Being a celebrity has proven to be more than just glitz and glam. In many cases, it can also come with struggles. Though many fans have simple interests in their favorite celebrities, some admirers take their obsessions to the extreme—even committing unspeakable acts at times.

For these 10 celebrities, the dedication of their fans went from mere interest to a completely bizarre and unhealthy obsession resulting in gifts that could never be purchased in stores.

10 Dead Rabbit

Being a celebrity comes with fame and fortune—and fans. For Avril Lavigne, her continued success has made her no stranger to interactions and gifts from her admirers. However, she hadn’t expected the weirdness that accompanies some gifts. During an interview, Avril was asked to name the strangest gift she’s ever received.

For some singers and actors, the presents are articles of clothing—bras, shirts, and sometimes underwear. But for this singer, it wasn’t a material item at all.

Instead, during one of her tours to promote an album, Avril was given the body of a dead rabbit. There was no note, so Avril didn’t understand the fan’s intention. However, it’s been said that a rabbit could be good luck.^[1]

Akin to her first album title, Avril decided to “let go” and move on from the event, though it’s doubtful that she’s accepted any more strange packages.

9 Preserved Baby Shark

The quick rise in fame of the Jonas Brothers—Kevin, Joe, and Nick—was mostly due to their musical talent and eventual Disney deals. Their fans, ranging from teenage girls to adult men and women, have been known to be dedicated and sometimes straddle the line between what is acceptable and what isn’t.

At times, the Jonas Brothers have had to deal with fans taking things a bit too far, including sneaking into their hotel rooms and giving them macabre gifts—such as a preserved baby shark.

The gift, which was provided to the brothers from an adoring fan while they were on tour, did not come with an explanation. But the preserved baby shark was inside a tube. The brothers were uncertain as to what the gift was supposed to mean or what they were expected to do with it.

The shark was accompanied by a simple note saying, “Here’s a dead shark.” The most pressing question was not the “why” but “how” the fan was able to obtain it in the first place.^[2]

8 Sperm

The option of having a family is one that depends on the people involved. However, it doesn’t entail sending one’s sperm in the mail to a favorite celebrity in the hopes of starting a family. For actress Tricia Helfer, a fan decided that his best option to win her favor was by doing exactly that.

The event happened when she was opening fan mail. She didn’t realize what had fallen out of the envelope until she looked at the other contents of the letter: a picture of a man, woman, and child as well as the syringe filled with white liquid and indications that the fan wanted her to start a family with him immediately.

Unsettled and a bit fearful, Tricia told someone at the studio where she was working about the incident. From there, the police were contacted. The detectives were able to track down the creepy fan, though Tricia did not reveal what happened to him.^[3]

Tricia Helfer is not the only celebrity to experience this. In early 2019, singer Iggy Azalea was sent a vial of semen, though it was intercepted by her assistant before she could see it.

7 Breast Implant

Body parts falling off is a strange, macabre aspect of zombies. Norman Reedus, who stars on The Walking Dead, knows about this firsthand. Although he’s dealt with fake body parts being thrown at him in a battle with zombies, he’s also grappled with body parts being mailed to him in real life.

In an interview, Reedus showed a breast implant that was being used as a phone cradle in his trailer. The implant was sent to him as a gift by a fan who thought that Reedus seemed depressed. Instead of getting rid of it, Reedus found the gift hilarious and decided to clean it and put it on display.^[4]

In 2015, the actor received another breast implant in the mail. He decided to throw this one at costar Steven Yeun instead of putting it on display. However, Reedus did joke that he wouldn’t be opposed to getting more implants from fans in the future.

Reedus has continued to receive breast implants, some wrapped in fat and delivered to him in jewelry boxes, as well as gifts such as squirrel meat.

6 Cake With Human Hair

“Let them eat cake” may not have been a real saying by Marie Antoinette, but for Ed Sheeran, eating cake has been a popular pastime. Sheeran’s love for the treat is well-known by his fans.

He has received multiple gifts, ranging from dolls to necklaces to baked goods. As Sheeran is not one to turn down food, he had accepted a cake from a fan thinking that it was just what it seemed to be—a delicious surprise and a thoughtful gift from a fan.

