I had the pleasure years ago of working with a young woman named Lanie Carrol. The spelling may not be accurate.
Anyway, she was from California. Went to Beverly Hills High School. Her father was chief of thoracic surgery at Cedars Sinai.
She was enamored with Richard Gere as a teen. Posters on the wall, full bit.
As she told it, one day her father told her about how a certain celebrity came in with a particular rodent stuck up his butt. He told her because he thought her “worship” of Mr. Gere was unhealthy and misplaced.
To me, this is either confirmation of the urban legend or it’s inception. Either it happened and her father truly shared the story (major HIPAA violation) or he made it up and she shared it and it spread.
The good thing is that HIPAA went into effect in 1996, while Richard’s gerbiling situation came to be in 1984.
So it was all good to say!
Did Sylvester Stallone start the Richard Gere gerbil rumour?
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/did-sylvester-stallone-start-the-richard-gere-gerbil-rumour/