Meeting your favorite celebrities can be a toss of the coin. There are so many accounts of fans, whether famous or not, meeting a famous person they admire only to be totally caught off guard by a moody or dismissive celebrity — the famous Kesha and Jerry Seinfeld red carpet fail comes to mind.
In a recent interview on Math Hoffa, one of our favorite Wu-Tang Clan icons, Method Man, describes his own awkward experience when meeting the supergroup Destiny’s Child in the early 2000s, and it isn’t pretty.
Method Man, real name Clifford Smith Jr., admittedly is a fan of the hit-making, Houston-based music sensations. One of his first encounters with Destiny’s Child was at an international awards show back when the group had four members.
Method Man recalls, “The girls were there. Very nice, this was when there were still four of them. The original members, very nice, very cordial, all that, and I always kept that in my head that these [were] some decent young ladies.”
Method Man would be in the vicinity of the women again when he would attend an event honoring the legend Janet Jackson. By this time, Destiny’s Child consisted of three members, Beyonce, Kelly, and Michelle.
“We were at Janet Jackson’s icon,” Method Man continued. “And I see the girls. So, you know, I kind of mosey out of my seat to go over and say what’s up to them — now, this is me still in my low self-esteem era. But, I’m thinking like, ‘OK, comfort zone. I’m going to say what’s up to the girls. I love them, I’m just going to say hi.'”
Method Man was dealing with a lot of underlining issues that stemmed from his career and branched over into his personal dealings with his inner circle. For a while, the hip hop legend struggled with depression and low self-esteem, and that eventually resonated in his interactions with others.
“I go over to say hi to them and when I said hi, they didn’t turn around and acknowledge me,” Method Man said. “Now, my a** in my head with my low self-esteem was like, ‘Oh, they just sh***ed on me.’ When in fact, they didn’t even hear me.”
Method Man’s perceived slight from Destiny’s Child was another jab to his ego and it caused him to project his feelings of rejection when he was officially introduced to them.
“Afterwards, Rockwilder, he was going to do the ‘Bootylicious’ song for them,” Method Man adds. “He comes over. He’s talking to them and he’s like, ‘Oh, y’all know Red and Meth?’ And they put their hands out to shake and I kept my hand here and I was like, ‘Go ‘head with that Hollywood s***.'”
Method Man didn’t say anything about how the members of Destiny’s Child responded to him or if there were any encounters with the group in the years to follow, but he did express regret for his actions.
“To this day, that s*** hurt my heart ’cause neither Kelly, Beyonce, or Michelle ever did any f****** thing to me, you know. But, me being so miserable and in that f****** moment, I felt like they weren’t treating me the way I should’ve been treated.”
Now, at the age of 51, Method Man is more self-aware and cognizant of his trauma. He admits his wrongdoing and even went further to publicly apologize to Destiny’s Child.
As he turns to the camera, he shares, “I don’t think I’ve ever apologized for that. I apologize to Beyonce. I apologize to Kelly Rowland and Michelle. Y’all did not deserve that, at all.”
Watch the Math Hoffa Interview Soundbite Below:
Meeting your favorite celebrity is not always in alignment with what one envisions. However, Method Man’s transparency is another great example of how trauma projection can occur.
Being human, we all have bad days and sometimes, people just don’t know how to deal. If you happen to be in their path while they’re working through things, you can easily become a target for no good reason.
What can we learn from this? Self-awareness is essential to understanding emotions and linked behavior. Maturity will also be key to overcoming the ego, which usually prompts us to escalate issues, making something out of nothing.
Lastly, a bit of grace for the troubled can go a long way, even if you are the recipient of their icky darts. Being the “bigger person” always feels better in the long-run. Welcome to that feeling, Method Man.