But there was an unexpected filling inside. Once Sheeran bit into the cake, he found that it had been filled with clumps of the woman’s own hair. There was no explanation for this, though Sheeran believes that it may have been the fan’s way of trying to be “inside of him.”^[5]

Despite his love for cake, Sheeran has become a bit less exuberant when accepting baked goods from fans to avoid another hairy situation.

5 Teeth

Known for being eccentric and wanting to stand out from the music crowd, Kesha has done things that could be considered a bit creepy—such as breaking into Prince’s house to have him listen to her music.

This is why it doesn’t seem too out of character for Kesha to request something equally strange from her fans. In this case, she had asked them to send her teeth—real teeth—in the hopes that she could make something out of them while she was in rehab recovering from an eating disorder.

As a result, Kesha received almost 1,000 teeth from her dedicated fans. True to her word, Kesha used the chompers to make items for her to wear, including a bra, a headdress, earrings, and a necklace. In fact, the headdress she wears to promote her album Warrior is made from her fans’ teeth.^[6]

Apparently, the focus started when a lone admirer sent her a tooth that Kesha turned into a necklace made with her own baby teeth. From there, she began to collect the teeth sent to her. Finally, she asked for her fans’ teeth and accumulated hundreds of them.

4 Letter With Menstrual Blood

Letters from devoted fans are not uncommon. In fact, it’s one of the ways that celebrities know that they’ve started to make it big. For Taecyeon, a member of South Korean boy band 2PM, it was not the meaning that went too far but what the letter was physically written in.

Rather than using ink, an admirer wrote her message in menstrual blood. The fan wrote that she had dedicated her menstrual blood to Taecyeon and stated that he could not live without her—even though he didn’t know who she was. She also enclosed her pubic hair inside the letter.^[7]

Many of Taecyeon’s fans had claimed that the letter was fake until the writer came forward to prove that it was true. She even claimed that she wasn’t a fan of the band and just wanted attention.

3 Human Skin

Though it sounds like the plot of a horror movie, Zac Efron did not audition for this part. Due to his starring role in Disney’s High School Musical movies and his continued time in the spotlight, Efron has had his fair share of fan experiences—from receiving their letters to even having them show up at his gated neighborhood to leave tokens of their love in his mailbox.

However, one fan took her obsession a bit too far by sending Efron a piece of her own skin. The actor, who opens his own fan mail, was greeted with the grotesque sight of a piece of skin sitting inside an envelope.

Stunned, Efron got rid of the skin. Now he laughs about the story—mostly because he claims he doesn’t know how else to react to someone sending him a piece of skin.^[8]

2 Human Ear

Jared Leto has not been one to shy away from the strange. Just recently, his date to the MET Gala 2019 was his own severed head, a take on the theme “Camp.” He has also provided strange and slightly unwanted gifts to his Suicide Squad castmates while trying to get into the character of The Joker. Due to his own eccentric personality, Leto seems to draw the same weird tendencies from his fans.

One admirer decided to send the actor and lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars the fan’s own severed ear. In a 2013 interview, Leto explained that he opened up a package to find a severed human ear inside as well as a note that asked, “Are you listening?”^[9]

There was no further explanation for the ear or even any indication of the sender’s identity. Despite the strangeness of the situation, Leto embraced his fan’s macabre gift by tweeting a picture of it as well as poking a hole through the ear and choosing to wear it as a necklace.

Even though he found a use for the ear, Leto did ask his fans not to send him any more body parts.

1 A Baby

Dolly Parton’s fame has eclipsed genres and generations. She is known for her big hair and big attitude, and her music has left an indelible mark on country music and its fans. Due to her popularity, Parton has her share of admirers. However, Parton’s experience with one fan’s gift is unlike that of any other celebrity.

With her single “Jolene” at No. 1 on the country music charts in the early 1970s, Parton may have considered the possibility of a few women naming their newborns after her hit song. But she hadn’t expected a new mother to do so and then leave the baby on Parton’s doorstep.

