gate crashing

{{Short description|Entering, attending, or participating in an event without invitation}}

{{for multi|the album by Living in a Box| Gatecrashing (album)| the wedding tradition in Singapore|Chinese wedding door games}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2011}}

Gate crashing, gatecrashing, or party crashing is the act of entering, attending, or participating in an event without an invitation or ticket.{{Cite web|title=Definition of GATE-CRASHER|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gate-crasher|access-date=2021-09-02|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}

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 producers did not intend to feature or by unforeseen, often whimsical, acts.{{Cite web |last=Beresford |first=Jack |url=https://www.newsweek.com/man-gatecrashes-windsor-castle-queen-elizabeth-second-live-broadcast-1741935 |title=Man Gatecrashes Live Broadcast Outside Queen's Castle to Advertise Business |website=Newsweek |date=12 September 2022 |access-date=25 June 2023}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55027641 |title=Dutch journalist gatecrashes EU defence video conference |work=BBC News |date=21 November 2020 |access-date=25 June 2023}}{{Cite web |url=https://metro.co.uk/video/baby-elephant-gatecrashes-tv-news-interview-keeps-kissing-reporter-2818169/ |title=Video: Baby elephant gatecrashes TV news interview and keeps kissing reporter |website=Metro |date=16 November 2022 |access-date=25 June 2023}} 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/14/robert-kelly-children-interrupt-live-bbc-interview-south-korea |title=Robert Kelly: my minor mistake turned family into YouTube stars |last=Johnston |first=Chris |date=14 March 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=14 March 2017}}

Various techniques that involve blending in with the crowd{{Specify|date=May 2011}} can be used to gain access to some events.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1705711.stm |title=Top tips for gatecrashing |work=BBC News |date=2001-12-17 |access-date=2013-11-09}} 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 credentials or checking invitations at the door. Regardless of prevention, such measures can still be thwarted by a skilled gate crasher.{{cite web |last=Angel |first=Amanda |url=http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/features/24310/holiday-party-crashing |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914085855/http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/features/24310/holiday-party-crashing |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 14, 2012 |title=Time Out New York – Holiday-party crashing |website=Timeout.com |date=2007-11-15 |access-date=2013-11-09 }}

The first "how to" gate-crashing book, Meet the Stars,{{cite book|title=Meet the Stars|first=Missy|last=Laws|date=1 February 1988|publisher=Ross Books|isbn=0894960024}} was written by Charlotte Laws in 1988.{{cite news|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/02/02/five-famous-gatecrashers-super-bowls-royal-palaces-and-even-the-white-house/ |title=Five Famous Gatecrashers |work=East Bay Times |date=2016-02-02 | access-date=2021-09-06}} She went by the name Missy Laws at the time and details how she crashed dozens of celebrity-filled events, major award shows{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/18/how-to-fake-your-way-into-a-celebrity-party/ |title=How To Fake Your Way into a Celebrity Party | newspaper= Washington Post |date=2015-09-18 |access-date=2021-09-06}} and even got past Secret Service to interview the president.{{cite news |url=https://www.gawker.com/emergency-delivery-for-g-clooney-my-life-as-an-a-list-1704228067 |title=Emergency Delivery for G Clooney |work=Gawker |date=2015-05-13 |access-date=2021-09-06 |archive-date=2021-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906165200/https://www.gawker.com/emergency-delivery-for-g-clooney-my-life-as-an-a-list-1704228067 |url-status=dead }} Her story about Elvis was reprinted in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MfOqWgzMNccC&q=meet+the+stars+missy+laws&pg=PT152|title=Uncle John's Bathroom Reader|first=Bathroom Readers'|last=Institute|date=15 November 1988|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780312026639|via=Google Books}} Her memoirs, Undercover Debutante (2019){{cite news|url= https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/in-search-of-a-birth-family/ |title=In Search of a Birth Family |work=Atlanta Jewish Times|date=2014-08-14 |access-date=2021-09-06}} and Rebel in High Heels (2015), include some of her gate crashing escapades.