We’ve all got a few townies we can’t stand.
For me, personally, it’s all of the Landgraabs. They may be an iconic household, sure, but I just don’t trust those monopolists and their genuinely evil son (literally, he has the trait and everything).
For others, it’s the celebs of Del Sol Valley. They cause major disruption everywhere they go, by triggering mass-freakouts, frenzies, and, according to one Simmer on Reddit, mass swimming pool-related death.
Wait, come again?
Sims 4 players can’t stand the Fame system
It’s been the best part of a decade since the release of Get Famous, and celebrity Sims are still causing all kinds of problems for Simmers. The worst offender of the bunch is Global Superstar Judith Ward.
Normal, every day Sims tend to have huge reactions to celebrity sightings. They’ll freak out, shout, jump up and down, and sometimes even pass out on the spot.
Generally speaking, the bigger the celebrity, the bigger the response. That means that Judith – with all her fame and fortune – brings the biggest responses out of Sims. And, apparently, she can bring out the worst in people, too.
Now, as I’m sure you can imagine, it creates real problems when Judith shows up around town. The world basically stops for a minute while everyone loses it. That’s not ideal when you’re just trying to busk for a few tips, go on a date, or really do just about anything.
Redditor u/FlynnXa could even link Judith back to the inadvertent death of nearly twenty Sims in one go:
“Judith Ward once caused the deaths of 17 Sims, including herself, in one of my saves…
It’s Autumn in my save, I have a custom holiday dedicated to celebrating the autumnal equinox in a more romantic and macabre way. But hey, I want my sims married soon so we’re going to propose today! Super cute- so let’s take a trip to the big city, rooftop bar, custom renovated to be an outdoor dinner experience but with a small “infinity pool” for flair.
Oh, look! The first snow, that’s so exciting! Oh, they’re getting engaged, awwww! And look, Judith Ward is here- wow! Oh… oh she’s swimming? That’s… odd? Oh, now everybody wants to swim? Well, it’s almost night so let’s get them home…
Wait- “Can’t leave a lot while a Sim is dying??” HUH?! Proceed to witness a random sim die in the pool of hypothermia. Then everyone gathers to mourn, most still in swim-suits, they freeze and die, repeat. This lasted until the next day!!! The only inside areas were the bathrooms, so my sims hunkered down and I had to hope they [wouldn’t] freeze to death!
I collected all the gravestones, became BEST friends with the grim reaper, and had Judith, Mortimer, the whole Landgraab family haunting my house for a while. Which… is only creepier when you realize I married Johnny Zest… yikes.”
As a result of all of this chaos and disruption, some Simmers have come up with a few creative ways to deal with her. And yes, that’s often just as threatening as it sounds.
Cancel Judith Ward and send her into hiding
A lot of users on r/Sims4 are united on one thing: Judith Ward needs to be removed from the public eye. And, thankfully, that’s pretty easy to do when you know which cheats to use.
One way of making that happen is by removing her celebrity status altogether. Once you’ve done that, Sims won’t get excited when they see Judith. Actually, they won’t even notice her at all. If only it were always so easy.
There’s one more entirely optional step after that: moving her away to somewhere obscure. Simstopia is your oyster: A shed in the middle of nowhere? Way out in Strangeville, along with all the government experiments and such? Into Vlad’s vampiric basement over in Forgotten Hollow? Truly, nowhere is too low for Judith Ward.
How to remove fame from a Sim using cheats
If you’re happy to cheat, then revoking a Sim’s spotlight is super easy. All you need to do is turn on testing cheats, then:
- Shift-click your Sim
- Select the Public Image interaction
- Select Decrease Celebrity Level
Judith Ward is a top-level celebrity, so you’re going to need to rinse and repeat a few times to turn her into a nobody.
How to leave the spotlight
Another option is to directly control the Sim you want to ‘cancel’ and get them to give up their stardom all on their own.
First, you need to actually take control of your target Sim. You can do this by booting up Live Mode as that household, or by turning on testing cheats, shift-clicking them, and selecting “Add to household.”
You could also play the long game and ask them to move in first, but honestly, that all sounds kind of calculated and scary.
Next, if they have any Fame Perks, you’re going to need to book a Celebrity Cleanse using a phone. That’ll cost you 275 Simoleons. The celebrity life isn’t cheap.
Lastly, you’re going to need to use the Quit the Spotlight interaction in the Fame panel. This is in the Simology section of Live Mode, in the bottom-right corner.
Voila. Judith Ward will be relevant no more.
Delete Judith Ward from your save entirely
One more option you have is to just get rid of Judith completely, which several users in the Reddit thread (including the original poster) went for. You can do this in the Manage World menu.
How to permanently delete a Sim
You’d be surprised by how easy this is:
- Go to Manage Worlds. This is in the three-dots menu on the top-right of your screen
- Find your target’s household. All things being equal, Judith should live in the Mulholland Drive-esque area in Del Sol Valley
- Select the household, then click the three-dots menu next to where you’d usually press play
- Click the button that looks like two Sims with a pencil next to it to enter Manage Household
- Click the pencil to enter Create-a-Sim
- Hover over your target Sim’s icon in the bottom-left and wait for a cross to appear
- Select the cross
- Confirm your choice by selecting the tick
Goodbye, Judith…
Or of course you could… Y’know…
I mean, there’s one other tried and true method of getting rid of Sims. You know the one I mean.
You might not be able to do it by removing pool ladders anymore, but really, you have more options than ever before.
Mod the pain away
A few users also suggested you try out mods to fine-tune fame, or even to get rid of celebrities entirely. A couple of options include:
- Simularity’s Get Famous Celeb Fixes & More
- LittleMsSam’s RSM (Get Famous) – Small Get Famous Reactions Overhaul
- Deaderpool’s MC Multiple Command Centre
And, of course, you can always toggle Expansion Packs on or off now whenever you want. Just be careful so you don’t mess up your save files in the process.
