Colin Kaepernick, Jane Fonda, Taylor Swift, Joaquin Phoenix. Over the past few years, these celebrities have forced their way to center stage. They’ve become known for their outspoken political views just as much as their actual profession. Taylor Swift has created songs highlighting gender inequality. Jane Fonda has been arrested five times for attending protests. Joaquin Phoenix used his Oscars acceptance speech to promote veganism and anti-animal maltreatment. And Colin Kapernick has become the poster-man for anti-police brutality.
Yet, while celebrities (and others) have been applauded for speaking out, they have also been criticized for taking a stance and encouraging others to do so as well.
As he hosted the 2020 Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais took a shot at the actors, directors and producers in the audience. Gervais called out what many consider the hypocrisy of Hollywood.
“You say you’re woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable,” said Gervais. “Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you? So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”
“You know nothing about the real world.” It’s that statement particularly that stands out as the reason why celebrities receive the backlash they do for their political activism.
Celebrities are often seen as wealthy individuals with no true struggles; they’re believed to be removed from the “common” world of bills that can’t be paid and discrimination that can’t be fought. But is this true?
Colin Kaepernick
For Kaepernick, absolutely not. In a 2016 interview with NFL Media following the first instance of kneeling, Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
As a man of color, Kaepernick speaks from experience; his wealth does not exclude him from racist ideals perpetuated by society. Kaepernick received an overwhelming amount of support for his actions, from Baltimore Ravens Coach John Harbaugh to his fellow San Francisco 49ers teammates.
Yet, Kaepernick’s actions also faced intense criticism from big-name politicians and news outlets: Donald Trump expressed his disgust of Kaepernick’s action, Tomi Lahren remains deeply critical of Kaepernick and many others have expressed their ire with the football player’s actions. Like Gervais, they cite Kaepernick’s fame and wealth that excludes him from the struggles he protests.
Taylor Swift
Similarly, Taylor Swift has spent much of her career speaking as a self-proclaimed feminist. She’s shut down interviewers, has accused the press of holding her to standards they don’t hold men to and released a new song titled “The Man” to highlight the double standard women in her industry face — regardless of their wealth. In the song, Swift sings,
“What’s it like to brag about raking in dollars
And getting bitches and models?
And it’s all good if you’re bad
And it’s okay if you’re mad”
Swift has received high praise for her outspoken feminism, from other stars and news outlets. Fellow pop star Demi Lovato shared an Instagram story saying, “Life’s too short for women to not support other women, especially when women release great music. Great job @taylorswift.”
Swift’s outspoken feminism has transformed into full-blown political statements: in October of 2018, Swift made an Instagram post endorsing two Democratic candidates. Since then, she has become an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and a strong proponent for the Equality Act. Her song “You Need to Calm Down” supposedly calls out anit-LGBTQIA+ sentiment and her performance and acceptance speech at the MTV Music Awards brought attention to the Equality Act.
Like Kaepernick, though, Swift’s newfound political voice has been met with criticism as well as praise. Swift, too, has had the president comment on her political speech. After Swift’s praise of the democratic candidates, the president tweeted that he liked her music about 25% less than before.
NCC student reactions
Despite the criticism both Kaepernick and Swift have received, NCC students remain on the fence on when celebrities should express political viewpoints or provide momentum for social movements.
“I don’t want the celebrities to throw it on people. I understand posting it to their social media platforms, that’s one thing. But using an awards acceptance speech to sort of throw it in the audience’s face, I don’t like that,” said Kailee Santoro, ’20,
Shealeigh Voitl, ’21, counters Santoro’s point. She said that celebrities, just like everyone else, have the right to voice their opinion whenever they want.
“I think it’s always appropriate,” said Voitl. “I remember reading people’s tweets that would say stick to football or singing, but they’re people and everybody has an opinion.”
Voitl continued, explaining that the platforms these celebrities have are vital for generating the attention needed for legislation and social movement.
“When you have a platform like that and you believe in something and believe what you’re saying could help people, I think it’s your responsibility to discuss that movement or legislation,” said Voitl. “It was great to see Taylor Swift use her voice to advocate for people in that way; it’s great to see Kaepernick to use his voice to protest in that way, especially with all the backlash. It takes a lot of courage, but it’s very necessary.”
Jasmine Pomierski, ’21, said that while celebrities speaking out can be a good thing, there shouldn’t necessarily be an expectation for them to do so. Instead, it depends on the way in which the celebrity wants to be seen.
“I feel like it depends on the celebrity and how they want to portray themselves,” said Pomierski. “They’ll lose followers or they’ll gain followers, it all depends on how they want to portray themselves.
