John Cena Kindly Shut Down A Fan's Request, And People Are Having Mixed Reactions — Here's What They're Saying
John Cena is one of the world's greatest professional wrestlers of all time, which means he has many fans.
The 46-year-old wrestling superstar has earned over a dozen WWE championship titles and maintained a steady acting career on the side, reprising memorable roles in Peacemaker and Fast X.
So, it's no surprise that fans feel compelled to approach John for attention when he is spotted in the wild. But, this time, a fan might have walked up at the wrong time.
TikTok user @alex99rocks posted a video captioned "My friend met John Cena and decided to be a cornball," that went viral and started a debate about the etiquette of meeting celebrities.
In the video, the person behind the camera asked John at a restaurant if he could say his famous catchphrase, "You can't see me," which he usually says to his opponents during WWE matches.
John, who is dining, doesn't hear him at first, and when the fan repeats the question, he responds, "How about I enjoy some time with my friends?" The fan quickly apologized, and the video abruptly ended.
The TikTok video has made its rounds on the interwebs, and now people are going back and forth on whether it was appropriate for the fan to film John without permission or if the wrestler's response was necessary.
Some fans were in support of John's response:
He literally must have been asked that a trillion times so to remain that calm is impressive as it is funny to watch
— T'Challa Son ( 🏔 , ⛏ ) ⚙️ CΔVΞman (@Wakandanson) June 28, 2023
On TikTok, a user wrote, "Hell yeah. John Cena is known for setting boundaries in public."
When you’re already famous all you want is your 15 minutes of silence.
— Claw😇 (@ClawWasTaken) June 28, 2023
Another user wrote, "John Cena has said multiple times if you're respectful to him, he will take pictures. He doesn't like when people walk up recording him."
I’ll never understand why people think it’s okay to record ppl without their consent. Yes it’s legal, that doesn’t mean it’s the polite thing to do. Treat people like humans not zoo animals.
— JTrap (@Jtrap161) June 29, 2023
Someone else suggested that, "All dude had to say was 'Hi John Cena. I'm a big fan. Can I take a picture with you from a distance?' Cena would have probably said yes."
Other fans disagreed with how John responded to the fan, claiming these interactions come with the fame:
For those who are saying “he’s recording without permission” Cena is a public figure and permission is not needed. If Cena can’t handle the engagement from fans stay home
— Nick ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ (@NicInRealLife2) June 28, 2023
"Only time I ever seen him happily interact with a fan is when he's doing the Make-A-Wish stuff," one person claimed.
Simps defending a celebrity is the reason why they act like this. If your famous, expect for random people to come up to you…fucking duh.
— SquidGrow Joe (@SquidGrowJoe) June 28, 2023
Another user wrote, "This is the second video I've seen of him like this. So it's not a one-time thing like he was having a bad day. Fame comes with the job."
In a different take, other fans opted to take the neutral route, stating nothing was wrong with either person's involvement in the interaction:
Seems like both sides handled this pretty well. No need for controversy here.
— Henry Cunningham (@ITjanitor) June 28, 2023
One user added, "Listen. It's a double-edged sword. He is entitled to privacy. But as a public figure, there are some things you sacrifice. This is one of them."
But the best takes, in my opinion, are the people who decided it was an excellent opportunity to keep the "you can't see me" joke going:
Can someone explain to me what's happening? This is all I see in the video... pic.twitter.com/VCfjv2E9oj
— 🏛 dino favara (@dinofavara) June 28, 2023
"Just go up to his friends and say I'm sorry that you're sitting alone," another user wrote.
What do you think is the best way to go about approaching celebrities in public?
Let me know in the comments.
