Celebrity status may have its perks, but avoiding lift entrapments is not one of them. While there are many incidents to choose from, below are a few elevator anecdotes about stars getting stuck.
1. Two stars from Star Wars: Ahsoka, Eman Esfandi and Diana Lee Inosanto, were recently trapped in an elevator at MegaCon 2024 in Orlando, Florida, on their way to a panel discussion about the television series. With a crowd waiting, organizers had to pivot. Inosanto went on Instagram Live to explain the situation, and the feed was put on the big screens for attendees to see. Moderator Arezou Amin conducted the panel with the “remote” actors until they were able to exit the elevator.
2. In 2019, Pope Francis was 25 min late to an audience in St. Peter’s Square, telling those gathered that he’d been stuck in the lift due to a “drop in voltage.” He also thanked the fire department who got the lift working again during his address.
3. Also in 2019, actor Jason Momoa, his dog and some friends found themselves stalled in a hotel elevator in Vancouver, Canada, for around two hours. Fortunately, someone had a bag of M&M’s on hand, and the pals entertained themselves by documenting the entrapment on social media.
4. Ironically, singer Pharrell Williams was trapped in an elevator while his hit song “Happy” played over the speakers. Thirty minutes later, Pharrell was rescued by firefighters and made it to his event, where he joked with the crowd about the incident.
5. Three cast members of Modern Family, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, got stopped on a full elevator on their way to headline a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City in 2013. Ferguson issued a call for help via Twitter, sharing a video of the 15-passanger crowd and asking firemen to “Get us out!”
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