The old saying goes, “Never meet your heroes, because they’re sure to disappoint you.” The personal mythologies we assign to our role models are just that—myths. The people we idolize, the ones featured on the posters in our childhood bedrooms, are far different in real life and never live up to our lofty expectations of them. Here are some real-life experiences of people, as shared on Reddit, finally coming face-to-face with their favorite celebrities only to be totally let down.
42. Yucking It up for the Cameras
Jerry Lewis came to the children’s hospital where I was a nurse. He wouldn’t come up to our oncology unit. He wanted us to bring the immunocompromised kids to the lobby so the press would see him meeting the children. Sorry, Jerry, I can’t do that!
41. More Like Mind-Jerk
When Criss Angel was huge in the early 2000s, I was his biggest fan. He was doing an episode of his show at my mom’s work because she was a diver and it was a water stunt. I was nine years old and I thought everything he did was the real thing. She let me come to work with her and meet him. I waited two hours outside the green room for him. He finally came out and walked right into me, knocking me over. I’ll never forget how he looked me dead in the eyes, knowing he had just knocked me onto the ground, and then just walked away. I cried.
40. Captain James T. Jerk
I paid $75 to take a photo with William Shatner at Comic-Con. We had some time because the photographer had some tech issues. I said “it's nice to meet you.” He responded in the most uninterested whisper “…thank you.” I thought he didn't hear me so I tried again and it was like he was on autopilot. Then he yelled at the photographers for having their lights too low, apparently “they need to be much higher so the nerds don’t get in the way.” Although I will say, I've met a fair few of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast and they we are all extremely nice, polite and genuine.
39. All Cake and No Smiles
I grew up watching Food Network and I'd lie if I didn't say it instilled a huge love of food and cooking into me. Around the time I had started in the industry, the show Ace of Cakes with Chef Duff came on. He seemed like a super chill, relaxed dude. I mean in the opening of the show he says he opened a shop with his friends so he could hang out and make cakes. Sets a picture of what this guy is all about, right?
So I'm working at a hotel and one of our guests had won the lottery. Like, the most amazing guest we ever had. He ended up ordering a cake from Chef Duff and I saw it on one of our notes for that day's catering events. I was super hyped to see him and hoped to get a picture or something (If you watch the show, he does these big reveals to the guests, and takes pictures with everyone and is super friendly and personable).
He showed up, no smile, no laughter, nothing. Took over my kitchen for a little while to assemble the last touches on the cake, walked into the banquet hall, snapped one shot with the customer and was out. I don't know if he was having a rough day, but it really put a damper on the persona he shows on TV.
Alton Brown was chill though. I liked him.
38. Friendly Reminder That a Guy Named “Taylor Hicks” Won American Idol
Okay, he wasn’t exactly my hero, but I was ten, so the winner of American Idol was pretty freaking cool to me. Taylor Hicks did a tour with the Grease musical cast and I was fortunate enough to meet him afterward and take a picture. That guy was such a jerk. He wouldn’t let me come near him, refused to acknowledge my existence, and acted like this was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. I was star-struck so I wasn’t even really asking questions or anything, I just wanted a photo. He then made my mom pay for it. Piece. Of. Crap.
37. The Flying Tomato a Total Creep?
I was with a friend and her boyfriend and we happened to run into Shaun White. They were both huge fans, but I really didn't care that much. My friend walked over and asked for a picture. Shaun threw his arm around her and, without taking off the bandana on his face or his goggles, took a picture with her. Her boyfriend asked for a picture afterward and Shaun responded with “I only take pictures with the ladies...” and walked off. My friend told us on the way home that Shaun had rested his hand on her breast while her boyfriend snapped the pic.
36. What Would Adrian Think?
My dad is a huge Rambo and Rocky fan. My parents had courtside seats at a Lakers game once and Sylvester Stallone was sitting a few seats over from them. At halftime they walked up to just say hello, he proceeded to hit on my mom, dismiss any attempts at a photo (which they weren't even asking for) and just be all around condescending. My dad was pretty bummed.
