Hello again everyone! My question is “Are Celebrities Toxic for Society”
In my last post, I asked the question “what the difference between having fame and being a celebrity.” I mainly found that what separates having fame and being a celebrity is how much you are in the public eye and for what you are there for /not having a big “celebrity persona”.
Today I will be moving on to my next round looking into, celebrity impacts (positive and negative) on people and themselves. This will help me see if the bad outweighs the good, helping me answer my big question.
As we all know, celebrities are very influential. Their actions, to an extent, set norms for society. I’m going to look at the types of celebrities and pick one from each category to look into.
Celebrities
Pop Artist- Ariana Grande
Persona- Kim Kardashian
Rapper- Kendrick Lamar
Athlete- Lebron James
Actor- Tom Hanks
Actress- Jessica Alba
Positive Impacts on the People
Let’s begin with Ariana Grande, our pop singer. She has supported these charities…
- Cancer Research Institute
- Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- Entertainment Industry Foundation
- Make-A-Wish Foundation
- Melanoma Research Alliance
- PETA
- Ryan Seacrest Foundation
- Stand Up To Cancer
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
- TJ Martell Foundation (1)
And these are the causes she has supported…
AIDS & HIV, Animals, Cancer, Children, Creative Arts, Education, Family/Parent Support, Health, Hunger, Poverty (1)
Obviously, this is a great thing for the people. She has been donating to these charities and supported these causes.
She has also become a symbol of strength and courage to many. This is because in 2017 at her concert in Manchester, a terrorist detonated a suicide bomb. This led to the deaths of 22 people and 139 injured. Of course, she was traumatized but she pulled through. She even put on a benefit concert for those affected in Manchester. Grande also broke off her engagement with Pete Davidson and her former boyfriend Mac Miller died of a drug overdose in the same year. (2)
Next, our persona, Kim Kardashian-West. She has supported these charities…
- Alzheimer’s Association
- American Foundation for AIDS Research
- Baycrest Foundation
- Breast Cancer Research Foundation
- Clara Lionel Foundation
- Diamond Empowerment Fund
- Dream Foundation
- Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- Elton John AIDS Foundation
- Generation Rescue
- Give Love
- I Heart My Girlfriends
- Make It Right
- Mattel Children’s Hospital
- Operation Once in a Lifetime
- Race to Erase MS
- Skin Cancer Foundation
- Soles4Souls
- The Humane Society
- The Salvation Army
- True Colors Fund
- We Advance
- WomenHeart (3)
And these are the causes she has supported…
Abuse, AIDS & HIV, Alzheimer’s Disease, Animals, At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths, Autism, Cancer, Children, Civil Rights, Creative Arts, Disaster Relief, Economic/Business Support, Education, Environment, Family/Parent Support, Grief Support, Health, Homelessness, LGBT Support, Mental Challenges, Miscellaneous, Poverty, Refugees, Senior Citizen Support, Sports, Substance Abuse, Veteran/Service Member Support, Water, Women (3)
She also volunteered at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles visiting sick kids. She volunteered for 7 years before any buzz appeared. (4)
Kim also spoke about transgender issues, interracial couples, fertility issues, educating people on the Armenian genocide (she is Armenian), and body positivity. (4)
Moving on to our rapper, Kendrick Lamar.
