The status of “celebrity” comes with all kinds of perks—from the money and exclusive invites to the exorbitant amount of free stuff that come with Public Relations (PR) packages or brand sponsorships. The list of perks is endless, but there’s one perk that even the richest of the rich celebrities struggle to attain: privacy.
There’s an almost silent expectation placed on celebrities to live their lives in the public eye. Everyone wants to know the latest gossip—who’s dating whom, who broke up with whom, are X and Y still friends, and so on. There are media sites like TMZ and Pop Crave that are dedicated to uncovering and reporting on the latest celebrity gossip. Even rumours aren’t safe from the intrusiveness of the media, as they often fuel the rumour mill further, spinning them into headlines for magazine covers or news sites.
This silent expectation creates a toxic environment that encourages parasocial relationships between fans and celebrities, often leading the obsessive and borderline stalker-like behaviour. Parasocial relationships are one-sided attachments in which fans believe and act like they personally know a celebrity because they like their work. An attachment that is further intensified due to the internet and social media.
Fans expect their favourite celebrities will share their life with them, and by getting regular updates from entertainment news sites or social media, they come to believe they, too, have a say in what’s going on in those particular celebrities’ lives.
These fans separate the human from the celebrity, viewing them solely as public figures who are supposed to cater to the demands and whims of their fans. A common sentiment emerges when a celebrity fails to meet these expectations: “They’d be nothing without their fans.”
I strongly disagree with this mindset. As Chappell Roan aptly puts it, “It’s weird how people think that you know a person ’cause you see them online or you listen to the art they make.” Celebrities are humans just like the rest of us, and at the end of the day, their jobs may be more glamorous than ours, but they’re just that—jobs. Something that pays the bills and helps them stay afloat, some more than others, but that’s beside the point.
The real issue is that by separating the human from the celebrity, we risk causing substantial mental and physical harm to them. A quick Google search will turn up numerous examples of this—from musicians like Halsey and Justin Bieber feeling the mental pressure from their fans, to pop star Christina Grimmie, who was tragically murdered by one.
Everybody has the right to privacy, and it shouldn’t be treated as a privilege denied to some simply because of their career path.
Yamna is a fourth-year Political Studies student and one of The Journal’s Copy Editors.
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