Lillie Michelle: Who is ‘Boopsy’, the ‘notorious celebrity stalker’, as photo with Zayn Malik goes viral?

Known online as “Boopsy,” her real name is Lillie Michelle, a longtime figure in fan communities with a history of tracking and meeting celebrities – particularly the former members of One Direction.

The viral image, posted by @BuzzingPop on X, shows Zayn posing with Michelle outside what appears to be an airport terminal. The caption reads: “ZAYN poses with a fan in rare photo.” But many users quickly recognised the woman next to him as Boopsy, prompting a wave of shocked reactions.

One user reposted the picture with a caption as it hit 20 million views: “ ‘A Fan’ oh buzzing pop you don’t know the lore do you..’”.

One user posted: “The way she recently found Selena…. 😭😭,” referring to a separate resurfaced image of Michelle with Selena Gomez. Another tweet showed a collage of Michelle posing with dozens of celebrities including Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and multiple members of One Direction. “The way every fandom hated her 😭😭😭😭😭,” the caption read.

Michelle, who now appears to operate a private Instagram account under the handle @boopsy429, previously maintained a public presence on Twitter (now X) and posted under the same username. That account has since been suspended by X for violating its platform rules.

Online speculation escalated further after parody and fan accounts began suggesting that Michelle had been jailed for stalking celebrities or breaking into their homes. One tweet with over 5,000 views claimed: “For stalking multiple celebs and breaking into their homes,” while another simply read, “SHE WAS IN JAIL?!?!?”

However, there is no public record or verified report confirming that Michelle has ever been arrested, served jail time, or been issued any restraining orders by celebrities.

In a 2015 profile published by Teen Vogue, Michelle openly discussed her involvement in online fandom culture and how she gained prominence by tracking celebrities’ whereabouts and sharing tips with fan-run update accounts. “It was so empowering knowing that I was the only one who had the information,” she said. “If someone wanted to know where One Direction was, another person would say, ‘Oh, ask Boopsy.’ It felt cool. Everyone would agree that it feels cool to get attention like that.”

Her repeated encounters with celebrities gained her notoriety, especially during One Direction’s peak popularity. “With all attention comes negative attention,” Michelle told the magazine, adding she received hate messages and even death threats from fellow fans who resented her access to the band.