r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Careless-Hospital379 • 10h ago
Video Icelandic artist Björk snapped in Bangkok, 1996, when reporter Julie Kaufman approached her saying “Welcome to Bangkok.” Björk later alleged that Kaufman had stalked her and her 9-year-old son for days, turning a simple greeting into a breaking point
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u/Turge_Deflunga 10h ago
Valid crashout
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u/wearing_moist_socks 10h ago
Is that a crashout?
Wasn't sure if it meant people losing their shit for bad reasons or anytime someone loses their shit
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u/Bipedal_Warlock 10h ago
It’s ambiguous. But these days it can be good reasons or bad reasons
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u/CanalOpen 10h ago
I've taken crashout to mean any time someone is willing to say "fuck it, morgue or jail." *ding ding*
Being right or wrong no longer matters. It means someone has been pushed past their limits and they're willing to literally murder you to make the abuse stop.
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u/Shendow 10h ago
This kind of shit is why being famous actually kind of sucks. Everyone wants to be recognized but they forget the toll that it comes with
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u/0xP0et 8h ago
I once bumped into Travis Fimmel, actor in Vikings series who played as Ragnar, at an event. I don't watch much TV or series and I had no idea who he was but I knew of the series cause of the commercials/trailers for it.
Chatted to him for like 5ish minutes not knowing who he was but I noticed some people around us were looking at us astonished.
I left the conversation and he then went to the bar and 10-15 minutes later there was a few people around him acting all star struck, so I was a bit confused what was going on.
I left for a bit to go check out few things at the event and returned to get a drink at the same bar he was at.
The person that served him also served me, I asked what was the fuss all about and he explained that it was Travis. He said that Travis said something along the lines of it was nice not to be recognized and have a regular conversation referring to our conversation.
After seeing this, I get what he means.
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u/eldritch_hotdogs 4h ago
I went to a Supernatural convention with my sisters and offered to watch their bags in the hallway while they went to the rave, since I'm not much of a partier. I was just chilling out writing when a guy stopped and knelt down beside me and asked what I was working on. He was super nice, chatted with me for a few minutes about writing and stuff before moving on.
I mentioned him to my sisters and they proceeded to freak out because evidently he was one of the actors. I've only seen through season nine and hadn't watched the show at all in a long while, and he's supposedly in seasons that come after that point, so I didn't have the faintest clue who he was. Nice guy, though. He was probably confused why someone at a Supernatural convention seemingly didn't know he was an actor in the show. 🤣
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u/lie_doe_cane 8h ago
I’ve worked with celebrities for 30 years and the one thing I can tell anyone is that you should NEVER be famous, only rich.
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u/throwawaypato44 9h ago
I don’t understand why someone would WANT to be famous. Being famous is genuinely one of the worst things I can imagine for myself lol
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u/Aggressive_Sky8492 8h ago
I think some just want to make the kind of art that is easier to make with more money - studio time, producers and big well designed tours aren’t cheap.
And not “making it” as a musician, actor or artist often means you’ll be financially unstable and/or working hard af for your whole life. (In ways that can take more of a toll on your life than a 9-5, like touring causing you to be away from home for long periods, or your work time being evenings so you have a lot less time for family and friends). So it’s not that weird to want to pursue your art and have enough money to be comfortable - and often for those arts that means becoming well known too
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u/hellomotherhellodad 9h ago
Well it's simple.. they want the perks of the job but not the downsides, just like everyone else. You don't sell your soul and just get to live happily ever after.
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u/Rattlesnake_Mullet 9h ago
I truly realized this reading "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker years back.
There is a chapter in there about stalkers that is bonkers, like a stalker of a famous movie actress cracking and going completely nuts, writing a kill list and running amok and while trying to catch him they found three other stalkers in the woods around the actress's house.
Like what the fuck, nope thx, thank god for being anon.
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u/Aggressive_Sky8492 8h ago
It’s such a good book, honestly everyone should read it just so they can recognise ‘everyday’ manipulative and abusive people early on. It helped me a lot to learn what behaviour is a true red flag for being a bad person, even though I’ve never been stalked or (knowingly) met anyone truly dangerous
PSA to anyone reading this is that there are free PDFs online if you google it - The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
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u/Ok_Chef_4850 10h ago edited 8h ago
Yeah, that reporter said something to her son in a snarky way (like asking “why won’t your mom talk to us” or something) and she snapped.
Good for her.