Parton found the baby girl lying in a box at her front gate. The accompanying note stated that the infant was named Jolene and that her mother wanted Parton to have her. Freaked out and worried for the baby, Parton called the Department Of Health And Human Services and took care of the infant until they were able to come.^[10]

There was never any follow-up from the mother, and Parton doesn’t know what happened to the baby after the authorities took her.

The Force is strong with this one, or maybe they had too much to drink that night and came up with a ridiculous fan theory. Okay, I’m probably being too harsh, but sometimes, no matter how much you love a franchise, your convoluted, left-field theories can be, well, convoluted left-field theories. And from savage Ewoks to Jar Jar’s fictional stint as a Sith Lord, there’s no shortage of them for “Star Wars.”

Here are the top 10 outlandish Star Wars fan theories.

Related: 10 Awesome Fan Theories About Extremely Popular Series

10 Jar Jar Binks Is the True Villain of “Star Wars”

All Lumpawarroo, a Redditor, wanted to do was justify Jar Jar Binks’s character. I mean, how much crap can a character take? The Gungan is awkward, clumsy, kind of racist, an outcast; he is so obviously flawed it’s not even funny (I mean, it is, but…). Anyway, Lumpawarroo believed that Binks is the way he is because he’s actually the true villain of Star Wars. If his flaws are resolved, so too will the universe be made right.

9 Mace Windu Is Grumpy Because He’s Jealous

Mace Windu is the pissant of Star Wars. He ticks people off, he’s not the friendliest of people, and he presents himself as the frowning old grandpa who is constantly belittling the younger generations. Still, he’s a unique character with an awesome saber and successfully plays both Jedi and Dark Side.

Granted that his less than gracious attitude toward Anakin is seemingly founded in the evil he feels emanating from Anakin, one fan theory suggests that Windu is a grump all the time because he was supposed to be the Chosen One. The Chosen One is the prophesized individual who is supposed to destroy the Sith and return the balance to the Force. Why say this? Well, for one, Windu doesn’t believe in Anakin’s abilities. But Windu is arrogant, so that’s not too much of a stretch.

The main argument, though, is that Windu did try to assassinate Palpatine to balance the Force himself. Once Anakin finds out that Palpatine is a Sith Lord, Windu takes Palpatine into his own hands. However, since he’s not the Chosen One, he fails. 

But wouldn’t this just make Windu a superior character? He is more talented than most of the OG characters and astute enough to realize that Palpatine needs to go, like, immediately. Sure, it may have been arrogance that led to Windu’s outcome, but Windu’s not jealous; he’s just right (and better than everyone else).

8 Lucas Pokes at Spielberg in “The Phantom Menace”

This one isn’t so outlandish as creators and directors place easter eggs in things all the time. But perhaps this one is a case of mistaken identity. In The Phantom Menace, some fans believe they see E.T. (as in, “E.T. phone home,” E.T.). If you skip to the scene where alien races attempt to dismiss Chancellor Velorum, you can see a group of aliens that look just like the guy! Since Spielberg and Lucas have a history together, people believe this is an easter egg to their directorial alliance.

7 Just Because They Look Alike…

Jumping to one of the more recent Star Wars films, there’s a fan theory that states that Jyn Erso is Rey’s mother. Unfortunately, there are some major timeline discrepancies that disprove this theory.

Erso first appears in Rogue One, which, in the ‘verse, puts it before A New Hope (oBBY). Okay, so, if Erso were Rey’s mother, that would mean that Rey was 34 in The Force Awakens, which she isn’t. Yeah, I know the two actresses look alike, but it’s a coincidence. Erso is not Rey’s mother. Believe me. 

In The Rise of Skywalker, British actress Jodie Comer makes a cameo as Rey’s mother, who, it turns out, is a veritable nobody. Rey’s father, on the other hand, is Palpatine’s son. Her parents abandoned her to protect her from her grandfather, but of course, Rey doesn’t find this out until much later.

6 Snoke Is Vader

Uh, no, Snoke is not Vader. Snoke, for those who need a refresher, is the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He’s the guy who convinced Kylo to join the dark side. But as outlandish as the theory may seem, it did start within the Star Wars universe itself.

