Many successful celebrities and well-known figures have shared their stories of being bullied in school or at work. Anyone who has been bullied can learn from these people how they overcame their bullies. If you look at the stories of famous bullies, you will see that there is hope for you.
These are some of the most successful people who have had to deal with bullying in their lives.
Rihanna:
Rihanna was bullied throughout her childhood in Barbados by her classmates because of her appearance. She didn’t understand why skin color was an issue.
Kate Middleton:
Kate Althing is now in the top ranks of the British Society. However, she also suffered from bullying as a teenager. She was criticized for her appearance at Downe House girls’ board school and her shyness. After her experience, she was so traumatized that Prince William and she both instructed their wedding guests to donate Money to the BeatBullying charity.
Elon Musk:
Elon Musk was the youngest and smallest boy in school. He was bullied by his peers and had a hard time with children. He had a difficult childhood in South Africa. Being bullied at school made it hard for him to go to school.
Winona Ryder:
Although few bullies ever have a chance to get back at them, we are sure they fantasize about it. Winona Ryder is among the few who have managed to take back a bully, even in the smallest ways. She is a well-known actress, but she was also beaten up and taunted by middle school students for being a boy. Ryder recalls that she was wearing an old Salvation Army shopboy’s suit.
“Hey, faggot,” I heard someone say as I went to the toilet. My head was smashed into a locker by the men. They started to kick me to the floor after I fell to the ground. I needed stitches. The bullies kicked Ryder out of school, but Ryder didn’t remember the details.
However, Ryder recalls that one of her bullies walked past Ryder at a coffee shop years later and asked Ryder for her autograph. Ryder didn’t forgive nor forget and responded, “Do you remember me?” Do you remember beating up that child in seventh grade? And I replied, “That was me.” You can f*** yourself.
Lady Gaga:
Lady Gaga was no different than any other child with a slightly different appearance. Because of her big nose, she was considered annoying and bullied. She claims she was bullied because she was funny, her singing, and her makeup.
Justin Timberlake:
Justin Timberlake shared his childhood bullying experiences with his classmates in 2015. According to him, everyone at school called him weird, different, and other things that cannot be explained. His mother taught him that being different was good and could help him make a bigger impact than the rest.
Prince Harry:
Many people think that a prince’s life is very privileged and enjoyable. We’re certain Prince Harry has had his fair share of royal privileges. However, we also believe that he’s been taunted more than once. Why? His red hair. Red hair is not considered a stigma in America. However, like Harry, British “gingers” are praised for their fair skin and colored hair.
Harry’s army friends often call him “Ginger Bullet Magnet” and joke that they would buy ginger hair wigs for Iraq to keep insurgents away from the young prince. Harry’s girlfriend is called “Big Ginger,” but Harry’s hair doesn’t stop him from being successful.
He’s a Captain in the Army Air Corps with honorary military appointments at the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy. Prince Henry is also active in philanthropy, serving as patron to several charities, including Sentebale, which he founded to help orphans and vulnerable Lesotho children.
Eva Mendes:
Eva Mendes, an American actress, and model were bullied in her childhood just like other children. Because of her petite frame and unassuming personality, she shared with us that she was always bullied. Bullying was torture, and she was afraid to ask her family or school administrators for help. She had to deal with the pain and spent years learning how to confront her bully.
Emma Watson:
Bullying does not just occur in grade school. Even the famous and wealthy have their moments. Emma Watson, Harry Potter’s star, is an unfortunate example. Watson left Brown University this year, claiming she wanted to concentrate on her acting career. However, it is widely believed she was bullied.
Fellow students often mocked Watson. Students would chime in with “Three Points for Gryffindor!” or other taunts as she answered questions in class. Watson decided to go back to school and announced that she would be participating in an exchange program with Worcester College Oxford and finishing her Brown University studies.
Michael Phelps:
Michael Fred Phelps II, a retired competitive swimmer, is the most decorated Olympian. In middle school, he lived in Baltimore and was bullied because of his hyperactive personality. To hide his ears, he wore hats and was even suspended from school because he was fighting with his bullies. These tough times taught him a lot and helped him channel all of his frustrations into becoming a successful swimmer. He believes bullying made him stronger because he learned a lot from his tough times.
Eminem:
Eminem was bullied as an outsider growing up in a world that changed schools. Eminem stated that he was beaten up in the bathroom and hallways and shoved in lockers because he was the “new kid” in CNN’s Anderson Cooper interview in 2010.
One incident left the rapper with a severe head injury, leading his mother to sue her Michigan school district for failing to protect her child.
Chris Rock:
Chris Rock, comedian, and actor, was the only black student at his high school in Brooklyn’s working-class Brooklyn. He was regularly beaten up by white students and bullied.
Rock stated that the experience was motivating, and he is determined to succeed. He called his bullying “the turning point of my life” in a 2007 episode of “Inside the Actor’s Studio.”
Rock stated, “It made me who I am,” and went on to thank those who “kicked me a–, spat in my face and kicked me downstairs.”
Miley Cyrus:
Miley Cyrus is a popular teen singer, but her pre-teen and pre-fame years in Tennessee were quite different. There was an Anti-Miley Club at school. It consisted of big, tough girls who were “fully capable” of doing her bodily harm and went above and beyond to bully her. Cyrus was once locked up in a toilet during class. “They shoved me in. I was trapped. I banged on the doors until my fists hurt. “Nobody came.” There were other incidents, including Cyrus challenging her to a fight. This only ended when the principal intervened. Her classmates were physically abusing Cyrus. They told her that “Your dad is a one-hit-wonder.” Cyrus was determined to succeed and won the role of Hannah Montana.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes:
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is the world’s greatest living explorer and holds the Guinness Book of World Records title. Before he reached the top of Mount Everest at 65 years old, he had to overcome bullies at Eton College. Fiennes was an attractive boy growing up. It was normal at that time to tease beautiful boys. They teased Fiennes with whistles, shouts of “tart and tart,” and other vile behavior.
It was an experience that Fiennes recalls as “remorseless, nastiness” that almost drove him to suicide. Fiennes survived bullying, as he had survived many other things: a career with the British army, finding the lost city Ubar in Oman, and performing a self-amputation.
He even completed the Land Rover 7x7x7 Challenge, which involved seven marathons on seven continents in seven days, only four months after he suffered a heart attack. Fiennes’ “pretty boy” appeal worked in his favor: he was one of six finalists for James Bond.
Bill Clinton:
Although Bill Clinton was once the leader in the free world, this icon politician comes from humble origins. He was a junior high student constantly teased for being a “fat boy” and having bad taste in clothes. The taunting culminated at a junior high dance when one of his older students teased Clinton about the jeans of his carpenter and even punched him in the jaw.
Clinton refused to give in to the bully and chose not to fight back. In My Story, Clinton writes that he learned he could take a hit and that there was more to being against aggression than one way. He survived and became a renowned and respected saxophone player, in addition to his public service career.