Celebrities deal with some crazy fans. We’re constantly hearing stories about people stalking and obsessing over some of our favorite famous folks. It can definitely get scary, and unfortunately, some of our favorite stars have seen the worst of it. Singer Mya is the latest to encounter an overzealous fan.
Rapper Eminem famously coined the term Stan in 2000 from his single of the same name. The song was about a crazed fan who was obsessed with Em and drove himself crazy trying to connect with the star. The term has since become very popular and synonymous with crazy fan culture, also known as “Stan Culture.” Some famous stan groups include Beyonce’s Beyhive, Nicki Minaj’s Barbs, and Cardi B’s Bardi Gang.
Unfortunately, some stans get out of control and threaten the well-being of their favorite stars. R&B star Ashanti had to deal with one such fan. Devar Hurd was a fan that began sending her tweets and explicit photos that eventually landed him behind bars in 2013. He was eventually found guilty of felony 2nd-degree stalking in 2016. Ashanti took to Twitter to celebrate the win, saying, “First & Foremost, thank you, God!!!! & Thanku guys for all of your love, support & Prayers!!!! Verdict is in. #Guilty.”
First & Foremost thank you God!!!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 & Thanku guys for all of your love, support & Prayers!!!! Verdict is in. #Guilty
— ASHANTI (@ashanti) March 18, 2016
Willow Smith dealt with her own situation in 2021. Walter James Whaley began sending Willow messages online saying that he loved her and wanted to marry her and have children. The 38-year-old then traveled from Oklahoma to Los Angeles to visit the singer via bus. He reportedly climbed her fence and tried to find a way into her home before eventually running off before the police arrived. Willow says that the man studied her life and “got her patterns” down. “They’re watching all of your social media accounts to see what your movements are, and this guy was doing that to me for a couple of years, actually.”
However, the singer was not home at the time that he arrived, luckily. Willow said the man had a record and had built a little tent behind her home to wait for her to return. Willow’s mother, Jada, says they were so worried following the incident that they threw everything in the fridge out, fearing that maybe he’d poisoned the food to knock her out. Willow Smith suffers severe anxiety and says that the whole ordeal made it even harder for her to interact with the public.
“Best of Me” singer Mya is the latest to experience a crazed stan. Marcus A. Fuller is a man from Syracuse, NY, who reportedly began sending threats to Mya in April. Fuller admitted to making over 100 Instagram profiles to scare Mya and told her never to step foot in Syracuse, or he would take her life and and [expletive] her concert. He was also using a private server to mask his IP address so that police could not track him. Eventually, they found Fuller and reported that he had a “bolt-action rifle, four boxes of ammunition, and two magazines in his home, according to his indictment.” He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
Mya has gotten threats from fans before. In 2014, fans of Beyonce and Jay-Z began to issue warnings to her online after it was reported that she was having a decades-long affair with her “Best of Me” collaborator. Mya took to social media to let their fans know that she has too much respect for herself and too much respect for the institute of marriage to do such a thing. This rumor surfaced following the infamous elevator incident in which Solange Knowles attacked Jay-Z and fans began to speculate that he was cheating.
Ironically, only a few years prior, Beyonce was the victim of a crazed fan as well who said the “Cuff It” singer was an imposter who took the life of the real Beyonce. Bassey Essien sent letters to the singer in 2011 and had a known history of sneaking past her security at events and even interacted with her at a meet and greet in 2009. Beyonce was also the victim of two separate kidnapping attempts in 2007.
Mya has yet to speak on the latest development regarding Fuller. The singer is currently on tour.