The fan theory arose out of the idea that Palpatine’s spirit was transferred to Vader’s body, which in turn became Snoke. Too bad we see Luke burning Vader’s body… Thanks for not confirming this one, Star Wars.

5 Snoke Is Luke’s Wife?

Would people drop the Snoke speculation already? This one is really pushing the boundaries of what is possible. But I guess when you don’t really have anything to go on for an origin story, you’ll cling to whatever sounds good (even though we have an origin story for Snoke at this point.)

YouTuber Crazy Kahzmoh suggested that Snoke is Luke’s wife (or husband) and Rey is their daughter. Another similar theory states that Rey is their adopted daughter. It’s not Luke’s sexuality that brings issue with this theory; it’s the fact that we know this isn’t true. Hey, we’re all about shipping Snoke and Luke, but if you keep believing this one after what we know, you’re ridic.

4 Snoke Is Jar Jar Binks

This is similar to our first theory, but different.

In this Snoke theory, Jar Jar Binks, who is actually a proficient and talented Force user, collaborates with the Sith and eventually becomes Snoke. This fan theory produced some sweet Darth Binks fan art but doesn’t really hold any water. Sometimes, we just need to accept that Binks is a fool with no other purpose than to be a fool. He wasn’t tricking anyone as to how intelligent he was as Yoda did in Empire; there wasn’t anything deep to Palpatine’s hologram fakeout in The Force Awakens.

Snoke was created by Palpatine to rule in his absence.

3 Luke Didn’t Blow Up the Death Star

We know that Luke blew up the Death Star. Trusting the Force, he fired two proton torpedos into the reactor core and bye-bye Death Star! But one Redditor claims to have heard a theory that argues otherwise. For this one, the Stormtroopers are the ones who did it.

Like their inability to hit a target, they also can’t press a button. This refers to the scene right before the explosion when they say, “Standby.” So yup! Stormtroopers blew up the Death Star. Maybe it’s the one who hit his head against the door frame.

2 The Jedi Aren’t as “Good” as You’d Like to Believe

Sometimes, the theories we think are the most impossible are actually spot on, and this has happened a lot in Star Wars. For instance, Palpatine created Snoke, Rey is a Palpatine, Boba Fett survives the pit, etc. One theory, however, is a bit more philosophical and blurs the lines of right and wrong in the franchise.

When we think of Jedi versus Sith, we immediately think of good versus evil. That’s because our protagonists are usually Jedi, and we want to believe that the main character of an adventure film is the good guy. We want to cheer for the good guys! But think about it. Jedi aren’t as heroic as they seem (thank you, Anakin). And who can blame him?

First of all, the Jedi are essentially a Star Wars mafia. They offer “protection” but with some heavy political influence attached. They don’t like people opposing the Republic and want the Jedi Order to remain the political system. Follow the Jedi, or leave. Second, their practices are kind of extreme. They take children from their families and subject them to intense and dangerous training. Qui-Gon essentially enters a young (child status) Anakin in a deadly pod race for materials.

Third, and probably the strongest argument for the theory, comes from the lips of Luke Skywalker. In The Last Jedi he tells Rey that a Jedi’s vanity is their downfall and that they need to die off.

1 Darth Maul Is Still Alive

I like Darth Maul because he is seemingly so one-off, so cool, and—personally—underrated. Plus his face. Who else has a face like that? Anyway, this theory suggests that Darth Maul, the vengeful Sith Lord, is still alive simply because of his impact in The Phantom Menace. In other words, he was just too badass to die.

I mean, he did take down Qui-Gon Jinn. If anyone is going to take down the maverick Jedi, it better be someone equally as cool. But obviously, Obi-Wan and Owen Lars killed Darth Maul, so how is there any chance of him being able to survive that blast to the head?

Hatred. Yes, let the hate flow through you.

Darth Maul was shown alive in The Clone Wars after his brother found him sporting some mechanical spider legs. Design choices aside, this was definitely a shock to audiences and a win for the theorists out there. Maul’s hatred for Obi-Wan is what kept this guy kickin’, even though he is half spider now. 