As Insider puts it ‘[h]is music also became the lyrical backdrop of the greater Black Lives Matter movement’. His song “Alright” in his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” (5)
In 2013, Lamar gave his high school a $50,000 to help improve their music facilities and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Compton’s school district’s sports, after-school, music and other programs. In addition, he worked with many local charities in Compton. He won an award from the California State Senate in 2015 for his community work. (6)
Third, Lebron James, the athlete. He has supported…
And these are the causes he has supported…
At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths, Cancer, Children, Creative Arts, Education, Family/Parent Support, Health, Human Rights, Hunger, Mental Challenges, Physical Challenges, Poverty
Onto Tom Hanks, the actor. He has supported…
- American Foundation for AIDS Research
- Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes
- BID 2 BEAT AIDS
- Cancer Research Institute
- Celebrity Fight Night Foundation
- Children’s Health Fund
- Elevate Hope Foundation
- Elizabeth Dole Foundation
- Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- Entertainment Industry Foundation
- Got Your 6
- Healthy Child Healthy World
- Hole in the Wall Gang
- Joining Forces
- K9 Connection
- Lifeline Energy
- Madison Foundation
- Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation
- Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center
- National Space Society
- ONE Campaign
- Onyx and Breezy Foundation
- Parkinson Society Maritime Region
- Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund
- Red Cross
- Robin Hood
- Stand Up To Cancer
- Surfrider Foundation
- The Rainforest Foundation
- UNICEF
- Women in the World Foundation
- Women’s Cancer Research Fund
The causes he supports are…
Abuse, AIDS & HIV, Animals, At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths, Cancer, Children, Creative Arts, Diabetes, Disaster Relief, Economic/Business Support, Education, Environment, Family/Parent Support, Grief Support, Health, Human Rights, Hunger, Literacy, Miscellaneous, Oceans, Parkinson’s Disease, Poverty, Rape/Sexual Abuse, Refugees, Slavery & Human Trafficking, Veteran/Service Member Support, Women
And last one, the actress, Jessica Alba
- Baby2Baby
- Cancer Research Institute
- Children’s Defense Fund
- Clothes Off Our Back
- Communities in Schools
- Declare Yourself
- DonorsChoose.org
- Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- Entertainment Industry Foundation
- Feeding America
- Global Campaign for Education
- Global Poverty Project
- Habitat For Humanity
- International Fund For Animal Welfare
- Keep A Child Alive
- Kids Wish Network
- Love Our Children USA
- March Of Dimes
- Melanoma Research Alliance
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- National Kidney Foundation
- ONE Campaign
- Padres Contra el Cancer
- Partnership for a Healthier America
- Project HOME
- RADD
- Revlon Run/Walk For Women
- Soles4Souls
- SOS Children’s Villages
- Stand Up To Cancer
- Step Up
- The Art of Elysium
- The MaxLove Project
- The Nature Conservancy
- The Rescue Train
- The Samburu Project
- Until There’s a Cure
- US Doctors for Africa
- V-Day
- Years of Living Dangerously (8)
And these are the causes she has supported…
Abuse, Adoption, Fostering, Orphans, AIDS & HIV, Animals, At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths, Blood, Marrow & Organ Donation, Bullying, Cancer, Children, Creative Arts, Disaster Relief, Economic/Business Support, Education, Environment, Family/Parent Support, Grief Support, Health, Homelessness, Human Rights, Hunger, Mental Challenges, Miscellaneous, Missing Children, Physical Challenges, Poverty, Rape/Sexual Abuse, Refugees, Senior Citizen Support, Slavery & Human Trafficking, Substance Abuse, Voter Education, Water, Women (8)
Role models
Celebrities can be good role models to people through their virtuous endorsements. Many, as shown above, support good causes and charities to show that they are compassionate. (9)
Having their stories of success in the open can inspire other people to follow in their footsteps and try their luck at music, writing, acting, etc. The same goes for the struggles that celebrities have. For example, when Demi Lovato, who has a history of drug abuse, released her song “Sober”, it resonated with fans dealing with drug abuse. It inspired a lot of them to speak out about their issues. (10)
Positive Impacts on Celebrities
-Celebrities are generally wealthy (11)
-They are known locally or globally (11)
-They get support from fans (11)
-Special treatment from businesses and fans (11)
Negative Impacts on Celebrities
-less privacy (11)
-stalkers (11)
-paparazzi (11)
-hard to trust friends (11)
-hyper-criticism (12)
-need to be perfect (11)
-targeted by criminals (12)
Negative Impacts on the People
First, Ariana Grande
Controversies:
Ariana licked donuts and didn’t pay for them back in 2015. She also said she hates America but has since apologized (13)
I don’t think this would be extremely detrimental for her fans to see. She is pretty clean of controversy. Of course, it wasn’t a good thing that she did, but I feel like it’s forgivable and doesn’t stop her from being a role model for her fans.
Second, Kim Kardashian
Controversies:
Kim was accused of cultural appropriation this year in March. She wore braids with white beads. Her argument was that her daughter, North, wanted braids (North is half African American) so she got her hair and her daughter’s hair done. Kim was also called out for darkening her skin in pictures (14)
She originally wanted to call her shapewear brand “Kimono” (15)
She promoted appetite-suppressing lollipops and morning sickness pills that weren’t FDA approved (15)
Her general use of photoshop. (15)
I think that Kim is not the best role model. She is a persona meaning that’s how she gets all of her attention. It’s examples like Kim that make the role model argument hard to pass.
