tom holland as spider-man.

Tom Holland Helped Calm a Fan Because Autograph Hounds Remain the Worst

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I often joke that Tom Holland is my “son” because he seems like a genuinely good young man who only wants to have fun in the fact that he’s Spider-Man. But yesterday made me extremely proud to be a fan of Holland because he came to the rescue of a fan when autograph hounds were pushing her into a barricade and giving her an anxiety attack.

If you’ve never been in the front of a barricade while autograph hounds are trying to make a buck, let me describe it for you. Imagine, if you will, being pushed into metal repeatedly while being hit with posters and toys and having grown men shove you, all because they want to make hundreds of dollars off of a celebrity’s signature. Meanwhile, you’re there just because you’re a fan. Sounds terrifying, right?

It’s the reason I won’t go to events or theater stagedoors anymore, why I just leave and refuse to meet someone I admire. All because grown men are there shoving and yelling about someone they don’t care about. Sometimes I wish a celebrity would just take pictures and not sign because then it makes the hounds back down, because what are they going to do with an unsigned image of a random person and a celebrity?

But that’s beside the point. The point is that a young girl had a panic attack outside of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, where Holland was the guest, because they wouldn’t stop pushing her into the metal divider. And to what end? So they can turn around and sell Tom Holland’s autograph online? Do they know that people will fly themselves to conventions and get their own autographs now fresh and in person? The prices these guys charge are often steeper than going yourself.

Sorry, but my patience for autograph hounds has always been nonexistent. I watched a man push a small boy out of the way when the kid was trying to meet J.J Abrams and thank him for bringing back Star Wars, all because he wanted to get a poster signed to sell. When you’re that rude to a child, I really don’t care what you do for a living.

A fan went to see Tom Holland, excited about Spider-Man: Far From Home and the actor. But she ended up having a panic attack because of the people crowding her until Tom Holland came to calm her down.

In the video of this story, you can see that Tom Holland is still polite, giving them a chance to stop pushing. When they don’t, he follows through on his threat to throw their pictures on the ground.

It is honestly unnecessary that an actor has to tell grown men to stop pushing a young woman. But here we are, and at least there are actors like Tom Holland who will defend their fans and make sure that everyone is safe. Kudos to my son, Tom Holland, and hopefully this trend of autograph hounds hurting fans just to make a buck will end.

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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Rachel Leishman
Assistant Editor
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.