35. Graphic Novel Grouch
Some of you will recognize Art Spiegelman as the author/artist of Maus, the only graphic novel ever to win a Pulitzer. Not a “hero,” per se, but definitely someone I looked up to. He came to a conference I'm associated with and I was the person who drove him around and generally made sure he got to where he needed to be, when he needed to be there. He and his agent were demanding (the agent moreso) and rude. He insisted on smoking everywhere and I got the sense that he demanded to smoke everywhere just because he could, not because he really needed to. He was particularly rude to the college kids who came to see him, which was very disappointing. He went onto our very short list of people who will never be invited back.
34. Putting the “Punk” in Punk Rock
A friend booked Jello Biafra from the Dead Kennedys to do a spoken word thing at our college (it was in the late 90s/early 00s, that was a thing) and when he showed up, he told her he wasn't going to go on unless she gave him double the payment they'd agreed on. She was just a college kid, she didn't have the money (if I remember correctly, it was something like $1,600) but she didn't know what to do otherwise, as the event was set, she'd booked the room, posted flyers, etc. She ended up writing him a check. He was a total jerk, only spoke for about half the time agreed on, and then demanded she drive him back the hotel immediately, skipping the meet and greet bit. So she canceled the check. Screw that guy. Dead Kennedys will always be tainted for us since then.
33. The Sad Sight of an Aging Hero
I was at Ozzfest 05. It was my first time seeing Ozzy/Black Sabbath and one of the few concerts where I've seen a big name artist. He got through about three songs and his voice went out. From there on he kept trying to spray some throat "lubricant" in his mouth while he performed and it was just sad to watch. It's more of a case of “Don't meet your heroes when they're too old to perform.”
32. Not So Good After All
Aspiring to work in environmental protection, I loved Jane Goodall. I was in Roots and Shoots in college and started volunteering for the Jane Goodall Institute in Taiwan afterward. We organized an event she attended, and I gushed about being so inspired by her and how I once stayed in a cabin she loves in Washington, etc. And she asked me to go fetch her purse. She had no interest in being kind to me at all. I think she likes monkeys better than people.
31. Leaving a Young Trekker Devastated
When I was very young I went to a Star Trek convention. I thought it was amazing. One of the actors there to sign autographs was Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the series and several films. I was very shy as a kid but loving Star Trek as I did, I purchased a photo of his and then took it over to him to sign. He didn't even look at me and said “I'm not signing autographs right now,” shoved the photo literally into my chest, and just looked away. I was devastated. Someday I hope to get the chance to meet him again so I can tell him how rude he was to a little 10-year-old, shy kid who mustered all the confidence he had to talk to one of his idols only to be rejected.
30. Probably Why He Never Won a Super Bowl
When I was young I used to go to the Miami Dolphins training camp. It was relatively easy to get down to the field. Several friends and I were standing near the entrance to the locker rooms. When Dan Marino jogged past, we yelled “Hi Mr. Marino!” We weren't asking for autographs, weren't expecting anything spectacular, but he sneered and told a group of kids "nope" by his actions.
29. Who’s The Jerk?
Tony Danza was filming a movie in Toronto in the early 80s when my pops had a store in Kensington Market. My big brother, probably eight at the time went up to him and asked for an autograph. Mr. Danza said "no" in a not too flattering way and told my brother to hit the dust. My brother went crying to my dad. Then, when my stoic 6'4", 220-pound dad went up to Tony Danza and asked him very politely if he refused to sign my brother's autograph, he totally blanched and backpedaled and happily signed his sheet in a hurry with lots of apologies. My brother chucked the autograph shortly after…screw Tony Danza!
27. Money Talks
Not necessarily my hero, but Hall of Famer Jerry Rice was sitting in a hotel bar in Santa Barbara and I was with my son. Being the football fan that I am (even if the Niners are my team's eternally hated rival) I figured I would at least say hello and see if he would say hi to my kid. I was even going to muster the courage to ask him for an autograph for my buddy who is actually a Niners season ticket holder. As I started walking over to him he stood up and said, “Unless you got cash, don't even bother walking over here.” Ummm what?
27. Glad I Was Always Team John Mayer
I was a huge fan of Ryan Cabrera through college. His voice is mediocre at best, and his melodies are simple but catchy. Despite this, I really identified with his lyrics when I was going through a really bad breakup that spun me off into destructive behavior during the second half of college. I always came back to his music and it eventually got me out of trouble.
