Top 20 Best Celebrity Pranks
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 20 Best Celebrity Pranks.
For this list, we’re continuing our celebration of above average celebrity pranksters. They can be targeting fellow celebrities, family, friends, fans or the general public.
Who would you like to see pranked next? Let us know in the comments!
#20: Nick Cannon & Kevin Hart Prank War
By this point, it seems that the battle between these two comedians is never going to end, and to be honest, we’re totally okay with that - especially if they keep upping the ante like this! The highlight, undoubtedly, came when Nick Cannon apparently snuck into the hanger where Kevin Hart’s private plane was stored…and dressed it up with promotional material for his upcoming show. Keep in the mind, this is coming off the back of Cannon previously sending Hart a llama for his birthday, who in turn replied by posting Cannon’s phone number on a billboard! They keep up this kind of trajectory, and Hart is likely to shoot Cannon with an actual cannon next!
#19: Roman Atwood TPs Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel has made this very clear - he loves pulling pranks, but he HATES being the victim of one. Unfortunately for him, his own son has befriended one of the biggest practical jokers in the game - modern YouTube celebrity prankster Roman Atwood. Call it juvenile or immature, but TPing a house is a time-honored classic. That being said, few people have ever taken it to extreme. The admittedly impressive end result allegedly cost Howie $2000 in cleanup. But hey… Mr. Mandel can likely afford it, and considering Roman had an accomplice on the inside (Mandel’s son Alex), it’s not like he’s going to press charges.
#18: Maisie Williams Pranks “Game of Thrones” Fans
Game of Thrones’s Arya Stark is ruthless and wants her enemies dead. Maisie Williams is also ruthless, only she plies her trade in the pranking department. For this joke, which was done for Nylon Magazine, she pretends to be a store clerk at a hobby shop giving away free GOT merchandise. Without a disguise, avid fans quickly realize who she really is, but Williams is so committed to the bit, she never breaks character and starts to make them think otherwise. She tortures a stream of fans, making them act out scenes from the show and pretend to be dragons in order to earn their prizes. It’s silly, foolish, and Williams clearly has so much fun with it.
#17: Pitt vs. Clooney Prank War
This one is a battle of two diabolical minds. Brad Pitt and George Clooney are both notorious for their pranks, but they reserve their best for each other. Clooney has placed a few innocent bumper stickers on Pitt’s car that read things like, “Small Penis On Board.” He’s also revealed that he had stationery made with Brad Pitt’s name on it, and sent fake letters to Meryl Streep. Pitt, meanwhile, has taken out full ads for Clooney boasting about being the sexiest man alive, and once tricked Italian film crew members into calling Clooney “Mr. Ocean” and avoiding eye contact with him. Those are just a few in this ongoing war we hope never ends.
#16: Smosh Pranks Colleague with Emma Watson Interview
As impossible as it may seem… Emma Watson may be even more impressive than Hermione Granger. She’s incredibly talented, intelligent, classy and a humanitarian. But her most impressive feat just might be the grace and compassion she displayed when made the unwitting accomplice to this cruel but funny prank during a SMOSH interview. You see, SMOSH Games co-host Joven has more than a little crush on Emma Watson. So the SMOSH team surprised him by prepping him to interview Logan Lerman, only to bring out Emma Watson instead. She’s an excellent sport… even calling his “I (heart) Emma” tattoo cute when she could’ve said “creepy”.
#15: Dominic Monaghan Fake Interviews Elijah Wood
At least Emma Watson wasn’t the butt end of her joke interview. Elijah Wood… wasn’t so lucky. When doing promotion for “The Return of the King,” he was subjected to an absolutely outlandish interview with a strange German man. Elijah becomes increasingly more confused, uncomfortable and generally bewildered as the interview progresses, and you can’t help but feel for him as he attempts to treat the interview with respect and keep it on track. Little does he know, it’s his fellow onscreen Hobbit, Dominic Monaghan, faking an accent and asking him these odd questions. By the end of the interview, Elijah is in absolute stitches. It’s truly the DVD easter egg special feature to rule them all.
