Gate crashing, gatecrashing, or party crashing is the act of entering, attending, or participating in an event without an
invitation or
ticket.
The term has also come to be used to refer to intrusions on
videographed sessions, such as interviews and news reports, either by parties the
video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
producers did not intend to feature or by unforeseen, often whimsical, acts. This can easily occur when a subject is interviewed at home, as has become common in the 21st century and was especially so during
lockdowns ordered by governments during the worldwide
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Various techniques that involve
blending in with the crowd can be used to gain access to some events. Examples of blending in can include wearing the proper attire or participating in the event activities. Various measures can be taken to prevent gate crashers from gaining access such as increasing
security, requiring
credential
A credential is a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or ''de facto'' authority or assumed competence to do so.
Examples of credentials include aca ...
s or checking invitations at the door. Regardless of prevention, such measures can still be thwarted by a skilled gate crasher.
The first "how to" gate-crashing book, ''Meet the Stars'', was written by
Charlotte Laws in 1988. She went by the name Missy Laws at the time and details how she crashed dozens of celebrity-filled events, major award shows and even got past
Secret Service to interview the president. Her story about
Elvis was reprinted in ''
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader''. Her memoirs, ''Undercover Debutante'' (2019)
and ''Rebel in High Heels'' (2015), include some of her gate crashing escapades.
See also
*
Peter Hore
*
Piggybacking (security)
*
2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches
*''
Wedding Crashers'' – 2005 romantic comedy film
References
{{reflist
Security breaches
Wedding
Deception