Why Does My Favorite Celebrity Not Believe What I Believe?

Celebrity activism might not be as straightforward as you think.

Washington Square Park Protest, NYC. March 2, 2024. Photo by Laya Hartman

Laya Hartman

Bronny James’ the eldest son of LeBron James and USC freshman, Instagram looks exactly as you’d expect: Basketball posts, fit checks, and NIL deal promotional advertising. His post on October 23, 2023, shows a family promotion the the James family is participating to advertise Beats by Dre. The top comment was, perhaps, not that surprising either: “You are complicit in the killings in Gaza.” The comment had 188 likes. Below the comment, responses ranged from “if you have nothing else to say, turn off the phone and go to sleep” to “There is a genocide happening you expect people to be quiet? Tf is wrong with you. Did you want people to be quiet about black slavery?” to “Go over there and save them then and stop being an internet warrior” to “What does Bronny have anything to do with it???” 

Since the October 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas, the internet has taken digital activism to a height seen before, like in 2020 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. Digital activism is a form of activism that is solely on the internet, and uses different social media platforms for mass mobilization and political action. Instagram pages such as @votefwd encourage people to vote in elections, and give actionable information related to voting. On April 11, 2024, Votefwd posted to encourage people to write letters to Congressman Pat Ryan in hope of letting their voices be heard. 

But recently, digital activism has been criticized as only spreading the awareness of political issues, without offering actionable solutions and meaningful change. On January 8, 2024, Instagram user mattxiv posted a slideshow rebuting Jo Koy’s insensitive comment about women’s breasts in the movie Barbie at the Oscars. The last slide of the post encourages people who run the Emmys to “Please let women host these things.” Though encouraging, this post gives no actionable change for the million people who liked it, unlike @votefwd. It likely created a solidarity between the users who liked it. Broadly spoken, this instagram post likely did not infiltrate the Oscar Headquarters to punish misogyny inside the biggest media networks on the planet. And if they do, why does discrimination towards marginalized communities still occur in large media?

This level of digital activism has swelled, and here's how you know. It feels like everyone must participate including, if not especially, celebrities–for their large platforms and the power they hold. For example, celebrity activism as it relates to the issue between Israel-Palestine has awakened many celebrities to take to Instagram. 

But is it fair or even impactful to expect celebrities to post on social media about their own activism? Talia Attar is an activist involved in outreach and public demonstrations for the shutdown for Palestine movements in New York City. Attar sees positive change from celebrity posts about current issues using their social media platforms. “Within the digital space between a celebrity versus a non celebrity, is just the size of the platform they have, and therefore the kind of scope of the number of people that they can reach through their online platform.” Attar believes that the expectation for celebrities with such big platforms to use the power that they have for change is a reasonable request and expectation. But Attar only believes that celebrity digital activism is beneficial for short-term change, not to create long lasting differences. Since the October 7th attacks by Hamas, the Palestinian movement has been fighting for a ceasefire in Gaza. Many internet users have publicly called for a ceasefire. Singer Billie Eilish wore a red pin at the Oscars, which called for a cease-fire, which she later posted the photo on her instagram. Attar believes that this digital activism “towards the ceasefire has been quite central.”

But in terms of the overall struggle for Palestinian Liberation, this short-term digital activism is barely the tip of the iceberg in terms of demands that need to be met for any form of justice and liberation. Attar believes that anything more than quick and actionable demands should not be expected of celebrities to speak out on. “I think it's a general societal flaw that so much weight is posted on these voices of celebrities, right? Like, why in the world would Taylor Swift, who’s not engaged in liberation, not Palestinian, not Arab. Like, why do people put so much weight on their voice in this matter?” The parasocial, celebrity-culture and relationships that are formed with celebrities can become dangerous in expecting celebrities to use their platform for what the fans encourage– not what the celebrity actually thinks or knows. 

Behind closed doors, celebrities do much more than simply post on their Instagram stories. The Weekend donated $2.5 million to Gaza equalling 4 million emergency meals and feeding more than 173,000 Palestinians for two weeks. But this information was not publicized on his social media. Because of the alignment Zionism has as a tool of US imperialism, many celebrities hold back from posting oppositional views on social media out of fear of losing support in their careers. Attar says, “I can't really imagine, like a celebrity who's totally, completely outspoken for Palestine.” As the Weekend did donate a large amount of money, Attar noted that giving humanitarian aid, although beneficial, was less controversial than speaking to a long-term issue for Palestine. These short term goals are ways for celebrities to support, while still maintaining that status and power.

The nuance that is required when judging celebrities who do, or do not speak out on political issues must relate to the issue, to the celebrity as a person first, not a public figure or mass icon. New York resident Ore Oluwa believes that celebrities should be expected to speak out on political issues. “I think when you have financial power and also power over a population of people, you should use that for good…The least you can do with a platform is to speak on an issue and to take a stance.” 

Oluwa explains that to expect any and every celebrity, regardless of their background, to speak out encourages misinformation to spread and ill intention in advocating for such important and timely issues.