Russell Crowe gave fans a warning before signing autographs outside of his hotel in Paris, saying that if the waiting crowd got out of control he’d walk.

“Are you listening?” the “Gladiator” star told autograph-seekers as they surrounded the steps, motioning with his arms to overcome any potential language barriers. “Stay where you are, don’t fucking push in on me and I’ll come to you.”

“Give everybody space,” he added. “As soon as somebody’s a dick, I’m going. Clear?”

As the crowd assented, Crowe, clad in a navy blue polo shirt and slacks, began swiftly signing “Gladiator” memorabilia. However when one fan pushed his luck, asking the star if he’d add the name “Maximus” – Crowe’s character in the Ridley Scott epic – to his signature, Crowe declined before moving on to another fan.

The video of the interaction appeared to have been taken by a fellow fan in the crowd.

The actor, who was spotted at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Sunday, responded afterwards to TMZ’s posting of the video on X with the caption: “If you needed a reminder that fans are not always priority No. 1 — turn to Russell Crowe — cause the guy was absolutely not having it outside of his Paris hotel.”

Crowe replied to the X post: “Clickbait. Everybody got their autograph and selfie, the passage to the hotel was kept free for guests, and I still got to the airport on time. One man, no security. Handled. What’s your problem?”

It’s not the first time a video has gone viral of a Hollywood star doing their own crowd-control in continental Europe. In 2024 Anne Hathaway memorably ran into a group of overzealous fans in Italy, where she was filmed addressing them in a mixture of Italian and English.

“Calma, calma, calma, please, per favore, calma,” Hathaway said slowly, as she raised her hands. “I cannot take photos with everyone but I will stand here and wave if you’d like to take a photo. I cannot sign, there’s too many of you, mi dispiace [I’m sorry], but I want you to have something, so if you’d like I’ll just wave a little bit.”