That's a petty reason for disliking the guy. You need to walk in other people's shoes to understand why famous people do things like this. I can tell you what I've seen happen. Famous person graciously signs an autograph for a kid or one adult. BOOM! S/he is mobbed by hosts of others wanting the same, have pictures taken, and to chat. Famous person says, "Really, I'm here to relax." Or, "I'm having some family time, please." Nobody listens, and some start getting downright rude because s/he is trying to not be mobbed." You experience that often enough, you can and often do go Alex Baldwin on someone asking for an autograph.
Famous people are human too and need down time. So your basis for disliking Pickens is very petty and one-sided. Screw him for laying hands on his woman, damn him for it and hope the law is a sledgehammer on him. But learn to understand that the public doesn't own famous people just because they're fans.
There's a reason so many try to hide behind ridiculous looking shades, head coverings, and sneaking out back doors. I'm not better than you and probably worse, but I've had the fortune of being in close proximity of some famous folks. A few who even chatted with me because unlike others, I wasn't hounding them for anything.
Martin Sheen - Breakfasted with him, well actually at a table next to his at a Denny's out on Oracle Road in Tucson, AZ. Offered to sign my napkin as I hadn't uttered one word about that as we talked about desert environments. I declined (stupid of me I admit). Rachel Welch - Ask for direction to the library at Calif. State Univ.-Northridge. Burt Reynolds - Told me and a few others at the school they filmed at for Cannonball Run 2 to make sure the leftover food didn't go to waste (school cafeteria took over on that). Jane Goodall - sat next to me awaiting her time on the podium for a lecture in Tucson, AZ. Ara Parseghian, two hour chat when he was doing a commercial shoot for the Ford Crown Victoria at the Calif. State Univ.-Northridge football field. The heat was doing something to the equipment so he spent a lot of time just sitting in the shade. I and girlfriend stopped to watch and he insisted we be allowed through the barrier and sit with him. Turns out he saw my deaf girlfriend using sign language with me. He at one time had a player at Norte Dame with a hearing disability, he said. So we talked and talked and talked. Never asked for an autograph. He just wanted to kill some time and had an interest in people with a hearing disability. But I bet if all those times I met famous people I had hounded them for an autograph, others would have mobbed them. And some would have declined to sign anything. So screw Pickens for hitting his woman. Don't be petty about him saying no to signing an autograph, you have no idea why. I don't either but I've seen one simple request result in the famous and even semi-famous people being mobbed. Meals going uneaten. Their kids being shoved aside. And in one case, making it necessary for the guy, his family, and friends to flee a TGIF restaurant where they had gone to celebrate his 8 yr old son's birthday. It all began with a kid asking for an autograph, getting it, squealing in excitement and blurting out who had given it to him.
Finally, in these days with so many people looking for fast and easy money, if you're a man, stay clear of kids. You can find yourself in an encounter designed to get you accused of some form of child abuse. Taken to court and milked out of lots of money, labeled a sex offender and more. You and I haven't lived in famous people's shoes, tnvols72, but I've seen a lot happen to some of them. Screw Carl for hitting his woman. Keep it right but not petty.
