Major drama unfolded at pop star Britney Spears’ wedding to Sam Asghari recently at their Thousand Oaks home in Los Angeles, when her childhood friend and former husband Jason Alexander gate-crashed the event. In a breach of security, Alexander — to whom Spears was married for just 55 hours in 2004 — got into the couple’s luxury pad, telling the guards that he had been invited. He live-streamed his invasion on social media; he could be heard repeatedly asking, “Where’s Britney?” Alexander was subsequently arrested for trespassing, vandalism and two batteries over his physical altercations with the security. 

As fans all over the world came out in support of Spears, the incident was hailed as a textbook example of upstaging a person’s special day. What do you do when uninvited guests at your party threaten to create a scene, or a colleague goes on an unwarranted public outburst in the middle of a presentation, seminar or office party that’s crucial for you? Image consultant Greeshma Thampi shares how to work around these tricky situations.