Victoria Beckham didn’t exactly endear herself to L.A. or at least its vocal waiter community last July, when she allegedly forgot to leave a tip after lunching with best friend Katie Holmes at the Mandarin Hotel’s elegant Asia de Cuba restaurant. And, when the unhappy server followed her out of the establishment to make her displeasure known she was blocked by bodyguards.
Others who fall into cheap celebrity Hall of Shame, according to Bitterwaitress.com, a website where oppressed servers of the world can vent and dish, include Rachel Ray who allegedly left a 10% tip on a ten dollar check—“And, she is a chef!”—steamed the spy who supplied the reconnaissance. Then there was Bruce Willis whose party tacked a measly $30 tip onto a $450 bill and was rude to boot.
While celebrities who travel with entourages should probably be cut a little slack—was it really Al Gore’s fault when his staff stiffed an Iowa restaurant the tip on $90 worth of breakfast sandwiches?—one can’t help but feel that tipping is one of the ways you see into celebrities’ souls. Or, at least the practice reminds us that they’re mortal, as generous or cheap as the rest of us.
The difference, of course, is that stars can get away with being bad tippers, even if they get stigmatized throughout the internet, but for the rest of us a healthy tip isn’t only a way of expressing gratitude for a good meal but also an insurance policy, should we want to visit that particular establishment again.