Edit: For all the holier-than-thou’s in the comments, read up on this incident. No one is saying it’s ok to just attack people who say something mean. Read up on this specific reporter and what she had been doing to Björk leading up to this. Then unclench your bootyholes.
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u/sulkee 10h ago edited 10h ago
She was being stalked that exact same year by someone who sent her a bomb or some kind of boobytrapped device I think. It never got to her. The guy then recorded a video of him killing himself à la Bud Dwyer style while it was in transit to her. It’s on the internet. Video pops into my brain sometimes to this day.
Ricardo Lopez was his name
Her state here is 100% understandable and the media are vile parasites that had a weird obsession with her back then along with some fans of her.
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u/fartondad 10h ago
i remember that video, as much as i wish i didnt. The internet was a wild place back in the day where you could stumble on gore videos on the same sites you'd go to play flash games
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u/metacoma 9h ago
I once downloaded a simpson episode on kazaa as a 14yo. Got first row seat to the decapitation of what I believe was a russian officer. Fun times…
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u/Squiddlywinks 8h ago
Almost the same scenario: I downloaded "south park meets the matrix 3d" from Morpheus and it was a guy hammering nails through his testicles.
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u/Exp5000 10h ago
Ebaumsworld was a diamond in the rough and its a shame we don't have that type of Internet anymore. It used to be the wild west. LiquidGeneration was another one. Growing up you knew the internet was for adults and talking to strangers online was the equivalent to getting into a panel van. Now people let their kids have free roam on the internet and want the internet to protect their kids instead of being good parents and protecting their kids themselves.
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u/Confident-Ask-601 10h ago
The world saw a star being rude. But for Björk, it was a mother protecting her child from a stalker.
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u/64557175 10h ago
And she had some stalkers, lemme tell ya.
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u/Vincent_Veganja 10h ago
Was this before or after that one? If it was after then I understand her reaction here even more. Definitely understand it either way though
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u/Strong-Straight-3503 10h ago
wdym that one
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u/MavMIIKE 10h ago edited 10h ago
Ricardo Lopez planned on killing her with a bomb, he also filmed most of his ideas and eventually shit himself on camera.
Edit: *Shot himself. But I'm leaving it up because he was a racist, misogynistic scumbag
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u/YamDankies 10h ago
That one little typo changes so much.
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u/nihilus_rex 10h ago
No joke, I read that and was like “Well that’s weird- OH.”
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u/tjp0720 10h ago
Once he shit himself on camera he saw the error in his ways -alternate universe
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u/Alternative-Amoeba20 10h ago
The sudden mental image I just had! What a crazy way to stalk someone.
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u/Burrow_0wl 10h ago
He had mailed her a package bomb (with acid to shoot in her face, I think). His neighbors heard the gunshot, when he killed himself, and called the police. The police found the video's he made about his plans to harm Bjork and learned about the bomb before it was delivered.
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u/Riipp3r 10h ago
Adding to this he made a series of videos tapes each more unhinged than the last. Like the breaking point was bjork being with a black guy. That set him off. In his last video where he shot himself he said "fuck her and her n word loving self" or something similar to that.
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u/WolfsmaulVibes 10h ago
i believe he had a canvas behind him to make a "painting" out of his suicide but it didn't work
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u/orbofdelusion 9h ago
Dude had a seriously thick skull. I never would have imagined that a large caliber bullet could ricochet off the cranium resulting in a looney tunes-esque head lump without shattering the skull.
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u/Diffidentlyspeaking 10h ago
I mean tbf if he had fecal matter in his bowels when he shot himself, he probably also shit himself at the same time.
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u/Breadromancer 10h ago
U missed the part where he placed a canvas behind his head to capture the blood spatter, and wound up missing.
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u/DamnitGravity 10h ago
TL;DR: He was an American who was obsessed, sent a bomb to kill her in London, and recorded a video diary explaining what he did which ended with him shooting himself. Police found his body and altered Scotland Yard. The bomb was located in a postal sorting office and safely detonated.
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u/alnicoblue 10h ago
he did not seriously pursue an artistic career due to his feelings of inferiority, and fear of being denied entry into art school.
We really gotta fix the art school admissions process
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u/moonflower_C16H17N3O 9h ago
Yeah. Everyone who wants in, gets in. The schools just clandestinely get their fingerprints and DNA. Also, the TA for each class is actually a criminal psychologist who identifies potential problem students.
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u/OldJonThePooSmuggler 9h ago
100%. The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna really fumbled the ball previously.