Fast forward to 2016 and Ryan's out on tour. I was able to see him perform live for the first time in my life and got the opportunity to meet him after the show. I had rehearsed what I was going to say about how his music kept me going through my darkest times…and he completely brushed me off to hit on my friends. I haven't listened to his music since.
26. Not the Worst Thing Adrian Peterson Has Done, But Still Crummy
When I was still in high school my best friend, his older sister and I "met" Adrian Peterson, future Hall of Fame running back for the Minnesota Vikings. And it sucked! We all happened to be walking into a mall in the suburbs of Minneapolis at the same time, and he was walking right in front of us. My buddy and I got all excited, and I made eye contact with him so I knew that he knew we recognized him, but before we could say "Hey Mr. Peterson, big fans," he held the door open for my friend's sister, checked out her ass and whistled at her, then closed the door right in mine and my friend’s faces. I didn't even want to say anything to him after that. This was 6-7 years ago now and I'm still salty about it.
25. Don’t Make “Contact” With Your Heroes
So I'm going to get crucified for this but I met Carl Sagan several times socially back in the early 90s. The guy was a complete ass. I was ordering his grad students around like they were his personal servants. Plus, he was rude to his wife. I mean I can understand if he was having a bad day and that the guy is absolutely adored by the public but the man I met was frankly a jerk.
24. Well There Goes My Childhood
I grew up down the street from Bill Nye the Science Guy. Almost everyone in my age group in Seattle has some negative story about the guy. For me it was when I saw him at the local grocery store and told my mom “wow look, it's Bill Nye!” I was only six or seven at the time but I still remember the loud "GOD DAMN IT!" followed by the incessant muttering as he stormed out of the building huffing, puffing and stomping his feet as he went.
I also had a guy whose dad was a producer with the Bill Nye show and when he took my friend to work, he asked Bill to sign a book and talk to his son for a second. Bill tells my friend's dad to go screw himself and that he'd never talk to some little punk brat. Producer dad pulls rank and Bill awkwardly sighs in resignation, walks over to my buddy and tells him (more or less) “science is cool, do good in school... yeah” and walks off while muttering under his breath.
Many other people in their mid 20s in the Magnolia, Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont areas of Seattle have similar stories of the guy. I get it; it must suck at times getting recognized by so many people. However, what I found off was how he was so prone to cursing kids. I still enjoy a lot of his work and would love to meet up with him and see what he's like to talk to, adult to adult, but the memory of a pissed off man muttering "f#$!, god damn it, s*#!" because a kid recognized him will forever stay with me.
23. Michael Jordan and Casinos, Not a Great Combo
My grandma was a casino dealer and met Michael Jordan once and turns out he's a total tool. She told me he was playing high limit tables and didn't tip a dime to the cocktail waitress or the dealer (my grandma) or anyone else who served him. When someone who was playing with him asked him about it he said “no one helped me when I was coming up, so I don't help others,” or something to that effect. On the other hand, my grandma also got to meet Ludacris and said he's a very nice guy, was very gracious, and stopped to talk to people. He was also a great tipper. Too bad grandma wasn't his dealer though!
22. The Fine Line Between Star-Struck and Dumb-Struck
I once met Gina Torres in the street. This is right after I got done watching Firefly for the first time. We were in Hollywood and were crossing the street at the same time from opposite corners. Right at the middle I notice her and let out a 4-5 second string of undecipherable guttural noises. It was supposed to be something along the lines of “Ah, you're Zoe. Huge fan.” What came out was, “aasrsdghgslalskdrbleh.” I stood there staring and pointing in the middle of the street. She kind of freaked out (rightfully) and speed walked away into the nearest building.
21. Why'd You Have to Go and Make Things So Complicated?
I worked for a Top 40 radio station for a while and got to meet a ton of people. The worst was Avril Lavigne. I was interning in college and most musicians were super nice and would take pictures, and chat with me just as if I were the on-air talent. For Avril’s interview, we all go into the studio to start recording and she whispers to one of her people who pulls me aside and tells me Avril won't speak to anyone who wasn't “talent” and wouldn't go on until I was out of the room. Then after when she did the group picture in front of our step—which I was always in during my internship for every other performer’s post-interview photo—she pointed at me and specifically said: “she can't be in it or I'm not doing it.”
