"I Could Not Handle That You Got Rich And Famous On A Show That I Turned Down": 11 Times Celebs Revealed How Their Fame Changed Their Loved Ones

    A fellow actor who auditioned against Matthew Perry for Friends stopped speaking to him after he became famous for playing Chandler Bing. He said, "He wouldn't return my calls, and he just didn't want to be my friend anymore."

    They say fame changes you, but it can change the people around you, too.

    Here are 11 times celebs spoke about how differently their friends and family treated them after fame:

    1. On Red Table Talk, Matthew McConaughey said, "As soon as I got 'famous' after [1996's] A Time to Kill, I started to have my weekly Sunday call home to call my mother. Mother wasn't answering the phone. A fan of my fame was answering the phone. I was trying to find my own balance with fame and stuff. And I would share things with her...some of those things I would share might show up in the six o'clock news three days later."

    Matthew McConaughey in a suit smiling with his mom in a dress and pearl necklace at an event

    After he found out that she'd allowed a tabloid news show to film inside his childhood home, he stopped talking to her for eight years.

    However, they were eventually able to reconcile. He said, "My boat was built well enough where I didn't feel like she could sink it. We healed that up in 2004."

    2. After Rihanna rose to fame, her dad went to the press and sold stories about her behind her back. She told Vogue, "It really makes me question what I have become to my father. Like, what do I even mean to him? …It's really strange. That's the only word I can think of to describe it because you grow up with your father, you know him, you are a part of him, for goodness' sakes! And then he does something so bizarre that I can't begin to wrap my mind around it. You hear the horror stories about people going behind people's backs and doing strange things, but you always think, Not my family. My father would never do that to me."

    She continued, "[After Chris Brown physically assaulted me] was the first time…..My dad went to the press and just told them a bunch of lies. Because he hadn't talked to me after…that whole thing…. He never called to find out how I was doing, if I was alive, nothing. He just never called. He went straight to the press and got a check. And now he does it again."

    3. On Q with Tom Power, Matthew Perry said, "Craig Bierko, after he didn't get Friends — and Friends was on for two years and was a massive hit — Craig didn't speak to me for those two years. I would call him. He wouldn't return my calls, and he just didn't want to be my friend anymore."

    Matthew continued, "So, two years into it, he called me up on the phone and said, 'Can we meet? I'd like to talk with you.' I said, 'Of course. Yes, great.' So he came over to my apartment, and he said, 'I'm sorry that I have not called you in two years. I could not handle that you got rich and famous on a show that I turned down. We were both good enough to get that role.'"

    4. Gigi Hadid told Harper's Bazaar, "[When you become famous] a lot of interesting things in friends come out. So, in a way, it's good because you learn that it's better to have a few really good friends than tons of friends you aren't really sure about."

    Gigi in a fluffy hooded jacket posing with her hand on her cheek

    "There are people who understand that I love them and who know that when I get back to town, I'm going to call them, but sometimes I can't call every day because I'm in weird places. I've lost a lot of friends because I'll get busy for a short period of time, and they're not reaching out, but if I don't reach out, then it's like I’ve changed," she said.

    5. Billie Eilish told V magazine, "My life really, honestly feels the same as it did when I was a child, except that I don't have any friends."

    Billie Eilish standing in a blazer, shirt, with a checkered handbag and a flower pin

    "I mean, besides the people that I work with, who are absolutely my friends — they're actually my best friends," she said.

    She also said, "My relationship with my home has not changed, just like with my parents and my brother. I think it's a bit jarring for some people who grew up with me or haven't seen me in a long time. [They] come over to see us and see that it's exactly the same. It's as if you walked in here, and it's 2003."

    6. Sharon Stone told InStyle, "It's very expensive to be famous. You go out to dinner, and there's 15 people at the table. And who gets the check? You get the $3,000 dinner check every single time."

    Sharon in a sparkling sleeveless gown with a draped detail, posing on the red carpet

    7. Rupert Grint reportedly told the Daily Mirror that, after joining the Harry Potter franchise, "It took me a while to figure out whether someone was genuine or they had ulterior motives... I left school at quite a pivotal time...when you're just making friends and stuff...So whenever I came back, bonds I had made before had all got a little bit weird. I did lose a few friends, but on the whole, it's all been pretty good.''

    Rupert in jacket and trousers with a raised eyebrow, standing before a promotional backdrop

    "You'd always worry about whether it was a genuine thing — and I think that goes with any kind of relationship, even friendships," he reportedly said.

    8. Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu told Cosmopolitan UK, "I've lost every friend I had. I don't have any friends. I have one friend, and that's it. Unfortunately, with the fame, you see people's true colors. People just want to be your friend because of your status, and it's a hard industry to trust. No, I don't actually have friends left."

    Ekin-Su poses in a pleated corset top and lacey skirt, holding a feathery clutch

    "People I'd known for ten years who were in my life…Selling stories is not very nice. I wouldn't do that to someone. If they were happy, I would support them. Unfortunately, I had that coming out of the villa, I had to delete people out of my life. But I am happier this way. Sometimes, keeping your circle small is the best, and you don't always need friends. So long as you know who you are, that's fine," she said.

    9. Taylor Lautner told Rolling Stone, "Because I was act­ing when I was in school, there was a little bullying going on. Not physical bullying but people making fun of what I do."

    Taylor in a light suit with a dark shirt posing at an event

    "I just had to tell myself I can't let this get to me. This is what I love to do. And I'm going to continue doing it," he said.

    10. Singer Saint Harison named his debut album Lost a Friend after his experience of losing friends due to his success. He told the Independent, "The hardest thing is that people don't understand, and they take it personally when you're not free. It's been a weird experience."

    Saint Harison in designer outfit with logo, fringed scarf, and striking dyed hair at event

    He continued, "But then you're finding yourself in new situations, meeting new people, and then other friends are like, 'Why are you meeting new people?' As much as you want to stay that same person – you just don't. Everything changes."

    11. And finally, Justin Timberlake told Rolling Stone, "I found with friends, close friends that have come and gone in my life, they're like, 'Oh, you changed.' Everything else around you changed; you're still the same person. If you want to say that I didn't have to worry about a paparazzi following me around in my car has made me change, then yeah, sorry, I've changed, but I didn't know what that was like before. I was just a young person trying to express myself."

    Justin Timberlake in a pinstripe suit and open-collar shirt, smiling onstage with a cityscape backdrop

    "It's just a crazy world that we live in. I don't want to paint a picture that's jaded or anything because I'm super happy to be back and doing it, and I have a great time wherever I go. But the things around you change the older you get, and that’s just life," he said.