When a filmmaker creates a world for a viewer and invites them in, it isn’t surprising that the visitor might see this world in a different light. After all, most movies only last a couple of hours, and there is little time to create a fully-detailed backstory. This leaves room for imagination and interpretation.

Often, these fan theories are simply flights of fancy that add nothing to the basic plot. Sometimes, however, fans have come up with ideas that make the film more interesting and allow us to watch it again with a different perspective. Let’s look at ten fan theories that are better than the actual movies.

Related: 10 Far-Out Theories About Beloved Sitcoms

10 Titanic

The perhaps unlikely relationship between Jack and Rose, passengers on the Titanic, begins when Rose considers throwing herself into the Atlantic. Tortured by the pressures of her social class, her loveless engagement, and the demands of her mother, Rose sees suicide as the only way out.

Never short of a word or two, Jack tries to persuade her not to do it—if only because the water would be cold. Jack tells her he knows what he is talking about because he once went ice-fishing with his dad and fell in. Sufficient information, you might think, but Jack adds an unnecessary detail—the ice-fishing took place on Lake Wissota. All is well and good, but a dam created Lake Wissota in 1917. Five years after the Titanic sank.

As their relationship deepens during the four days, they chat about their future. Jack suggests riding the roller coaster on Santa Monica Pier. Lovely, but they would have to wait—there was no roller coaster there until 1916. There are other anachronisms. Jack smokes filtered cigarettes that hadn’t come onto the market, his rucksack is a future model, and his hairstyle is more New-Romantic than the pre-WWI era.

Some fans believe that a director as meticulous as James Cameron would not have let these errors creep into his movie. So, what is the fan theory? Jack is a time traveler who goes back to save Rose.

As the film stands, there is no obvious sequel, but add time travel, and anything is possible.

9 Harry Potter

Harry grows up an orphan living a dreary life in the Dursley household. The Dursleys are Harry’s aunt, uncle, and cousin, which are horrible to 11-year-old Harry. But why? Harry is an unassuming, polite, and likable boy who is, after all, a close relative. There is no earthly reason why they shouldn’t like Harry.

We learn Harry’s parents were wizards, and Harry will go to a school where the staff will hone his innate magical skills. Harry ends up in a struggle against Voldemort, who is protected by Horcruxes that must be overcome if good is to triumph over evil.

Who better than Harry to fight Voldemort? But why did the Dursleys hate him? Unless Harry is one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes.

A Horcrux is a part of your soul. If Harry is a Horcrux created by Voldemort, then Harry is essential to Voldemort’s survival, and Harry can never destroy his antagonist without destroying himself. We see in the movies that a Horcrux can affect the emotional environment in its surroundings. Harry is influencing the Dursleys negatively.

If this theory is true, we will have to watch the whole series again in a different light, and we may just find some pity and understanding for the Dursley family.

8 Pulp Fiction

In one of the first scenes in the movie, Jules and Vincent go to an apartment to recover a case that belongs to their boss, Marsellus. The conversation with the boys living in the apartment suggests they owe Marsellus money. In fact, they have Marsellus’s attache case.

Vincent finds the case and confirms that it holds what they are looking for. One of the boys pulls a gun on Jules and Vincent and fires a full clip at them. They are miraculously unhurt. At the end of the movie, someone aims to steal the case. Jules opens it, and the thief stares in wonder. We never see what is in it.

Marsellus, a gang boss, has an unexplained bandage on the back of his head. One story has it that the devil can steal your soul through the back of your head. The combination lock of the case is “666.” Does the case contain Marsellus’s soul? Is the devil driving the storyline?

7 The Shining

We have all heard the conspiracy theory that the 1969 Apollo moon landing was a fake. To pull it off, the authorities needed expert help. Who better for visual effects than Stanley Kubrick, the director of the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey? The story goes that Kubrick’s 1980 horror movie The Shining has clues that are tantamount to a confession on Kubrick’s part.

