How Much Is A Bad Tip If You Are A Celebrity?
OK! Magazine is trying to make a big deal of the fact that Robert Pattinson allegedly didn't tip very well at a NY restaurant the other night. If you have been reading the site a long time you know that I am a big believer in tipping and that I hate people to be cheap about tips. That being said I don't think you should ever be criticized for leaving 15%.
Robert was at Il Cantinori for dinner and his bill was $350. He left a tip of $50 which is 15%. Would I have left more? Yes, but how can you can get angry at someone for leaving what they should be leaving. I think that he could certainly afford to leave a little more and I guarantee you in the future he will probably leave more, but to call him cheap or a bad tipper seems kind of unfair. What if he didn't like the service? We are assuming it was great. The story in OK! said he received first class service but who determined that?
I am indifferent about Robert. I can take him or leave him, but I think that he has been riding a mountain of positive publicity and people are looking for negative things to say about him or to find something juicy. There are only so many combinations of people you can hook him up with and those are fast running out.
I guess to be safe if you are a celebrity you should probably always leave a 20% tip or maybe 25%. The thing to do though is whenever you have a meal that costs like $20, just leave a $100 and then you get a reputation as a big tipper.