Sabrina Carpenter seeks court order after alleged stalker’s ‘disturbing privacy violation’
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- Pop star Sabrina Carpenter is seeking a restraining order after an alleged stalker tried to force his way into her Los Angeles home and returned twice more.
- Security footage and court filings describe a monthlong escalation, with the man allegedly breaching perimeter fencing, grabbing her front-door handle and insisting she expected his visit before police intervened.
- Carpenter says the disturbing encounters left her fearful for her safety and that of relatives living with her, as police label the suspect’s fixation irrational and increasingly dangerous.
Sabrina Carpenter is seeking a restraining order after an alleged stalker tried to open her front door, was arrested, then came back the next two days.
The harrowing sequence of events began just over a week ago, but the alleged stalker has been spotted near the “Please, Please, Please” singer’s home since April, according to court documents reviewed by The Times.
On May 23, William Applegate, 31, was apprehended by Carpenter’s security and police after he made his way onto a neighbor’s property to breach the pop singer’s security fencing, the documents say. “It is clear to me that his approach was deliberate, calculated and aggressive, which is deeply alarming,” Carpenter wrote in the request. “He then forced his way closer to my residence and advanced directly to my front door. Once there, Applegate physically grabbed the lever of my front door and forcefully pushed down, actively trying to force his way inside my home without any invitation, permission, or consent whatsoever.”
Carpenter said that when Applegate couldn’t gain access, he knocked on the door as well as rang the doorbell. The Grammy winner’s Ring camera caught the altercation when her private security intervened and tried to get Applegate to leave. The alleged stalker held firm, saying he knew the singer and that she was expecting his visit, and refused to leave until police arrived.
Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin were shaken up early Friday morning when a man allegedly trespassed at their Hollywood Hills property. Sprouse took matters into his own hands until police arrived.
According to Carpenter’s statement, the man was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department but then returned to her home less than 24 hours later, and again the following day. Both days he allegedly surveyed the singer’s home from his car.
After the jarring encounter, Carpenter’s security team combed through security tapes and discovered Applegate had been coming around for more than a month, according to the court request. “Initially, he maintained a greater distance, which is why direct contact was not made at the time,” the document reads. “However, Applegate’s conduct has followed a clear and deeply troubling escalation pattern, as he has progressively moved closer and closer to my home, ultimately culminating in the violent and aggressive trespass of May 23, 2026.”
Carpenter further wrote that Applegate’s behavior had caused her to fear for her safety and that the incident in which he attempted to enter her home “is among the most disturbing violations of personal safety and privacy I have ever experienced.”
Carpenter requested that her sister, Sarah, and her sister’s boyfriend, guitarist George Smith, be added to the protection order as well since the couple reside in her Los Angeles home.
Lindsey Buckingham, the former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist, was attacked in Santa Monica by a woman who threw an unknown substance at him.
Los Angeles Police Det. Peter Doomanis backed up Carpenter’s claims against Applegate and said that the man poses a serious “and escalating” threat to the singer, and has “developed a disturbing and irrational fixation” on the pop star.
Applegate was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing. He’s scheduled to appear in court on June 18.
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
