Influencer Livvy Dunne calls out 'hostile' autograph seekers
Influencer and former collegiate gymnast Olivia Dunne, who goes by Livvy, is sharing the details of what she calls "hostile" behavior from men seeking her autograph.
Dunne, a former member of the LSU Tigers women's gymnastics team, claimed in a recent TikTok video that men will sometimes confront her at the airport seeking her autograph and "harass" her, asking her to sign photos of herself.
"Every time I go to the airport, there is a group of 10 middle-aged men, and they harass me," Dunne said in the May 31 video to her eight million followers on TikTok. "They will yell at me and make a scene. The people around me are scared. It's crazy."
Dunne said the autograph seekers find her not only when she is traveling for work events, but also when she is traveling for personal reasons as well, like family vacations.
"It's just so strange," Dunne said, adding that while she understands she shares much of her life online, the autograph seekers find her when she is offline and not making content.
In her video, Dunne mentions Olympic track star Gabby Thomas, who shared a similar story in January of being sought out by men at airports.
"At this point, every time I travel, I'm afraid these men ... three to six of them … middle-aged … are going to show up and harass me, Thomas said in a video shared on TikTok on Jan. 28.
Multiple female sports stars, including Dunne, replied to Thomas' post at the time, noting they shared similar experiences.
"No same, I'm horrified of them… happens too often. I take pictures of them just incase," Olympic gymnast Simone Biles wrote.
"This has happened to me MULTIPLE times!! it is actually so scary," Biles' Olympic teammate Suni Lee commented.
Tennis star Coco Gauff said she too has been chased by autograph seekers, writing, "This happens to me too, I don't know how it happens. My theory is maybe someone at the airport tips them off."
Autographs make up a multi-billion dollar industry, with signed photos of celebrities getting anywhere from $50 to more than $1,000, according to Justin Steffman, lead authenticator and CEO of AutographCOA, an autograph authentication company.
"For Livvy Dunn, she was on the cover of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue," Steffman told "Good Morning America." "When that first came out, since no one had it yet, there's a large demand."
Dunne, who retired from college gymnastics earlier this year, called for an end to the practice of aggressive autograph-seeking.
"It needs to stop because it's scary for girls. It's weird," she said.
