Drew Barrymore’s alleged stalker is set to appear in court in Southampton today after he was arrested for going ‘door to door’ in her New York neighborhood in an attempt to track down her home.
Just two days after breaking her speaking engagement at a Monday night special event in New York City, Chad Michael Busto, 43, was arrested outside her $6 million ranch on Long Island.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that the Washington DC man walked “a few steps outside” of the mother-of-two’s estate on Thursday. He is charged with fourth degree stalking.
Fortunately, Barrymore was not home at the time.
A source close to Drew told DailyMail.com that the ET actress is in a good mood and doesn’t want to change the way she lives her life after the scary incident.
Scary: Drew Barrymore’s alleged stalker was reportedly apprehended after going ‘door to door’ in her Southampton neighborhood, trying to track down her home; seen in March 2023
“Drew feels good, feels safe, and even at this point it happened so quickly that she was okay with it and not worried about it. She has put the incident behind her because she knows there were people there to protect her,” the source said.
“The one thing she didn’t want was for the incident to become something to be remembered all night, so she forgot about it as soon as it was over, and she kept talking to Renee and turned her attention back to the conversation, which was what Drew thought was important.
“She’s not going to change the way she lives her life and protects herself. All of those things have been and have been recorded for her throughout her life, and she doesn’t want anyone to worry about her well-being.”
According to Santa Monica Daily PressBusto has a “long criminal history, including an arrest in Santa Monica.”
The incident comes after Busto attempted to run onto the stage during a panel with actor and singer Renée Rapp earlier this week.
As he approached the stage, Busto shouted, “Drew Barrymore!”
In a TikTok video Capturing the moment, the star responded, “Oh my god, yes? Hi!’ introducing himself as “Chad Michael Busto.”
‘You know who I am. I need to see you sometime when you’re in New York,” he said.
Rapp quickly came between Barrymore and the man and walked her off stage, Barrymore putting an arm around her.
Two security guards approached the man and escorted him away from the stage.
Barrymore and Rapp later returned to the stage where they joked about the scary encounter.
Rapp said, “By the way, just to be clear, once they said, ‘Okay, we’re fine.’ They say, “Do you need anything, should we stay?” (Barrymore) was like oh no, I get it, I’m fine! ”
Barrymore said, “Well, I have a new definition of your sexyness, it’s that level of protection. That went full bodyguard! You’re my Kevin Costner!”
Just two days earlier: The incident comes after Busto attempted to run onto the stage during a panel with actor and singer Renée Rapp at 92nd Street Y earlier this week
Protective: Rapp quickly got between Barrymore and the man and walked her off stage, while Barrymore put an arm around her
To safety: Two guards approached the man and escorted him away from the stage
Back: Barrymore and Rapp later returned to the stage where they joked about the creepy encounter
The star is mother to two daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, nine.
She shares the children with her ex-husband, Will Kopelman, to whom she was married from 2012 to 2016.
The actress recently revealed that she keeps the family’s computer screens in a safe to limit the amount of time her daughters spend on them.
Speak with Better houses and gardensDrew says she sometimes pulls out an iPad, but only for “special occasions.”
“We watch a lot of movies and shows, so I don’t judge anyone on screens. But when it comes to my kids, I’m not a big fan of personal electronics like iPads,” the talk show host explained.
“During the pandemic, when schools were virtual, we were all forced to be on our separate devices, and I didn’t like that.
“Now I keep the iPads in a locked safe and they only come out on special occasions. I’d rather the three of us crawl into bed with me and watch together.’