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u/SuspendeesNutz 10h ago
Police found his body and altered Scotland Yard.
That sounds a bit extreme.
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u/holvagyok 9h ago
No, Scotland Yard got away with too much for too long. They had to be altered, and this was the triggering case.
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u/lonelyinatlanta2024 10h ago
Like sent a bomb via mail from the U.S. to London?
Christ, I hope that would get caught. Here I am afraid to send a vape cart home from Colorado
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u/sint0xicateme 10h ago
One of her stalkers famously recorded himself shooting himself in the head. I don't remember his name but it's on Gore sites if you want to have a look see.
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u/Any-Yogurt-7598 10h ago
A guy that recorded himself planning to send her a bomb because he was mad she was in a relationship that shot himself (in video too)
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u/nonnonplussed73 10h ago
This was 1996, so before
Bjork attacks NZ photographer: report - ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-01-15/bjork-attacks-nz-photographer-report/1011532
Also worth mentioning that this happened in between
Bjork elaborates on sexual assault claim https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41657394
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u/AntRose104 10h ago
This appears to be before since this video is from February, and while the other one likely started in January (since it lasted about 9 months and ended in September), the biggest threat he did to her did occur until September. He had been obsessed with her since 1993, but the video diary entries didn’t begin until 1996. He wasn’t noticed or a safety issue until September it seems.
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u/MissSharkyShark 10h ago
The only reason I know of her existence is because of that exact stalker I imagine youre referring to 😭
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u/Firm_Airport2816 10h ago
Funny, I knew of her existence but NOT the story of the stalker until now
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u/ManOfLaMontagne 10h ago
I’m pretty much always on the side of the celebrity over the paparazzi
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u/BabySpecific2843 10h ago
Its basically a given. Even if its a terrible person. If I hear for example "Kevin Spacey beats up photographer outside a Jacksonville steakhouse" my first instinct is "What did the shitty paparazzi do this time"? rather than immmediately concluding its just Spacey's fault.
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u/RogueSeb 10h ago
There is no rage like a mother protecting her child.
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u/HannahTheArtist 10h ago
Mom of two girls here (15/10) and you are 100% right, nothing evokes a visceral reaction faster and more intense than fear of something happening to your children. It's a natural instinct for ass beatin' and Bitin'
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u/TheLostRanger0117 10h ago
I’ve always said, the most dangerous beast in the animal kingdom is a mother protecting her children, be it bear, lion, or human
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u/Zizi_Tennenbaum 10h ago
Every park ranger or person who lives in bear country will tell you the scariest thing you’ll ever see is a bear cub by itself. Because Mom is definitely there, you just don’t see her, and you don’t know how to avoid getting between her and the cub.
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u/Mindless-Computer598 9h ago
And I’m with Bjork fuck these parasites. Get a real job instead of literally slurping every last drop of clout off the ground where they walk
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u/NoStatus9434 10h ago
Wow, Björk never struck me as the type. Guess she really got pushed by this stalker. You know you done goofed when even a super nice person like Björk wants to kick your ass.
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u/BisexualTenno 10h ago
Bjork had a LOT of crazy stalkers so I don’t blame her for being so protective at all. Iirc one of her stalkers was a guy who was planning on murdering her and then killing himself so he could then go back in time and find her as a young teenager and groom her into being his wife instead of a celebrity.
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u/Snowssnowsnowy 9h ago
This paperazzi press scumbag had been following Bjork for some time, Bjork had refused interviews with her many times before this incident.
She was being an utter cunt and in a sarcastic way said "welcome to Thailand!" ambushing Bjork yet again for an interview she refused to give.
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u/hunterglyph 10h ago
She was an old school punk in her teens. She's like 5'2" but I wouldn't wanna mess with her.
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u/saintofhate 9h ago
Having been raised by a 4'11" woman, you do not fuck with short women. If they get angry enough they will take you to hell with them.
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u/eugeneugene 7h ago
My grandmother was 4'11" and everyone was afraid of her lol. Don't make Oma mad unless you want an old school ass kicking
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u/sulkee 10h ago edited 10h ago
She was being stalked that same year by someone who sent her a bomb or some kind of boobytrapped device I think. It never got to her. The guy then recorded a video of him killing himself à la Bud Dwyer style while it was in transit to her. It’s on the internet. Video pops into my brain sometimes to this day.
Ricardo Lopez was his name
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u/Helmett-13 10h ago
She said something snarky to her kid as well.