#14: Jason Sudeikis Makes “Friends” with Jennifer Aniston
Not all pranks need to be uncomfortable. Sometimes they can be downright sweet. During this comedy, there’s a family-for-hire song-along to the TLC classic “Waterfalls”. It’s a pretty charming moment in the life of this drug smuggling faux-family. As revealed by the closing credit outtakes however, when you give Jason Sudeikis control of the radio, his song picks tend to deviate from the playlist. In a great example of onset trolling… he cranks the famous theme song from Friends, “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts. His young co-stars Emma Roberts and Will Poulter get in on the fun, leaving a bemused Jennifer Aniston shaking her head and glaring at the camera... then breaking into uncontrollable laughter.
#13: Ashton Kutcher Forcloses Justin Timberlake's Home
I mean, come on, you can’t make a list about celebrity pranks and not include the man who created Punk’d! Ashton Kutcher has pulled off some superb deceptions across his career, but nothing beats the time he literally made Justin Timberlake cry a river. And why wouldn’t he get a little misty-eyed? He was convinced that the government was about to take away his house, his pets and all his possessions! The fact Dax Shepard was on hand dressed as an IRS agent with a moving van on standby added just enough realism to convince the singer he was about to lose everything! Geez, MTV was something else back in the day!
#12: Rihanna Pranks Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel may be the late night King of Pranks, but this time it’s Rihanna who pulls a fast one on the funny man. In one of her finest performances, Rihanna sneaks into Kimmel’s bedroom at one in the morning and, with the help of his own talk show crew, performs a live concert. Breaking the silence, Rihanna bursts into a rendition of her hit song “Bitch Better Have My Money,” complete with a light show and confetti. She tortures Kimmel, hitting him with pillows and flashing lights inches from his face, dragging him from his slumber. Kimmel’s confused reaction is fantastic, as he takes it like a sport, but not before letting off an expletive or two.
#11: James Corden Statue Prank on David Beckham
Say what you will about James Corden, but he goes all out when it comes to trying to pull the rug out from beneath his celebrity guests - none so more than legendary footballer David Beckham. With Beckham blissfully unaware of the progress being made on the statue set to be unveiled in his honor, Corden decided to make a little mischief, and had his prop department credit a…less flattering version - complete with a rhombus shaped head and much wider backside. Beckham may be a superstar when it comes to playing the people’s game, but he was pretty slow on the uptake when faced with such an obvious trick. By the end, he was just happy to see the thing get smashed!
#10: Bill Hader Pranks School
A great comedian of the new generation, Bill Hader may have taken on his best role when he became Mike the Firefighter to prank a small New York high school. Donning a fake mustache, aviator glasses, and a full fire fighter’s jump suit, Hader spoke in classrooms and at an assembly, providing horrible safety tips and making kids stop-drop-and-roll. This prank ended with a wonderful twist, as Hader was actually fulfilling a student’s request, through the Make a Wish foundation, to prank the school. On the fly, Hader decided to dash the hopes of wise students, by having a decoy actor stage a big reveal, before running out and surprising the school himself.
#9: Ellen Pranking All Her Guests
If Jimmy Kimmel is the late night king of pranking, then Ellen is the daytime queen. She leaves no one unscathed, targeting celebrities that come on her show, but also using her guests to prank the unsuspecting general public. Some favorites include her tradition of sending her producer to a haunted house, and scaring Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet, despite his best efforts to stay safe. She has sent stars like Sofia Vergara and Dennis Quaid out to the public with hidden earpieces, who repeat word for word what she tells them. She’s even had David Beckham ask ridiculous requests of a massage therapist, and hidden in Taylor Swift’s dressing room to scare her. Famous or not, nobody is safe from the queen.
#8: Adele as… Adele?
Teaming up with host Graham Norton, Adele went undercover as an Adele impersonator. Sporting a fake chin and nose, altering her voice, and donning the moniker Jenny, Adele assumed the identity of a simple nanny who doubles as an Adele impersonator. Hanging backstage with a bunch of fellow impersonators, Jenny makes fun of Adele for taking so long on her next album, and complains about the lack of demand. Jenny fits right in, and nobody suspects a thing, that is, until she steps up for her audition. After faking a near-nervous breakdown, Adele breaks out her real, instantly recognizable voice, shattering the illusion, and stunning the impersonators. It’s emotional and beautiful as she makes their dreams come true.
