We’re Tired of Aloof Celebrities

Since the invention of social media, it has become all but necessary for celebrities to connect with their fans on the internet. If an actor, musician, or comedian wants any clout, they have to establish an online presence. Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, more and more people have been looking to celebrities as a guide. Some have stepped up to the plate, but others have swung and certainly missed, causing major blows to their careers.

This all started when that group of celebrities including Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, and Will Ferrell, decided the best thing they could do to help frontline healthcare workers was to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” in four different keys. It certainly wasn’t the first time that celebrities have been accused of tone-deafness, but it may have broken the world record for showing the most tone-deaf (in more ways than one; seriously, the singing was bad) celebs at once.

The internet had a field day with this video, but the party was far from over after the hype died out. On March 22, pop icon Madonna posted a video of herself in a rose bath, calling Coronavirus “the great equalizer”. Naturally, people were angry; what gave her the right to preach about the struggle of the common people from her luxurious home in Lisbon?

Shortly afterward, Ellen DeGeneres broadcasted her first at-home version of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” from her equally beautiful mansion. She too complained about Coronavirus, saying she was tired of being inside all the time. She claimed that social distancing was comparable to living in prison, which is especially off-putting when you realize that many prisons are hotspots for the virus. A few weeks later, it came out that, because she is now broadcasting from home, she has stopped paying her stage crew and has not communicated with them at all regarding any future pay.

Some people are beginning to say that “celebrity culture” is crumbling partially because of this string of privileged nonsense coming from the world’s celebrities. Sure, some celebrities have stepped up to help, like our queen Rihanna, who donated $5 million to help her home country of Barbados fight the virus. But to us regular people, the smokescreen that Hollywood has created around their A-listers is beginning to dissolve. It’s becoming clear now that, as much as we would like to believe it, the vast majority of celebrities really aren’t like us. To put it bluntly, it seems like most of them don’t actually care about their communities.

The message here is clear: we’re sick of watching celebrities living in their ivory towers. Maybe it was desirable in the 20th century to watch people be richer, prettier, and all-around “better” than us, but in the age of the internet where anyone can become famous with the click of a button, we don’t want that anymore. We want to watch celebrities be real and compassionate. We would much prefer watching our faves raise over $35 million to fight Coronavirus, like Lady Gaga, instead of preaching from their bazillion-acre mansions about how we should all be nice to each other. So, to any celebrities reading this (and we know you are), we’re asking you to put your money and time where your mouth is; then and only then will we believe that you’re just like us.