Ashley Benson Recalls the Time Someone Tried to Kidnap Her

Ashley Benson has had her fair share of weird encounters. As a celebrity, the actor has had some strange interactions thanks to overzealous fans. However, once, she found herself in a particularly dangerous situation. The Bring It On: In It to Win It alum once revealed that someone tried to kidnap her while she was in a car.

Ashley Benson always felt weird when ‘Pretty Little Liars’ fans wanted a picture with her

Because of her career, Benson is used to random people approaching her. This was especially true during the height of the wildly popular show, Pretty Little Liars. While Benson had been working for years prior to playing Hanna Marin, the show catapulted her into new levels of fame. Being recognized everywhere she went was definitely something that the actor had to get used to. In an interview with Complex, Benson reflected on her fame.

“I don’t get people asking me if I’m famous,” Benson explained back in 2014. “But now that Pretty Little Liars has been on for five years, people do notice me more. I like meeting different people, which is not a problem. But it’s super weird. If somebody asks me to take a picture, I want to run and hide. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

‘The O.C.’ alum recalls a time when a guy tried to kidnap her from a car

Of course, one of Benson’s most dangerous encounters may not have even occurred because of her fame. In the aforementioned interview, she explained that a creep tried to take her and her friends from a vehicle. “A couple [of] years ago, this guy literally tried to take me out of a car,” Benson recalled. Continuing on, she revealed that he “wanted to kidnap me.”

How did Benson avoid being kidnapped?

Benson then explained what happened and how she was able to avoid being abducted. “A couple of my friends and I were in the car outside of an apartment building in LA,” she recalled. “This guy pulled up super close to us, and I was like, ‘That’s weird, we should probably pull forward.’ And the guy that was driving was like, ‘No, we don’t need to move.’ So the crazy guy got out of his car and tried to open the door, and grab us in the backseat. Right when he did that, we sped off. I was so mad at the driver. I was like, ‘I cannot believe you did not move.'”

Thankfully, Benson was able to get away and avoid further harm. It’s also fortunate that she was paying attention and noticed something weird was happening pretty early on. Being hyperaware of the potential danger likely made it easier to avoid kidnapping. And, hopefully, next time the driver gets the suggestion to move his vehicle forward, he will do so.