Servers Expose Their Best And Worst Celebrity Tippers
Servers Expose Their Best And Worst Celebrity Tippers
Haein JungMon, September 7, 2026 at 12:16 AM UTC
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If you're at all nosy like me and wonder what celebrities are like behind the scenes, like when they go out to eat and drink, then you're in the right place — especially if you've ever been curious about their tipping etiquette. Now, there's no hard-and-fast rule that if you're a celebrity, you have to overtip.But if you've been provided stellar service and/or special privileges — like the restaurant staying open after hours, etc. — then I would think it's customary and just plain manners to pay it forward and be generous if you can afford it! I don't think every celeb agrees, though, according to these Reddit threads (here and here). People shared their experiences with the rich and famous and how they allegedly tipped for service, and well, some of these names will surprise you:
Note: BuzzFeed cannot guarantee the accuracy, truth, or validity of these stories, and they should not be taken as fact.
1. "My family had a restaurant near Dartmouth College. Shonda Rhimes graduated from Dartmouth, and she would always come into our restaurant, and she was an absolute pleasure. Such a nice woman."
Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images2. "Tom Brady. I wasn’t the server but a manager and the sommelier, so I did the wine service for their table. When I was doing the server's checkout, I noticed there was no tip on her checkout slip, and I asked out of curiosity. She looked me dead in the face and opened up her book and showed me a single $20, her only cash tip of the night. It was a $4,200 tab. And they were weird and unfriendly."
Ethan Miller / Getty Images
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3. "Drake didn’t want to pay the full amount we charged because we charged him a room fee for keeping the restaurant open four hours after we closed. He argued with our general manager and finally paid the full amount with no tip. Pinot Grigio spritz drinkin' a— b—!"
NurPhoto / Getty Images4. "The only celebrity I’ve served is Jojo Siwa, and she and her family were class acts and tipped well."
Amanda Edwards / Getty Images5. "Gordon Ramsay came into the restaurant I worked at with like nine other people, and they didn’t tip."
Craig Williamson - SNS Group / Getty Images6. "Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman) left me 100% on her bill!"
Jason Davis / Getty Images7. "Rachel Ray is allegedly not a tipper at alllll."
Daniel Zuchnik / Getty Images8. "I served Common and Tiffany Haddish when they were together. They ordered Caesar salads and soup. They tipped 30%, and both were very pleasant to serve!"
Lester Cohen / Getty Images
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9. "In the mid-'00s, my now-husband served Spike Lee. He came in with a party of eight. He added an automatic gratuity to his bill because of the party size and his reputation around Martha’s Vineyard for being a bad tipper. 18% was added to the bill, which was charged to his Amex Card. The next day, the restaurant got a call from Amex about the auto gratuity. Ended up having to refund the entire bill."
Rob Kim / Getty Images10. "Rick Flair tipped me $500. He was an absolute delight!"
Variety / Getty Images11. "Kourtney Kardashian came in the last five minutes we were open with her kid. She was the last person we served and left a $0 tip."
Alexander Tamargo / Getty Images12. "Aaron Hernandez. 5%."
MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images / Getty Images
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13. "Steve Carell. Great tipper. Nice low key guy!"
VALERIE MACON / Getty Images14. "Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, and Hailey Bieber don’t tip (to the point that Kendall and Hailey walked out on a tab, and when the server ran after them to pay, they laughed in her face)."
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images15. "My buddy served Adam Sandler in Mammoth, and he left $100 on a $30 tab."
Tibrina Hobson / Getty Images16. "I bartended for Prince once. I served him probably a $10 drink, and he tipped me a $20 and said, 'Cool hair.'"
NBC / Getty Images17. "No tippin' Pippin (Scottie Pippen from the Chicago Bulls in the '90s). I waited on him a couple times, and he left $2 no matter the check size. A friend of mine delivered him 50-plus pizzas for $2. He at least had a gratuity on the check; I was never so lucky, never a large enough table."
Catherine Steenkeste / Getty Images18. "Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are infamously terrible tippers."
Charlotte Observer / Getty Images19. "I've only ever had good experiences with Emily Ratajkowski. She used to come in all the time with her friend, post-workout, no makeup, messy bun, with her newborn. She was genuine and down-to-earth, honestly, a really funny person. I don't remember her tipping super generously, but I'd have remembered if she'd tipped less than 20%. I've heard the same from several other people working in NYC fine dining."
Cindy Ord/VF26 / Getty Images
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20. "There were a few stories about Amy Schumer being a generous tipper. There was one where she saw Hamilton and left the bartenders at the theater with a $1,000 tip."
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images21. "I know someone who had drinks with Jason Momoa and said he was extremely generous, not just in buying fans drinks, but also with the staff."
Joe Maher / Getty Images22. "A friend of a friend claimed that several years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet dined at the restaurant she worked at and tipped a wild amount, like 300%. She was not their server, but the coworker who said that said they were extremely friendly and engaged in a short chat with her before leaving."
Dan MacMedan / Getty Images23. "John Oliver: He used to come into this place where I worked all the time. I was a busser, and he thanked me every single time I refilled his glass. He tipped well, but serving him alone was delightful. Paul Rudd: An absolute gem, and he came in often enough that we greeted him like a regular. He always brought really nice people along and tipped generously. Juwan Howard: He was super friendly, said hi to everybody when he came in, brought his daughter in for her birthday, and tipped 100%. Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen: Not only did they tip well, but they also made sure we packed up all the food they over-ordered and either gave it to the staff or someone sleeping outside. Extremely sweet and humble."
—Scared_Willow_5363FREDERIC J. BROWN / Getty Images, Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images, Evan Bernstein / Getty Images, Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty Images24. And lastly, "Tony Bennett came into a restaurant I was working at, saw a wedding party having post-wedding drinks, picked up their tab and tipped 20% on it. Jerry Seinfeld was a nice guy and a good tipper, and didn’t like people making a fuss over him. In my experience, he just wanted to get in and get out and not be bothered, but not be rude about it. He came into a place I worked at during a slow time, and I offered to seat him in the part of the restaurant that was closed off because he would have more privacy. He was super appreciative. In his Jerry Seinfeld voice, he said, ‘THAT is a GREEEAT idea! YES, I would looove to sit on the other side.’"
"Jay Leno was also a good tipper, and I must have caught him in a good mood because he was super funny and had the staff and customers in stitches (all of my stories are 20 years old)."—Exotic_Volume696Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images, Emma McIntyre / Getty Images, VALERIE MACON / Getty ImagesAre you surprised by some of these names? If you've ever worked in the service industry, what was your tipping/serving experience with celebs? Let us know in the comments! Or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can fill out the form below!
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