20. Peyton Manning Is Not On Your Side
I ran into the Manning family while tailgating at an Ole Miss game. Eli and Archie were super nice and signed autographs. Jim McMahon from the '85 Bears and some famous actor I can't really remember were there to and were equally personable. But Peyton wouldn't even talk to us and refused to sign anything.
19. When The NBA Championship Ring Goes To Your Head
Not my hero, but I once witnessed Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons ruin a little kid’s childhood. My friends and I were at a Subway close to where the Pistons play. The only other people in the restaurant were a young boy (wearing a Pistons shirt) and his mother. In walks Tayshaun Prince and this kid started to lose it. His mother told him to wait until Tayshaun ordered his food to approach him. The kid waited patiently for about five minutes then approached Tayshaun as he was walking to the door. All this kid said was, “Hi Tayshaun” and smiled. I've never seen an adult give a child such a disapproving look, he rolled his eyes, and began to walk out the door. The kid started crying as my friend yelled out to him in disgust.
18. She Might Love Rock and Roll, Just Not Rock and Roll Fans
I was hanging out backstage at Warped Tour Cleveland when I was like 22. My friend and I knew one of Joan Jett's sound techs and we went to hang out after her and the Blackhearts' set. Joan freakin’ Jett—to whom we hadn't said anything other than, “great set, you rocked, sounded awesome” etc.—called us groupies to our faces and told us we couldn't go to the Alternative Press after party, that we didn't ask or expect to go to. I'll stick with Lita Ford and Pat Benatar, thanks.
17. Falling Into The Trap of a Jedi Mind Trick
As a 70s kid, Star Wars was my life back then. I was obsessed with it all for much of my youth. Literally. Everything I owned, wore, played with, watched, listened to, read, or otherwise consumed was directly Star Wars related. Fast forward many years. I am at San Diego Comic-Con walking the floor. I am just standing off to the side people watching and resting a bit when I casually look up at the person next to me and it’s Mark freakin’ Hamill. I nearly crap myself. I wanted to say something cool, but my star-struck brain failed me.
The first thing out of my mouth was “I used to have your face on my underwear!” He had a good laugh, we talked for a few minutes about Star Wars, the Joker, and Wing Commander. Pretty soon a few other people recognized him and he basically said he had to move on. He gave me his autograph and vanished into the crowd.
16. An EDM DJ Acting Poorly? I’m Shocked!
After a show, I asked Joel Zimmerman (aka deadmau5) if he could sign my Nintendo DS. He told me to buzz off and then went to a bar. His entourage and a bunch of fans followed him in but I couldn't go because it was a 21+ bar and I was only 18.
15. Slugging Power Corrupts Absolutely
My family and another friend's family would stay at the hotel the Yankees would stay at when they would play the Rays in Tampa. The first year Alex Rodriguez was signed with the Yankees he was dreadful, but was the most humble dude. The hotels used to have signs about “famous guests are guests too” and have ropes. A-Rod saw my brother and I at the end waiting for a signature and he took us under his arms into the elevator and talked with us. He was a super cool dude.
The next year he was absolutely tearing the cover off the ball and started hitting home runs again. He was the last guy to enter the hotel lobby and had a crew of security escorting him. We didn’t think anything of it. We were running around the hotel and just below the bar is a bathroom that my buddy had to use so I was sitting outside on a bench. And down the stairs comes A-Rod, I was stunned, I could talk to him. Except two seconds later, the security crew came down and walked in the bathroom as A-Rod and two security guards stayed outside. The two that went in came out with my buddy behind them. Basically told him “hurry up someone has to use this.” And then A-Rod went into the bathroom.
He was so worried about people asking him for his autograph that he cleared out the bathroom. When he’d go in the pool he’d have 3-4 guards standing on the edge of the pool with him watching him.
14. Mr. October Lets You Down
I got a photo with Reggie Jackson at some booth at a trade show called “Internet World” years ago during the dot com boom. No one was in line to get pictures with him so I walked up to get a photo while he was apparently trying to pick up the girls in the next booth over. He acted all bugged that I asked for a photo, even though that is what he was hired for and rolled his eyes. I guess he thought I interfered with him trying to hit on some women by just showing up in line to get a picture. I tossed the picture in the trash once I got it. Later that day I got a ball signed by Steve Garvey who was super nice. He replaced Reggie Jackson as my hero that night.
