place.

** Lampshaded in an in-universe Broadway musical about the Betty Ford Clinic, a celebrity is on trail for numerous crimes and the judge pardons him with "I should put you away where you can't kill or maim us, but this is L.A. and you're rich and famous!"

* When Creator/JimmyFallon was starting his comedy career in Los Angeles, he attended a house party that then-NBA rookie Kobe Bryant was also at. When the party was running low on alcohol, the two volunteered to run to the store and get more, only to learn the establishment was delivery only and they couldn't purchase it on site. Bryant proceeded to show his ID to the clerk and tell him "I'm a Laker". After this, the clerk let them buy as much beer as they wanted.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has several people like this. The ex-Olympic Medalist turned PE teacher Kamoshida, [[spoiler: who sexually and physically abuses his students]], the artist Madarame [[spoiler: who keeps his pupil malnourished and profits off plagiarizing their own artwork]], and Prime Minister candidate Masayoshi Shido [[spoiler: the head of the conspiracy against the Phantom Thieves, and responsible for one character being framed for defending a woman from his drunken wrath, another's depression, and the death of a third's father]]. The position these people are in makes it easy for them to hide their crimes from Society and necessitates the Thieves' actions against them.

* Disc jockey Johnny Fever of radio station ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' tries to conduct an interview with Scum of the Earth, a band of trash rockers with EightiesHair known for abusing their fans and wrecking their venues. Off the air, the band members seem decent and civil, but on air, they revert to belligerent jerkasses. The band ultimately gets forcibly ejected from the studio. The closing scene of their episode shows the band on stage: belittling and insulting their audience, throwing garbage and incidental items at them, and discharging a type C fire extinguisher at the front row. Rather than press charges, the crazed fans clamored for more.

* In 1987, Creator/MatthewBroderick had gotten into a car accident in Northern Ireland that lead to the deaths of two people and himself injured. He was initially charged for death by dangerous driving and a five year prison sentence, but it was later changed to careless driving and a $175 fine.

* In 1987, Creator/MatthewBroderick had gotten into a car accident in Northern Ireland that lead to the deaths of two people and himself injured. He was initially charged for death dangerous driving and a five year prison sentence, but it was later changed to careless driving and a $175 fine.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', a head-only Scaramouche tries to invoke this when a sailor initially denies an entry due to having no body by claiming himself as Aku's number 1 assassin, only for the sailor to point out another sign revealing that he has now been demoted to the third-best. [[SmallNameBigEgo Scaramouche]] is rather distraught at this.

* [[WebComic/{{Sonichu}} Christine Weston Chandler]] tried to use this trope and self-proclaim herself as a "celebrity" to justify her actions of groping several visitors and even [[ForcefulKiss kissing a woman's cheek without consent]] at Too Many Games 2018. Unsurprisingly in the Me Too era, it did not work and she was kicked out.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', a head-only Scaramouche tries to invoke this when a sailor initially denies an entry due to having no body by claiming himself as Aku's number 1 assassin only for the sailor to point out another sign by revealing that he is now demoted to the third best. [[SmallNameBigEgo Scaramouche]] is rather distraught at this.
* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Vacation", Grizzly tries to get a stressed-out, overworked Nom Nom through an airport in disguise so he can get to a spa resort. When the stewardess won't let Nom Nom on the plane, he gets mad and tells her he's the web-famous celebrity Nom Nom the koala. Unfortunately, he accidentally activates the intercom while trying to brow-beat her, and ends up blabbing his identity to nearly everyone in the airport. Cue [[EveryoneChasingYou wacky chase scene]].

* A bizarre case of DiplomaticImpunity as well as this trope. Back around the late '80s when Music/JamesBrown was called the "Ambassador of Soul'', his wife tried to invoke diplomatic immunity to avoid her traffic charges. It didn't work.