Tony Brown is in the middle of his “15 minutes of fame,” but he is not sure he likes it.
“Tons of people approach me on campus,” Brown said.
Brown, a political science sophomore, is not the ladies’ man he set out to be on the MTV show MADE, but he has gained unexpected “celebrity” status since his episode aired.
Women of LSU didn’t fall for him on the show, but Brown said other women and a few men in Baton Rouge and around the country have taken an interest in him.
Brown said since the Sept. 27 airing, he has dealt with the positive and negative consequences of his recent “elevated” social status both on and off campus.
Fans have recognized Brown around campus and yelled his name, or have called him in the middle of the night to try to meet up with him.
Brown said as he walked through one of the crowds gathered in Free Speech Alley to hear an evangelist, members of the crowd called him as he walked by.
“Someone in the crowd said, ‘Hey, look. It’s Tony Brown,'” he said.
But not all of his encounters with fans have been pleasant.
Brown said some people got his cell phone number and began harassing him. He had to change his phone number.
One of Brown’s biggest surprises came from an off-campus fan – his friend, Ryan Mulbowney. The two met before Brown’s MADE appearance through using an Internet discussion board.
Mulbowney is a journalism junior at Slippery Rock University, a state university located about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh in Slippery Rock, Penn.
Mulbowney co-hosts a late-night talk show called “Gettin’ Later” at Slippery Rock University. He helped book Brown as a celebrity guest for the show.
“Gettin’ Later” is similar to Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Mulbowney said in a telephone interview. Mulbowney said he and host Ben Mitchell interview Slippery Rock sports figures and other local celebrities.
“Tony has national appeal,” Mulbowney said. “I felt like he’d be a good guest because he is well-known.”
Mulbowney and the other 12 “Gettin’ Later” staff members paid half of Brown’s $260 air fare with their own money to get him on their show. Brown paid the other $130 himself.
“It was worth it to have somebody who was on national TV,” Mulbowney said of paying out of his own pocket.
Mulbowney said many Slippery Rock students respect Brown for going on MADE to become a ladies’ man.
“I think he’s a real character,” he said. “He’s a likable guy.”
Another benefit of going on “Gettin’ Later” was that Brown got to go on his first date since appearing on MADE.
He said he preferred going on a date without any video cameras.
“[I was] a lot more comfortable,” Brown said. “I didn’t have to worry about saying anything bad, and she wasn’t freaked out.”
Whether or not Brown is an actual “celebrity,” he is getting feedback on The Reveille’s Web site.
The Sept. 29 Reveille story about the initial reaction to Brown’s episode of the show received the most hits – 1, 126 – on the site during the first week of October. Most of the time, stories in the No. 1 spot are sports stories.
People from around the country – Wisconsin, California and Florida – posted comments to the story.
Melanie Morrison, from Florida, posted a comment on The Reveille’s Sept. 8 story about Brown. Morrison said in her post that Brown is very “good looking” and wanted to get his e-mail address.
Morrison is disappointed because she has not gotten to talk to Brown yet.
“I still haven’t gotten in touch with Tony,” Morrison said in an e-mail.
After that statement she added a “sad face,” made with a colon and parenthesis.
Not everyone on campus recognizes Brown.
Lauren Aspell, a political science senior, did not recognize the name Tony Brown. Aspell said she does not watch MTV.
Aspell was skeptical about the changes she had heard Brown went through.
“MTV can’t change you that much,” she said. “They can change how you look but not who you are.”
Brown said there is still one more way more people can find out who he is.
Producers at MTV are discussing using Brown in another show.
“It’d be like ‘The Bachelor,'” he said. “They would bring 10 college girls from around the country, and they would live with me or come visit me every day.”
After spending time with each of the women, Brown would get to pick the one he liked the most.
Brown said he is not sure plans for the show will go through, but he will deal with the repercussions of his social status as they arrive.
“I’m definitely trading off my privacy,” he said. “It’s a hard decision to make.”