An Interview With the Woman Whose Wallet Ansel Elgort Found at a BROCKHAMPTON Show

So I get my phone back and I get a DM from a girl in high school who I haven’t talked to in a really long time, with a screencap of someone being like “I found this wallet at a BROCKHAMPTON show.” And I didn’t look to see like who posted it or whatever. I assumed it was just one of her friends.

So I’m like, “Oh, cool. Can you send me their number?” And she’s like, “That’s the dude from The Fault In Our Stars.” And I’m just like, “Oh my god. This would only happen to me.”

I DMed him but he has like 10.5 million followers and unless you mutually follow each other, it’s hard to get in contact. So I DM like every member of BROCKHAMPTON and then I tweet.

I tagged them all and then the BROCKHAMPTON stans were helping me out. Like, tons of people were retweeting it. And then I’m getting so many messages on Instagram and on Facebook being like, “Ansel has your wallet! Ansel has your wallet!” and I’m like, “I know.”

Were there any specific messages that stuck out for you?

One thing that was annoying me about these messages was the Ansel fans saying, “You’re so lucky!” and I’m like “Really, I’m not lucky. I’m stranded in NYC because I don’t have my wallet. I really don’t care who has it. I just need it back.”

But his fans are hardcore, ride or die. They were DMing his family members, like, I didn’t even do that. I did DM all the members of BROCKHAMPTON though.

Did any of them reply?

No and I’m very disappointed by that, but I understand they’re busy.

At this point, I was just relieved that someone found my wallet.

Were you nervous that anybody would pretend to be you in order to meet him?

One of his intense stans was like, “I’ll help you out!” and I was like “Oh, no. Is she going to try and pretend like she’s me?”

And at this point, I was just relieved that someone found my wallet. It’s cool that he’s a celebrity and stuff, but that was my main concern because I had to get back to school. I was more concerned because like, how am I going to get in contact? And like in the morning, you saw me in the apartment—I’m like calling his agency and they’re like, “He’s not picking up.”

I had a friend from a Facebook meme group who said, “My friend saw that we were mutual friends and she’s the girlfriend of his personal trainer so she can try to help you out.” A lot of people were trying to use whatever connection they could to try to help me. But then it wasn’t until I made another [Instagram] story and tagged him, and explained my situation. Like “Hey Ansel, I’m stranded. I’m Elise Littlefield, the girl whose wallet you have. I’m stranded in NYC and I need to get back to school so it would be really helpful…”

Like seconds later, he followed me back and DMed me and is like “Oh word, where are you? Do you want to meet at this café in Brooklyn?”

He was in the mosh pit at BROCKHAMPTON

Which café?

I don’t remember the name, somewhere in Bed-Stuy.

And of course, my phone dies in the Uber and the driver does not have a phone charger, but I told him I was on my way, what I was wearing. He DMed me a description of what he was wearing and in my head, I’m like, “I know what you look like. I’ve seen pictures of you, watched your movies, whatever.” But anyways so I go in and I’m like “Oh hey, thanks so much for giving me my wallet.”

And that’s I was really surprised, we ended up talking for like a half an hour. He was super down to earth. I forgot that he was a movie star. Just a completely normal person. It was a really good conversation. We talked about the BROCKHAMPTON show and the intensity of the mosh pit and—

Was he in the mosh pit at BROCKHAMPTON?

He was in the mosh pit at BROCKHAMPTON. And that’s where he saw [my wallet]. So that was a really nice random act of kindness that he did.

We talked about just a whole bunch of different things. We were cracking jokes. He asked me what I was passionate about. He was telling me how he’s passionate about music but his career has been in acting and he wants to get more into it.

OK, so you talked for a half an hour and then how did you guys leave it?

So my phone finally charged. And I was like, “Is it cool if I get a selfie with you? I know it would make my mom super happy. She’s a really big fan of your movies.”

And he’s like, “Yeah, cool, let’s see where the good lighting’s at.”

And so we take the selfie, and I’ve never gotten so many likes on a photo in my life.

How many likes is it at right now?

Over 350.

Have you spoken to him since?

I sent him a DM just being like “Thank you for returning my wallet, I appreciate it. I enjoyed the good conversation and I wish you the best on all of your passions.” I kind of hate that I said that though, just because I feel like it closed everything off.

So what do you wish you’d said or still want to say to him?

I think he’s really nice and down to earth guy, and if he ever wants to create music I would be totally down because I’m an upcoming musician, I’ve got a lot of vision.

Had you heard any of his music before?

I was unaware that he was a singer.

Did you watch his movies?

Yeah, I saw The Fault In Our Stars and I’ve heard good things about Baby Driver. What I was actually the most hyped about is that he’s cast as Tony in West Side Story, which is my favorite musical.

When he gave you the wallet back, did you open it to make sure nothing was missing?

One thing that was missing was my card and he was like “Oh fuck, I saw it on the floor and I didn’t have enough time to reach it.” But there wasn’t much money on it.

Do you wish someone else had found the wallet?

I’m very happy that it was him because this is a hysterical story. I finally broke 1000 followers, which is something I’ve been trying to do for a while, because of all the Ansel fans who are now following me.

If anyone else could’ve found my wallet, I wish it could have been Charli XCX or Ariana Grande.

Are you going to go watch Baby Driver now?

I’m definitely going to go watch Baby Driver.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.