13. Even Heroes Age
Buzz Aldrin was attending a senior design presentation at my school and was basically the guest of honor and got his own little speech. I was really hyped because I love outer space and everything surrounding it. He's a nice guy, but the sad truth is that he's closer now to just being a senile old man. A couple times he just stopped talking and forgot where he was. One of the people he brought basically had the job of keeping him on track and had to cut him off a few times because he kept rambling off topic. Really sad to see such an impressive man reduced to that.
12. This Had to Be a Bit Right?
I met Nathan Lane at Sundance in 1998. We were there because we were film students and my girlfriend at the time was obsessed with Matthew Lillard and he had a movie coming out called SLC Punk. We ran into him and he invited us, so that was cool. Nathan Lane was there and we all had such huge respect for him because we really liked The Birdcage. So we went up and introduced ourselves to him and my friend Eric was the first to speak.
"Mr. Lane, we're all enormous fans of yours. We're all film students..."
At this point, Nathan interrupted us, “You freakin’ kids. You come down here every freakin’ year and ruin this festival with your bullcrap. Buzz off.” And he then walked away.
We didn't even know what to say. We were kinda heartbroken.
11. When You Realize Your Dad Was The Real Hero This Whole Time
When I was in second grade, I thought Bob Feller (pitcher from the Indians back in the day) was the greatest thing ever. I read about him constantly. When Cleveland opened it's new Jacobs Field ballpark, he was there signing autographs all day. I went to the exhibition game with my dad.
Around 10pm we were walking to our car in the lot, and my dad notices Bob Feller is like ten feet away walking with some guy. My dad asked if I wanted to ask him for an autograph. So I go over there, this tiny little white haired blonde girl, and I was like "Excuse me Mr. Feller, can I have your autograph?" He turns to me and is like “God damnit, no. I've been signing autographs all day, I'm not signing another one, Jesus Christ.” I didn't know what to do so I just kinda froze and walked back to my dad and teared up.
My dad was so sad because he knew he was my hero, so he took the paper from me and was like “Mr. Feller would you reconsider? She's eight, she reads about you every night, you're her hero.” He was like “Give me the god damn paper!” He signed his name real quick, and my dad thanked him so much and walked back to me to give it to me. He was like, “Here honey!” loud enough for Feller to hear (which was an accident), I was like "I don’t want it anymore.” After telling that story here and there I found out apparently he has a reputation for being constantly nasty. Oh well.
10. People Say the Darnedest Things to Their Heroes
Quite a few years back my dad took my brother and I up to San Francisco for a day trip to Pier 39. Turns out Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett, was doing some kind of meet up thing that no one turned up for, except for us. My dad is a huge Star Wars nerd after having grown up in its heyday. So naturally, he was a bit nervous meeting his hero. From memory, the encounter went pretty well, but I'll always remember the moment it got awkward.
My dad said, “You were always my favorite character man, even if you only got like ten minutes of screentime.” To which Bulloch, “I'm sure I had a bit more than that…”
9. Moral of the Story: Don’t Meet Your Heroes When You’re On Mushrooms
At a music festival, I spotted the lead singer of my favorite band at the beer tent. I bought him a beer and asked if he could sign a copy of a magazine that included an article I wrote on his band. He chose to act like I'd had a case of mistaken identity and once I'd believed him and apologised for the "mistake" he chided me for not being a very good fan if I couldn't recognize him.
8. Keep Your Expectations Low
A bit of a niche interest, but I had always really loved Spalding Grey. I read everything he wrote, saw all his films of his monologues, and I finally got the chance to see him do a monologue live. Afterwards, there was a book signing and because it was a small venue in a little beach town (he was just workshopping his new show), it would be an intimate little event where I felt sure I get some real face time. I was over the moon.
I felt there was something in his writing that meant we were sort of kindred spirits and we would hit it off right away when we met. He wrote about himself as very modest, down to earth, and charmingly neurotic, but also seemingly unaware of his fame and quite lonely. I genuinely thought we would meet and really connect, have a great little conversation.