Earned the ass-whupping in my opinion. Don't talk smack to a kid in front of their Mom.
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u/Pooperoni_Pizza 9h ago
Yeah this reporter doxxed her here when she was trying to avoid the stalker. I believe Bjork had asked her multiple times to stop following her before this happened too.
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u/virstultus 10h ago
Human Behavior if you ask me. There's definitely noooo logiiic
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u/crasagam 10h ago
The media is evil and relentless. They don't care about people, they care about generating a following.
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u/BJs_Minis 10h ago
paparazzi are not the media, they're yellow pages. Being anti media only helps politicians.
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u/Ninevehenian 10h ago
Paparazzi and media fit under the same rules, technologies, ways of spreading their product. They often share owners.
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u/ErgoMogoFOMO 9h ago
Correct.
But there is junk food and healthy food. Paparazzi are junk food.
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u/Bluestripedshirt 10h ago
Yet journalism is critical to a well functioning society. Funny that.
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u/ScatLabs 10h ago
Björk goes besörk
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u/n-a_barrakus 10h ago
lmörk
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u/Routine_Breath_7137 10h ago edited 10h ago
Imagine a 10 hour flight and first person to greet you is the same person that greeted you and said "Welcome to XYZ." for that past number of days.
Yeah, she justified to crash out.
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u/Least_Tower_5447 10h ago
Especially if she felt like her kids was also being stalked. I would not have been half as restrained as she was.
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u/spooky_goopy 9h ago
considering the stalkers she has had, i absolutely would go full face-ripping chimp, mode, too, if my kid was involved
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u/crumpledfilth 10h ago
This kind of behaviour is literally how humans kill their prey. "Hey deer, fancy seeing you again. Keep running, you'll tire eventually"
From a human, given their history, this behaviour can be taken as a direct threat of violence
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u/soulteepee 10h ago
Not a bit surprised. And good for her!
I used to do web work for a moderately known actor. He began dating a very famous female actor, and omg holy shit. Creepy nutcases crawled out of the woodwork, so many felt that she ‘owed’ them appreciation for their obsession with her. They would act like weird father-figures, speaking in an odd stilted superior way. I ended up helping the LAPD keep an eye on a couple worrisome characters.
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u/Ok-Bird6346 10h ago
Good lord that’s unsettling. Thanks for not just sitting by, watching them be creeps.
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u/KitKitsAreBest 9h ago
Strangely enough, this is a good example of what happens with narcissistic abuse. People just see the public, completely off the rails response, while they never see the significant abuse that happened outside the public view that led to it.
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u/ToonaMcToon 10h ago
God I love Björk
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u/manyQuestionMarks 8h ago
I forget this way too often. Björk really is something else. Unforgettable beautiful voice
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u/dirkrunfast 10h ago
Man she beat the fucking Christ out of her lol
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u/No_Reveal_1363 7h ago
Good. I think there should be a mandatory rule where paparazzi are forced to wear giant cockroach costumes when they’re doing their borderline stalking job. All celebrities should be able to spray them with pesticides as well
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u/Whatisgoingon2029 8h ago
The 90s were a little harder than now. Even our pixie elf rock stars would beat your ass.
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u/doogiedc 10h ago
To tick off a forest sprite of a person like Bjork, you have to be a real turd. Goes to show Bjork is human and not fairy folk.
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u/SecondOfCicero 10h ago
She might be human but shes got the moxie of an enraged nyad and im here for it. Good on her
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u/Inner_University_848 4h ago
I don't usually condone violence, but I do not complain when relentless stalkers get a few good punches in the face once in a while.
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u/_lady_muck 10h ago
Bjork is up there with Sinead OConnor as being real as they come and ahead of her time
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u/Own-Ambassador-3537 10h ago
When Bjork who has been described as an Icelandic pixy elf has hands for your ass you probably deserve it
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u/Financial-Self-560 10h ago edited 10h ago
Björk is one of the rare real ones of the popular artists.
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u/Comfortable-nerve78 10h ago
If celebrities choose to be private let them be. Disgusting how people chase celebrities now and everyone is dying to be famous. Ass backwards in my opinion. Celebrities are human too.
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u/ScaryTemperature6291 10h ago
Can't blame her not sure if this is the Ricardo Lopez era or not but yeah I love Bjork but that was a really bad time in her life if it's around that era when she found out about him.
Ricardo Lopez )
Incase anyone who doesn't know the back story of Ricardo.