Third, Kendrick Lamar
Controversies:
Kendrick doesn’t have any real controversies. The only thing I could find was when he called out a fan for singing the n-word in one of his songs at a concert. (16)
Next, Lebron James
Controversies:
When asked about the Chinese Muslims being held in camps Lebron said he had nothing to say on the topic. China and the NBA are highly connected; They are big sponsors. So, it’s disappointing to see Lebron not speak his mind because of money. (17)
I think this is sad to see. Definitely not an inspiring action that people should learn from.
Penultimately, Tom Hanks
Controversies:
He was accused of moving to Greece because pedophilia is a disability there, but this is all fake. A lot of what I found are just accusations so I’m going to leave it there. (18)
He would be a fine role model.
Last but not least, Jessica Alba
Controversies:
She made a sunscreen that caused nasty sunburns (19)
Her company “Honest Co.” is extremely controversial because they used ingredients in their laundry detergent that was specifically called forbidden on their website. The company was also called dishonest in a lawsuit. (20)
I don’t think it’s great to look up to someone with a dishonest company. That said, I don’t think she’s worse than Kim K.
The Problem in General
I think the main problem with having celebrities is needing them to be something they aren’t. I think fame for acting or music should be separate from the need for a role model. Paparazzi are pretty invasive, and I just don’t think it’s right for people to be violated like that whether or not they are famous. No one is perfect. I can see how a controversy that would be forgotten if the person were normal compared to if the person was famous can be very different. There is that need to be perfect so that their careers don’t end. Beauty standards are also a big part of why I think celebrities are odd. They literally are the standards and people compare themselves to the celebrities. It’s hard for people to be who they want to be when they are expected to look a certain way. Many celebrities openly edit their pictures; I find that so sad. Celebrities are really manufactured these days. I feel like we mainly have celebrity culture for profit.
Overall, I think that the bad outweighs the good. I know that celebrities donate to charity and volunteer, but I feel like that is totally unrelated to the damaging effects of celebrity culture.
In my next round of research, I will ask “What would the world look like without celebrities? I want to ask this to see how the world would look and what we could realistically do to lessen the toxic parts of the culture.
Thanks for reading!
References:
https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/ariana-grande#:~:text=Ariana%20Grande%20has%20supported%20the,Entertainment%20Industry%20Foundation (1)
https://www.mdcthereporter.com/ariana-grande-is-a-symbol-of-empowerment/ (2)
https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/kim-kardashian (3)
https://vt.co/entertainment/celebrity/8-ways-kardashians-actually-good-world (4)
https://www.hypefresh.co/buying-back-the-block-7-of-the-most-charitable-rappers-around/ (6)
https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/lebron-james (7)
https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/jessica-alba (8)
https://www.ipl.org/essay/How-Do-Celebrities-Affect-Society-P3CM2336J4DR (9)
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-life-and-death-of-celebrities-is-it-always-good-to-be-famous/ (11)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/russalanprince/2016/06/27/the-downside-of-celebrity/?sh=3393eb1843ff (12)
https://www.insider.com/ariana-grande-licked-a-donut-three-year-anniversary-2018-7 (13)
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44209141 (16)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/16/us/lebron-james-nba-china-controversy-trnd/index.html (17)
https://www.wired.com/story/crying-pedophile-is-the-oldest-propaganda-trick-in-the-book/ (18)
Hi Shieva,
I enjoyed reading about your topic. I’m surprised that all the celebrities made so many contributions to funds and hospitals. It was really cool that Kendrick Lamar donated money to his high school to improve their music department. I learned that there were also negative aspects of celebrity including their beauty standards.
Here is a video that might be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oIQPKaN04A
I’m looking forward to seeing your next research round!
Thank you and thanks for the suggestion. I will check it out!
Hi Shieva,
This was a very interesting read! I am quite astonished to learn these celebrities have supported so many charities! Even though they have made so many contributions and have supported so many charities, there are a quite a few controversies I did not know about and only now learned it in your post.
I am looking forward to reading your next round of research!
Hi Shieva,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! I found the information quite interesting. I do like the way that Ariana Grande dealt with the Manchester bombing. She has also stood up to sexism in the past. Of course, in a way this should be basic human decency, but unfortunately it is not. Great job on your research!