Celebrity Rider Requests: The Weirdest Things Celebrities Demand In Their Contracts

We all know demanding people in our daily life, whether it’s the person who absolutely must have their coffee at work in the morning, the one who constantly adjusts the thermostat to ridiculous highs or lows, or the one who gets overly-finicky about his parking space. These people can be real killjoys, and they’re just everyday civilians, not celebs.

Some of our favorite celebrities can also be demanding, and, to get them on stage, managers, promoters, and staff at venues around the world must meet their every request. Read through this list to discover who are the world’s most temperamental stars.

Request: A hotel room at 77 degrees Fahrenheit all the time and a buffet without Coca Cola
Cost of Request: $10,000* 

Beyoncé is known worldwide for her music and her charm, and she is a celebrity that needs no introduction. However, fame and wealth have led her to make some rather strange, even ridiculous, demands.

Beyonce ©Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com

For example, Beyoncé requires that her dressing room be kept at 77 degrees Fahrenheit. She also asks for chicken thighs that have been heavily seasoned with cayenne pepper, as well as rose-scented candles. Lastly, Beyoncé refuses to have Coca-Cola cans around, as she can only be seen with Pepsi products due to a contractual agreement.

Request: Blue silk curtains and a dozen candles
Cost of the Request: $5,000*

Rihanna earns millions of dollars every year through her businesses and singing career (though the latter has been a tad inactive these past few years). Nowadays, Rihanna focuses on her lingerie and makeup brands, and this new focus does not prevent her from having crazy Requests when she is in concert. 

Rihanna ©lev radin/Shutterstock.com

The singer insists on having blue or black curtains covered in blue silk in her dressing room, along with an animal print rug and a very specific request for candles. Rihanna is a person who cares a lot about her comfort, and she is ready (and able) to pay the price for it.

Request: Plants everywhere and meat nowhere
Cost of Request: $4,000* 

Legendary Beatles bassist Paul McCartney made millions throughout his life through his music career, and he is now a fervent defender of animal rights. He banishes fur, leather, and meat from any of his lodgings, and he is also very fond of plants. Forget love, all you need are flowers.

Paul McCartney ©s_bukley/Shutterstock.com

Among other things, Paul McCartney requires that all lamps be dimmable halogen bulbs, that there are only animal-free materials (cotton, denim, velvet, etc.) in his dressing room, and that his limousines are not made of leather. Suffice it to say that inviting Paul McCartney to a steakhouse would be a very bad idea.

Request: More than 7 dressing rooms, several different types of drinks
Cost of Request: $15,000* 

Considered the king of rap in many peoples’ opinion, Jay Z is a role model who came from abject poverty to become one of the wealthiest musicians alive. Jay Z’s net worth is pushing the billion-dollar mark, and he has quite a few requests when it comes to his rider. 

Jay Z ©Brian Friedman/Shutterstock.com

Jay Z demands 7 dressing rooms, 77-degree room temperature, a large sofa, 48 bottles of Fiji water, 6 cans of Coke, 6 cans of Red Bull, and 6 bottles of vitamin water. Apparently, he doesn’t share the same “Pepsi Only” clause as his wife, Beyonce. 

Request: A private jet, and 75 first-class hotel rooms for her production team
Cost of Request: $350,000* 

Celine Dion is a singer loved by all, and she has toured the world thanks to her angelic voice and big hits. Although Céline is known for her humble, down-to-earth side, she has also been known to throw rather incredible tantrums if she doesn’t get what she wants.

Celine Dion ©Tinseltown/Shutterstock.com

On the long list of things Celine Dion wants when she goes on tour is a private jet, 75 first-class hotel rooms for her production team, a presidential suite for her and her son, and a mandatory temperature of 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Celine Dion wants to have the best conditions for her and her family, and she is ready to pay the price for them. 

Request: A separate hotel room for her wigs
Cost of Request: $20,000* 

Cher started her career in the music industry as a singer before transferring into television when she had a show with her ex-husband, Sonny. Since then, she has combined her musical career with a career in the film industry. Although many say she is a pleasure to work with, she has some rather odd demands on set.

Cher ©Tinseltown/Shutterstock.com

One of these demands is that she has a separate room for her wigs. Admittedly, her wigs are a serious part of their look, so perhaps they do deserve their own space. Her other two strange requests are that she must have aloe vera tissues available at all times, and, secondly, she will only use black cups.

