Social media is everyone’s favorite cesspool of toxic, chronically online takes and downright reprehensible behavior. It’s such a rewarding guilty pleasure because we can indulge in it from afar, exempt from any consequence or particular emotional stake. However, it seems these days that it’s becoming more and more difficult to enjoy social media the way we once could. Not just because of Elon Musk destroying Twitter (that’s an article for another day) or the raging anonymous anime profile pics spewing terrible takes, but because our favorite celebrities are ruining the internet.
Remember the times when stars were mysterious? It was like a treat to see them in the occasional Barbara Walters interview (may she rest in peace) or TMZ ambush. We would sit in our living rooms watching them galavant on the red carpets imagining what it would be like to be them.
Now, we know a little too well what it’s like to be them. Their drama plays out right in front of us, we see what parties they go to, we know what their dogs look like. We even know their Sweetgreen order from their Instagram stories alone.
I could have gone my entire life without knowing that Adam Levine says phrases like, “your body is absurd” on a regular basis. I still haven’t been able to blast “Moves Like Jagger” in my car without feeling secondhand embarrassment.
Even revolutionaries, like Nicki Minaj, seem to embarrass themselves regularly on social media. I miss the days of Pink Friday when Nicki seemed admirable, inspiring and unique. Now, we see her messy spats with other artists play out blow by blow on Twitter. Social media has allowed us to see the darkest sides of the celebrities we used to celebrate and enjoy.
And it goes further than just celebs oversharing. Celebrities using social media as if they were one of us has led to many of them getting into a lot of trouble for problematic behavior. Take Camila Cabello as an example. Users were able to go all the way to the beginning of her Tumblr account and found her saying various racial slurs and sharing offensive memes. And this isn’t a rare occurrence. A celebrity gets exposed for offensive online behavior as often as I change underwear. It’s becoming harder and harder to defend the people who have created the art that we hold so dearly but, it’s only right for them to take accountability, right?
On one hand, celebrities embarrassing themselves online is disheartening and disappointing. Watching artists constantly putting their feet in their mouths makes it harder to enjoy their content with a clear conscience. But I would argue that this is a positive thing. What’s worse: knowing your favorite sucks upfront or enjoying their art unknowingly supporting a terrible person?
And here’s the thing, their online behavior has real world consequences for not just them, but for us as well. Some people can’t even post their Spotify Wrapped playlists on their Instagram stories because at least fifty-percent of their top artists of the year have probably been exposed for immoral online behavior. Whether you support an artist that’s been known to be problematic is a sign of your own moral standing. No matter how you feel, you can’t help but to judge someone, positively or not, who still shamelessly listens to Kanye.
It just seems that the title of “celebrity” holds little to no weight because at every turn we are reminded that they are people just like us, only with less self awareness and more free time. But what does this mean? Are influencers really becoming the new superstars? Should we get rid of our idea of “The Celeb” altogether? Just think about it, there’s a reason why Beyonce never posts anything. She maintains her star power and mystery and we can continue to love her guilt-free. True superstars are becoming few and far between because of the accessibility of the internet. Regardless, I will continue to sit back with my popcorn and watch the circus of celebrities ruining the internet until it becomes just too depressing to enjoy.