My turn came up and I was all ready to start with my opening question. I don't remember what it was, though I'm sure I considered it the epitome of the kind of dry wit he and I could really appreciate together. But he just yanked the book out of my hand, scribbled his name in it and handed it back to me, already looking at who was behind me. I didn't even get a word out. Man, did that bubble burst hard. A very sobering lesson that I never forgot.
Still, I was devastated when I read years later that he had committed suicide.
7. Not a Perfect Day
A few years ago I was relaxing in a sauna in a gym on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when the door opens. I look up to see Lou Reed standing there. Fewer things are more upsetting than seeing the wrinkled flesh of one of your favorite musicians feet away from you and realizing that he didn't consider the towel cover an option.
6. An Award-Winning Pompous Poet
I was a creative writing major and the Pulitzer Prize winning poet Richard Howard gave a master class at my school. Richard needed a ride home, he lived about an hour away. I jumped at the chance to give him a ride. I was hoping for an inspiring conversation, maybe some advice, but no. He was a complete jerk and crotchety old man who rudely evaded all of my attempts at dialogue.
He was the editor of the Paris Review, and I realized that if I wanted to stick with it as a poet (I was pretty good too) I'd have to suck up to guys like him just to get published. It really soured me to the entire field.
5. Wouldn’t Be the First Time a Stark Was At An Awkward Gathering
I met Richard Madden (Robb Stark on Game of Thrones) at a VIP section of a club that I snuck into during San Diego Comic-Con 2014. I was having a good chat to him about George RR Martin. At that time there were a lot of rumors that Martin was in poor health, so I made the standard comment of “Man, how much would it suck if he died before he finished writing the series!” Richard responded with something like, “Well, he's a great guy and a friend of mine, so it would suck if he died, yeah.” The conversation died pretty quickly after that. So yeah, don't meet your heroes, because you'll just say something stupid.
4. Behind Every Great Love Story is an Irritable Author
I worked at a Barnes & Noble where Nicholas Sparks was doing a signing for a new book. Dude is kind of a jerk. In front of his fans he puts on a nice façade. But in the back I watched him take a poster that someone poured their heart into, look it over, and say “Can you believe the shit people make me?” Then tear it up. He also did and said a lot of things that made him seem really pompous. You could tell the guy was used to people kissing up to him. Never looked at his work the same again.
3. Stephen King Channels His Inner Jack Torrance
Stephen King tried to have one of my friends fired from her waitressing job. During his meal, she politely told him that her father was a big fan of his work, King then got super pissy and demanded to know which books exactly. She isn’t a fan so she couldn’t think of any titles, so he then chews her out for it. He went as far as writing a letter to her company demanding she be terminated.
2. How Do You Say Jerk in Dothraki?
I was dying to meet Jason Momoa and I finally got the chance to at an after party for an indie movie he was in. It was at a small venue in LA with some bands playing. Jason walked in and few people started talking to him; once they passed, I bought a beer and approached him. I gave him the beer and asked how his night was going. He was kind of drunk already from the looks of it, but he pounded the beer without saying anything.
I wasn't too sure what to think so I got more to the point and asked if it would be cool to get a picture. He leaned into my face and said, “Tonight isn't about that. Tonight is about me,” and walked away. Not even five minutes later he was taking pictures with some other people across the venue and signing some autographs. Aquaman owes me a beer dangit!
1. When You Become Your Hero’s Villain
I visited Paris five years ago and I loved walking around looking at all the scenery. I noticed a library right on the corner and I was feeling like I needed a rest so I just walked right in. I sat down a couple seats over from a guy covered by his hood. I couldn't really see much of his hair or anything and he wore shades indoors. I didn't think much considering that homeless people are everywhere in Paris so I just didn't bother him. I go about my business there but soon the man pulls out his phone and is talking, quietly because we were in a library but you could tell his distinct voice nonetheless. He sounded just like a certain actor, and it occurred to me that this was likely just a coincidence.
He gets off the phone and I notice that he looks the exact same as Hugh Jackman. I feel all giddy from having the chance of maybe seeing my favorite actor so I excitedly speak out everywhere, “Hey are you Hugh Jackman? I'm such a big fan.” Big mistake. All of a sudden he gets up with his jacket and briskly walks out. At this point, I thought he was an ass, but then I notice the paparazzi that just showed up what seemed like out of nowhere outside and started following right after him. And that is the story of how I ruined Hugh Jackman's day.
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