Request: A new toilet seat at every place she goes
Cost of Request: $5,000* 

One of the strangest requests comes from singer Mary J. Blige. Wherever she performs, she expects a brand new toilet seat to be installed before she arrives. It is her most important requirement, and she has asked for it in all the cities where she has performed.

Mary j Blige ©Andrea Raffin/Shutterstock.com

However, since this is one of her only requests, people working on sets are usually only too happy to fulfill this order, and she is not generally seen as a demanding diva. On one tour, she visited 36 different cities. That’s a lot of new toilet seats for just one celebrity.

Request: A two-story trailer for filming
Cost of Request: $2.5 million*

Will Smith might seem like a pretty cool guy, but that doesn’t mean the famous actor doesn’t make huge demands before agreeing to step on set. In fact, for one movie, he had his own two-story trailer built at a cost of $2.5 million.

Will Smith ©Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com

The craziest part is that his trailer even comes with a $200,000 kitchen and its own dressing room. After constructing this trailer, his main requirement when working on set, is to have enough space to park his giant trailer.

Request: A police dog who checked the premises before her arrival
Cost of the Request: $20,000*

Millennials and Generation Z probably don’t know who Barbra Streisand is, but the rest of us know how famous she was decades ago. Back when she was a touring star, Streisand required a police dog to sweep the premises before she arrived, a Request that seems a bit over-the-top, yet understandable.

Barbra Streisand ©Debby Wong /Shutterstock.com

Apparently, Streisand thought she was such a big star that everyone wanted to end her career, perhaps by dangerous means. Needless to say, her worst fears never happened, and she actually turned 80 this year. 

Request: A house with five bedrooms
Cost of Request: Undisclosed  

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince wasn’t shy about voicing his demands when he was backstage. When he performed in London, Prince asked an organizer to build him a luxurious five-bedroom house near the 02 Arena in London, according to Marie Claire.

Prince ©Olena Znak/Shutterstock.com

One of his other requests was 192 bath towels. Prince was very serious about his cleanliness and hygiene, and he refused to reuse any towels. This information seems obvious when you see Prince’s appearances in public; everything was meticulous down to the last detail.

Request: An assistant to throw away her (Mariah’s) chewing gum
Cost of Request: $50,000*

Mariah Carey is a famous diva, and her reputation is that of a superstar who is never shy to make demands. Along with asking for a bottle of champagne and flexible straws to sip it, Carey expects organizers to have an assistant for her, which seems reasonable but isn’t.

Mariah Carey ©Tinseltown/Shutterstock.com

According to Marie Claire, Carey wants an assistant just to throw away her gum. This assistant’s job is very specific, and he or she is paid pretty well for it. Apparently, Mimi is repulsed by the idea of touching gum (even if it is her own).

Request: She requires her coffee to be stirred counter-clockwise
Cost of Request: $5,000*

J. Lo isn’t called “La Diva Latina” for nothing. She’s always had an extravagant side, but considering she’s one of the hardest-working women in showbiz, she has earned it. Among her rider requests are white flowers, tablecloths, curtains, candles, sofas, and low-wattage light bulbs.

Jennifer Lopez ©Andrea Raffin/Shutterstock.com

The wackiest item in her rider is that she requires her coffee to be stirred counter-clockwise. The story behind this Request isn’t widely known, but we assume it either has to do with superstition or the quality of the coffee.

Request: A basketball court and a beach cabin built right next to his trailer
Cost of Request: $200,000*

George Clooney appears in director Alfonso Curaón’s award-winning film Gravity as astronaut Matt Kowalski, commander of a space shuttle mission carrying Sandra Bullock into space to repair the Hubble Telescope.

George Clooney ©Serge Rocco/Shutterstock.com

Kowalski dies fairly quickly, leaving Bullock’s character to struggle alone to overcome the terrors of space. Despite his short stint on screen, Clooney demanded that he be provided with a full yard, basketball court, and beach cabin built right next to his trailer, at a cost of $200,000. 

Request: Underwear specially made for him
Cost of Request: $5,000*

Tom Cruise has come a long way in his career, and he is famous for his work ethic and doing his own stunts. He is also known for being extremely finicky, almost to the point of being a huge on-set diva.

Tom Cruise ©Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com

For example, Cruise insists on having an arsenal of specially-designed underwear woven from a specific fabric, to maximize his comfort and flexibility during his stunts. Since he prefers to wear new ones each time, he can wear up to 50 different underwear per movie. $5,000, the cost of these undies, is a small price to pay to ensure that his legs don’t chafe whilst he’s jumping out of helicopters or riding motorcycles.