It sounds like an urban legend or the plotline of a horror film that is surely too strange to be true: a person discovers a stranger has been secretly living in their home, perhaps in their loft or hiding in a crawlspace, without them realising.
Unfortunately, it’s not just an urban legend, but a real phenomenon known as phrogging, so-called because the perpetrators tend to hop from house to house. The victims might find their food or personal items have mysteriously gone missing while they’re not around.
What’s more, apparently anyone can become a target, from ordinary people to the rich and famous. Here are some high-profile cases of celebrities who have become victims of phrogging.
1. J Lo
Jennifer Lopez became a victim of phrogging in 2013 when a man broke into her Hamptons home and proceeded to bed down in the pool house for a full week.
Despite the fact there were guards patrolling the property, 49-year-old John Dubis, a retired firefighter, had apparent free rein of the singer’s back garden for days, living on the grounds, and taking photos that he uploaded to Facebook.
He was finally arrested after he was spotted by workers. He was charged with burglary, possessing burglary tools and criminal contempt. Luckily, Lopez wasn’t in the Hamptons at the time.
2. P Diddy
In another Hamptons break-in case, Quamine Taylor was arrested after he broke into P Diddy’s mansion in 2012.
Taylor, who claimed he hoped to stay for between five and seventeen days (he actually managed around 24 hours), brought food into the mogul’s house, but used Diddy’s hot sauce, drank his alcohol and smoked his cigars.
In a more personal (not to mention, creepier) violation, he then washed with Diddy’s soap, used his aftershave and even borrowed his toothbrush. He also napped in the bed.
This wasn’t the first time Taylor had tried this either. In 2001, he was arrested after he was found swimming in Diddy’s swimming pool.
3. Brad Pitt
In 1999, 19-year-old Athena Marie Rolando broke into Brad Pitt’s home and stayed for ten hours before she was eventually caught by a housekeeper, despite the fact she had set off the alarm systems hours before.
While there, Rolando wandered around the grounds, before getting into Pitt’s house via an open window. Claiming she was cold, she put on Pitt’s clothes and got into his bed, where she was finally found. Pitt was filming out of town at the time.
4. Rihanna
Rihanna became the victim of phrogging in 2018 when Eduardo Leon broke into her Hollywood home and stayed overnight.
Fortunately, the singer wasn’t at home when Leon managed to get into the house and disable her alarm. He was later found in her living room by her assistant, where he had unpacked a bag and was charging his phone.
This was his second attempt to gain access to Rihanna’s home, having attempted to break into a different house he thought belonged to the singer earlier in the week.
He was charged with stalking, vandalism, first-degree residential burglary and resisting arrest.
5. George Michael
In one of the scarier instances of phrogging, George Michael had a woman living in his London home for four days and unlike many of the other celebrities, Michael was in the house at the time. Even scarier: she was hiding under his floorboards.
Michael told GQ magazine in an interview he realised there was someone there when he was in his living room and heard someone calling his name. She then jumped out to confront him.
6. Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson’s phrogging case might be the strangest. In 2001, she found a homeless woman had been staying in her pool house. She had been there for days.
Anderson had already noticed that food and items of clothing had been going missing. But she was home alone with her children when she finally discovered the woman, telling Flaunt magazine that she saw a face in a window.
What’s more, when Anderson found her, the woman was wearing Anderson’s iconic red Baywatch swimming costume - something she had found in Anderson’s room.
The woman was also holding a letter claiming she wasn’t a lesbian but just wanted to touch Anderson.
