The few times I’ve encountered a celebrity, I have been the opposite of chill. I stutter and get all flustered and have generally decided to just appreciate their presence from afar from now on.
I’ve always been jealous of my friends who could seemingly chitchat casually with the stars of our favorite shows.
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Though I did once dance in a hotel bar with actor Chris Owens of The X-Files.
To make it extra nerdy, the music playing was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme and it was at a Star Trek convention.
I suppose it’s a bit easier to interact when it’s a fan event of some sort.
I mean, I could never bring myself to walk up to a celebrity at the grocery store.
Most fans are pretty good about not going too far, though.
Some fans… aren’t. Sadly, Arnold Schwarzenegger just came in contact with one of those.
The actor and politician is in South Africa this weekend for the Arnold Classic Africa sports festival.
The event is one of six Arnold Sports Festivals held every year.
The festival included more than 90 events, from athletics to talent competitions, and Arnold is there to encourage everyone.
He’s been actively sharing pics and clips of this year’s event on Snapchat too.
Which is what he was doing during a jump rope competition when another fan captured a shocking moment on video.
Arnold can be seen talking into his phone and chatting with the fans around him when an unidentified man runs up behind him.
The man jumps into the air and kicks the 71-year-old star right in the back with both feet.
Arnold falls forward, disappearing out of frame and we see his security guys subdue the culprit.
Whoever was filming got knocked by the crowd, so we don’t see much more of the aftermath.
At the end of the video, the man is heard yelling something over and over.
The closest anyone has come to understanding it is: “Help me, I need a Lamborghini.”
Which would be a very odd thing to yell.
Don’t worry, though, the Terminator was fine.
In a follow-up tweet, he assured people that he didn’t even realize he was kicked, believing someone had only jostled him before seeing the video for himself.
Mostly, he was just glad the guy waited until after he was done recording his Snap.
While the original video has the most impact, Arnold doesn’t want it to take away from the rest of the event.
This afternoon, he requested that people also share the stories and videos of the many incredible athletes taking part in the festival.
There are 24,000 participants working hard to excel regardless of their age or talents.
He’s absolutely correct that the focus should ultimately be on them rather than one idiot trying to get famous.
However, he also admits that he gets why people would want to share the original video.
Besides being shocking, it’s also kind of hilarious how little impact the guy made with his kick.
I mean, Arnold didn’t even register that is was a kick!
Arnold also shared another angle of the event, as an alternative to the original.
This version gives a much better look at how little the kick actually moved Arnold when it connected.
It’s a better option for sharing if you don’t want to give the attacker even the small amount of voice he gets in the original.
The event’s official Twitter account also released a statement.
In it, they indicate that the man is known to have staged similar stunts and is in police custody. They also confirm that Arnold doesn’t intend to press charges.
