Paul McCartney explains why he refuses selfies with fans: “I really do not want to feel like that monkey”
Paul McCartney has explained the poignant reason why he refuses to take photos with fans.
While selfies with celebrities have become a form of digital currency in the Instagram age, McCartney is old-fashioned in this regard and wants to keep a grain of normalcy in his life.
In a new episode of The Rest Is Entertainment, McCartney reflected on being famous for almost the entirety of his adult life, explaining how The Beatles “loved it” and said it’s something “you learn to deal with it”.
However, fame in 1966 compared with 2026 is an incredibly different beast due to technology, with McCartney noting, “As time’s gone by, things have changed. Now – phones. So if I meet someone, they’re reaching for their phone, and I say: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t do pictures.’ And that is radical these days.”
McCartney then recalled a conversation he once had with Oprah Winfrey on this subject, who was bemused by his stance, reciting what he told her, “I said: ‘I don’t want to.’ It’s as simple as that.”
The Beatle then elaborated on his position in more depth, sharing, “I have a long explanation – I say I don’t like to do it because something important to me, something related to your question about innocence and staying normal, would be lost. The minute I start thinking I’m something above myself, I won’t like me. It’s very important for me to just be me.”
McCartney then shared the story that he tells fans who are upset by his decision to refuse photos, revealing, “So I say to people: I don’t want to do photos. And they say: ‘Why?’ And I say: ‘I’ll tell you what…’ – and I go into this long explanation about how, down on the south coast of France in Saint-Tropez, there’s a man on the beachfront who has a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey. I really do not want to feel like that monkey.”
He poignantly added, “And when I take a picture with someone, I do feel like him. I’m not me anymore – I’m suddenly something else.”
In the same conversation, McCartney said that not thinking about his success is another key reason that he’s allowed himself to live relatively normally despite being among the most famous people alive today.
He refreshingly shared of his perspective, “If I really sat and thought about it – my head would explode. So I try to dampen it down and just think: yeah, that was okay. That was a good one. And I don’t really feel like him. He’s the famous one. I’m the guy who just has to go up and have breakfast.”
The musical legend also believes his family and upbringing has been vital in ensuring that he doesn’t get above his station, stating, “I was very lucky – I came from a very loving family of very smart working-class people.”
Watch or listen to The Rest Is Entertainment wherever you get your podcasts.
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