#7: Paul Rudd on “Conan”
Rudd is one of America’s most beloved funny men, mostly because of his goofy charisma. It’s that very quality that makes him such a talented prankster, as he always maintains a persona of innocent ignorance throughout his bits. While he tormented Jason Segel throughout their “I Love You Man” tour, it’s his running gag with Conan O’Brien that scores as Rudd’s best prank. Still ongoing, every time Rudd promotes a new movie on Conan’s show, he has the host introduce a clip from the upcoming film, but rather than cutting to the expected clip, Rudd shows a scene from the 1988 ET rip-off, Mac and Me. Without fail, Rudd always plays it cool, while Conan is caught once again.
#6: Jackass” Abducts Brad Pitt
What’s more surprising than finding Brad Pitt at a hot dog joint? Seeing a van full of men show up in masks and forcefully shove him into their vehicle and drive off. But that’s exactly what people witnessed one fateful night while waiting in line at Pink’s Hot Dogs. By this point, Jackass was on its third season and had been a huge hit for MTV. When Knoxville had a chance encounter with Brad at Spike Jonze’s house, the famous actor expressed his interest in making a guest appearance. The skit was less than a minute long... but talk about a prank with a heavy impact. The bystanders freeze up as the frantic celebrity is dragged away screaming for help.
#5: Arnold Schwarzenegger Pranks Wax Museum Goers
The Governator has pulled off a few pranks in his day, like when he pretended to be a gym trainer in the name of charity. This time, raising money for after school programs, Schwarzenegger went back in the make-up chair to suit up as his most famous character, model T-800, The Terminator. First he enjoyed walking the streets of LA spitting classic lines from the franchise at tourists, and even having a showdown with an Arnold impersonator. The real comedy gold comes at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, where he pretends to be a wax statue, before coming to life and terrifying unsuspecting museumgoers. He has a great time, and all for a good cause.
#4: Sacha Baron Cohen Pushes Old Lady Off the Stage
Borat proved Sacha Baron Cohen fully commits to whatever ludicrous stunt he’s pulling, and this is no exception. For this prank, when he is awarded the Charlie Chaplin Award for Excellence in Comedy at Brittania Awards, the presenter, a kind old woman, gives Cohen the actual cane from Chaplin’s film, City Lights. Cohen graciously accepts, but things go south when, in the middle of an impersonation of Chaplin’s dancing, the cane snaps and Cohen pushes the presenter off the stage. Cohen tries to revive the woman as she’s lying lifeless on the ground, before he gives up and returns to give his acceptance speech. The crowd goes from horrified murmurs to laughter when they realize Cohen has pulled yet another one of his signature tricks on them.
#3: Jennifer Lawrence Pranks the Pranksters
Are you ready for prankception? Back when Smosh was interviewing celebrities, the usual formula involved Anthony feeding Ian funny quips and awkward acts to perform. Only this time, J-Law was ready. Behind the scenes, they had a fellow Smosh fan feeding HER info to throw Ian off his game. Kudos to Ian for holding his own and pressing forward, because Lawrence was brutal with her barbs, but what else do you expect from an Oscar winning actress? We’re honestly shocked he didn’t run for the hills when Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson came in at the end pretending like they were about to throw down!
#2: Fake Drake
A quick throwback to Drake’s Degrassi days reminds us he has at least some acting chops. In this sketch for Jimmy Kimmel Live, he employs them as he goes undercover to interview random people on the street. The topic of conversation? Drake himself. While he does receive a lot of love, the rapper is also known to take a lot of heat. Steering into the skid, Drake encourages his interviewees to diss him by cooking up outrageous fake stories about his ESPYS hosting and shenanigans at live performances. He’s quick on his feet and smart with his own disses, proving just how multitalented he really is. The final reveal is brilliant, leaving one street goer absolutely stunned.
#1: Jimmy Kimmel vs. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski
Jimmy Kimmel is the undisputed king of Late Night television pranks. But he may have met his match in celebrity powerhouse couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. The couple fired the opening shot years ago when they broke into his house and decorated it with holiday lawn ornaments. Since then, this good-spirited war has gone nuclear. Real life reindeer poop, office re-decorating, gift-wrapped homes and zombies have all been deployed. In 2014, Krasinski and Blunt presented Kimmel with three nights of prank-mas, ending with the destruction of Jimmy’s car. Well, Jimmy got even by organizing an unsanctioned Krasinski family yard sale… with just a splash of eggnog for good measure. We guess there’s a little Jim Halpert in all of us.