Let’s consider Stephen King’s original novel. In the book, the “evil” room is number 217, and Danny sees the specter of one child. In the film, Kubrick has changed the room number to 237. The average distance from the earth to the moon is 237,000 miles (it’s actually a little more). Danny sees two dead twins in the movie. Surely a reference to the Gemini (twins in astrology) project that led to the Apollo program. Finally, Danny wears a sweater with an image of the Apollo rocket knit on the front.

Even the title reflects the moon. It couldn’t be clearer.

6 The Wizard of Oz

There is something surreal about the world of Oz. The characters seem so odd that it must be about something more than a girl trying to get back to Kansas.

In one fan theory, the Cowardly Lion is the central figure. He represents William Jennings Bryan, a presidential candidate known as “The Great Commoner.” Bryan hated the gold standard that tied the dollar’s value to the price of gold. In this interpretation, “Oz” is an ounce, Dorothy is the ordinary citizen, the Scarecrow represents farmers, the Tin Man stands for industrial workers, and the Wizard is the President of the United States.

The band is following the yellow brick road—gold.

5 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

The much-sought-after tickets to enter the chocolate factory are invitations to death! Visitors become fewer as they tour the vast building in various vehicles. But each vehicle has a capacity for exactly the number of people left. This suggests that everything is planned beforehand and that Willy and his workers are, perhaps, cannibals who are eating the guests off-camera.

We can take this theory even further by looking at the 2005 remake starring Johnny Depp. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka (Depp) informs the group that everything is edible. “Everything in this room is eatable. Even I’m eatable, but that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is, in fact, frowned upon in most societies.”

Coincidence?

4 The Matrix

In the fourth century BC, the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi said he dreamed of being a butterfly. When he woke, he couldn’t be certain that he was a man who had dreamed of being a butterfly or that he was a butterfly dreaming of being a man.

Neo has the same problem in The Matrix. When he emerges from the imaginary world, he can’t know whether the “real” world is real or simply another construct.

Fans happily scour the movies for evidence that Neo is still living in an alternative reality. This explains some oddities that occur in the “real” world.

3 Grease

Danny and Sandy meet at the beach, sing, and dance their way through a romance with its usual teenage challenges. But the popular movie contains fantasy sequences—especially the ending—that don’t comfortably fit the story.

Unless the whole tale is a fantasy, there are references to Danny saving Sandy from drowning, but perhaps, he didn’t. Sandy’s imagination constructs the whole story as she drowns and dies, with Danny unable to help the girl.

Sandy’s first line is:

“I’ve just had the best summer of my life, and now I have to go away.”

Yes, but not back to her native Australia; she is dying. This makes the film much darker and explains why everything works out well for each character—it’s Sandy’s last wish. Sandy is not an unusual name but oddly relevant to her fate.

2 The Silence of the Lambs

There are many fan theories about this film. Two stand out that might change the way you view it.

In one, Hannibal preyed on Buffalo Bill when he was treating him and turned a damaged personality into a killer. This was an insurance policy. Hannibal knew that if the FBI ever caught up with him and he was jailed, the FBI would need his help in catching Bill. A situation that Hannibal could exploit to escape captivity.

The second theory is that the FBI is taking serial killers and turning them into assassins. Hannibal is part of the program, and Clarice Starling is a candidate. This one is a little far-fetched, but you will view Clarice’s boss differently.

1 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Neal is trying to return to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. His flight is diverted to Wichita because of atrocious weather. Here, Neal hooks up with an unwanted travel companion in the shape of Del. The two have completely different personalities, and the clash between them is the comic hinge of the movie. Neal likes to have control; Del is a ceaseless chatterer who constantly goes on about his wife.

After various misadventures, the pair finally reach Chicago, they go their separate ways, but Neal decides that he should go looking for Del, who he finds sitting alone at the railway station. Del admits that he has nowhere to go and that his beloved wife, Marie, has been dead for years. Off they go to Neal’s house, carrying Del’s large trunk.

The fan theory is that the trunk contains Marie’s body, Del’s dead wife. Watch the film again and think of Del as a crazed murderer—you will see it differently.