The sad truth about luxury and fandom is that the celebrity in focus, often gets spotted in the negative light. In 2019, NFL’s Carolina Panthers’ offensive lineman Taylor Hearn found himself knocked to the ground after a public fight. Two years later, Oklahoma Sooners’ football player Spencer Jones became collateral damage to a bar fight his friend got into with another Oklahoma University student. More recently, it was comedian and podcaster, Theo Vonn, whose bar fight has caught everyone’s attention, including the UFC commentator, Joe Rogan, and NFL star, Aaron Rodgers who knows, “that’s the tough part about being in public.”

On May 3, Theo Von was all-set to bring his stand-up tour “Return of the Rat” to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. However, according to TMZ, just a day before, he went into The Twelve Thirty Club right across the street. While there, a guy went up to him with a bunch of balloons as he was ordering drinks. First, Von simply said something to the guy and turned back to attend to his business. The guy said something again and an agitated Theo pushed him by the throat while a girl, apparently the fan’s friend, went in between and took part in the back-and-forth that the two people were having. Although, Rogan believes, “The guy was just doing it to get a rise out of Theo.”

By the looks of another customer standing right beside Theo and the receptionist, it did not feel like it was a heated conversation. However, it didn’t take time for social media to jump into conclusions. Taking the incident to his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan discussed the fight and shared his thoughts with his guest of the day, Aaron Rodgers.

Rogan was reminiscing an incident when during a UFC event in Belfast, “Me and this dude from Belfast got drunk at this bar and I remember, he was saying, ‘I will fight any man’ and he just kept repeating. He wasn’t even a big guy but I’m like, ‘I believe you. We’re all getting hammered.'” And he confessed the brutal reality, “This was back in the day when I could get drunk with locals.” Rodgers questioned him, surprised if it was just a Joe thing, “Can’t do it anymore?” That’s when Rogan brought up Von’s recent viral encounter, emphasizing how even casual nights out are now loaded with risk for him.

“No, because, see, Theo Von got in an altercation in Nashville yesterday or a couple of days ago,” Rogan explained. “Some guy was f*cking with him for some viral video, and Theo grabbed him by the neck and pushed him away.” While Rodgers reacted with light humor—“Theo been training? Been doing some Jiu-Jistu training?”—the JRE host didn’t hesitate to call it out clearly: “I don’t believe so. It was probably a bad move.” Joe Rogan was concerned not only with the physical reaction but also with the unknown outcome of such a scuffle.

“You never know who you’re grabbing,” he said, emphasizing how dangerous these interactions can become in an age of omnipresent cameras. Even Rodgers added, “That’s the tough part about being in public.” By the time Rogan weighed in, the alleged altercation had already gone viral online. Footage of Theo Von standing firm against an aggressive bar patron soon circulated on Instagram, Reddit, and TikTok. However, the comedian himself turned this bar fight into another comedic set.

Theo Von was recently invited to do a standup comedy skit for the US troops during President Donald Trump’s Qatar visit, ironically, themed ‘Peace’. Under two minutes of his opening act, Von brought up why he was confused about the invitation. He said, “I’m on TMZ right now having a bar fight in Nashville so I don’t think — You guys caught me on a tough week for peace, man. They’re like, no dude, we want you over there, we want you to come over and talk about peace and the Middle East so, yeah, here I am.”

The US troops certainly had a laugh on Von’s reaction to the incident. As for the viewers of the bar fight, some sympathized saying he acted reasonably in self-defense after being repeatedly provoked. The man apparently breached Theo Von’s personal space and refused to back down, resulting in the now-famous neck grab. Although no significant injuries were sustained, the question of whether Von’s reaction was instinctive, excessive, or absolutely justified remains subjective. Nonetheless, Joe Rogan’s viewpoint adds a grim depth.

Though he admitted that the majority of his encounters with fans are nice, he stressed the pressures that come with fame. “Back then, I wasn’t so famous. I could go around, so it was fun,” he stated. But a night out at the bar can now become a viral headline.

Fame may elevate careers, but as the JRE host and Aaron Rodgers demonstrated, it also invites unpredictable energy. And, as Theo Von discovered in Nashville, it only takes one terrible move to end up on everyone’s feed. However, it is worth noting that it wasn’t his first feud that went viral on the internet.

Theo Von’s viral online feud with the Paul brothers

The Nashville incident may have highlighted the physical perils of being in the spotlight, but Theo Von has also seen his fair share of digital drama. Long before this, he found himself in the midst of another viral feud, this time featuring the internet’s most controversial brothers, Jake Paul and Logan Paul.

Strangely enough, it all happened in front of a national audience at one of the year’s most-watched events. Von became the unexpected center of attention during President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 when a folding chair collapsed beneath him, sending him crashing backward in front of live cameras.

What may have been dismissed as a comedic incident took a sudden turn when Von publicly accused the Paul brothers of sabotaging the chair as a prank. “That wasn’t an accident,” Von tweeted. “They thought it was funny to mess with the chair.” Logan Paul immediately contradicted the story, citing video footage and claiming that Von had been notified by several persons, including Danica Patrick and NELK crew members, that the chair was already broken.

What ensued was a classic online standoff. Von retaliated, calling the Pauls “a——-” and claiming that if they were going to set him up for a fall, they should at least compensate him for it. ‘The Maverick,’ ever the showman, leaned into the absurdity, sharing slow-motion footage of the crash and laughing it off. However, unlike many internet feuds that continue indefinitely, this one ended within days.

Von ultimately retracted his charges and said he may have misread the issue. Still, the entire incident served as a reminder that in the age of constant eyes and quick uploads, even a broken chair can stir a national conversation, especially when Theo Von is in it. What do you think? Who was in the wrong in the situation? Let us know in the comments.