by Libby Pierzak-Pee
Now more than ever, social media plays a huge role in the way we engage with social and political issues. With infographics, interviews, articles, reading lists, and donation resources being shared every day, we have witnessed how powerful social media can be when it comes to accessing cultural education.
Within society, there is a natural inclination to demand action from those in positions of power and privilege. But why do we place so much responsibility on celebrities being the voice of reason when it comes to social and political issues?
Celebrities often have large following across multiple social media platforms, and there is often an unspoken expectation that they should use their platforms for good by expressing their opinions and raising awareness of social issues.
It is important for celebrities to speak out about social issues, particularly when these issues are prevalent within their latest projects. In what should have been an important moment to raise awareness of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence, the disastrous It Ends With Us press tour and promotional campaign turned into a gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss moment for Blake Lively.
It Ends With Us, an adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, faced backlash after cinemagoers, social media users, and domestic violence survivors came forward with issues about the film’s depiction of abusive relationships and intimate partner violence.
Throughout the press tour Blake Lively rarely addressed the film’s subject matter and brushed off questions about the film’s portrayal of domestic violence. In a video promoting the film on TikTok, Lively encouraged fans to “grab your girlfriends, wear your florals, and head out to see it!” In addition to these blasé comments, Lively used the press tour to promote her haircare line and beverage company.
In contrast to interviews with its director and co-star, Justin Baldoni, where he spoke passionately about the need to focus on understanding the root causes of abusive behaviour particularly amongst men, Lively’s interviews were more playful and upbeat. Her interviews included games and often focused on her character’s wardrobe choices and behind the scenes anecdotes.
In one of the only moments during the press tour where she addressed the film’s subject matter, Lively said; “This movie covers domestic violence, but what’s important about this film is [Lilly] is not just a survivor and not just a victim. While those are huge things to be they’re not her identity. She’s not defined by something that someone else did to her.”
Maddie Spear, a trauma therapist who has worked with survivors of domestic violence, posted a video on TikTok explaining why Lively’s comments were tone-deaf and problematic. Spear explains how domestic violence “is not something that you can ‘just choose’ not to be defined by.” Explaining how Lively’s “actions are continuing to make victims and survivors of domestic abuse and trauma feel like their story is too heavy to even talk about.”
Many expressed their disappointment in Lively’s lack of self-awareness and wished she would have spoken more openly about domestic violence and intimate partner abuse in interviews, especially given the fact that she is also one of the executive producers of the film. This release could have been a huge moment for bringing conversations around domestic violence into the mainstream and providing more information and initiatives to help those still in these situations.
While Lively did later post resources on her Instagram story, this appeared to be more of a performative gesture in response to the criticism she was receiving on the press tour. Sadly, the film’s promotion and marketing combined with Lively’s tone-deaf comments overshadowed the central message.
Lively’s response is just one example of celebrities participating in performative allyship and virtue signalling in response to backlash they have personally received rather thangiving their opinion out of genuine concern for a cause.
Recently, an increasing number of celebrities have spoken out against social injustices. However, whilst some continue to be vocal, others have remained silent.
As the world continues to watch Israel’s war on Gaza and the violent oppression of the Palestinian people, celebrity social media posts have ranged from the articulate and passionate to the messy and ignorant.
Whilst celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Susan Sarandon have actively shown their support for Palestinians, celebrities including Paris Hilton, Lewis Hamilton, and Kendall Jenner all retracted their social media posts expressing outrage or grief over Palestine.
Fed up with celebrities failing to use their platforms and influence to speak out, TikTok user @ladyfromtheoutside decided to start the ‘Blockout’ movement. The online campaign encourages social media users to participate in a digital guillotine by boycotting and blocking celebrities who they feel have been ignorant of or remained silent. A multitude of block lists have circulated online, with the celebrities most frequently listed including the Kardashian family, Beyoncé, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Swift.
It is a sad state of affairs when we are more angered by the inaction of celebrities than we are about the atrocities that continue to take place in Gaza. This anger and frustrationcould and should be pushed back onto world leaders, who are the ones actually holding the power in this situation.
The demand for celebrities to “speak out” on complex political and social issues often feels bigger than the issues themselves. It feels like a litmus test from the masses. As a fan, am I justified in having a parasocial relationship with you? Do you support the same causes and issues I do?
Rather than forming our own opinions and judgements, we develop a desire for our favourite celebrities and influencers to prove their ‘goodness’ to us by receiving confirmation that their views morally align with our own. And when we don’t get it, we demand answers.
Celebrities are entertainers. They are actors, actresses, singers, songwriters, musicians, sports stars, personalities, influencers. They do not have PhD level expertise on every single social, political, cultural, economic issue in the world.
Just like regular, everyday people, some celebrities are clueless when it comes to the issues plaguing society on a daily basis. This stems from many of them failing to acknowledge their own privilege within society, a lack of knowledge, or general ignorance, which often leads them to develop shallow and tone-deaf perspectives when asked about a particular subject.
Do I think celebrities should be encouraged to educate themselves on political and social issues before commenting on them and use their platforms to speak about and raise awareness of these issues, especially if projects they are working on address such topics? Absolutely! But this should come from a place of genuine outrage or concern rather than simply being another performative gesture made in fear of cancellation.
With huge audiences and wealth, we should hope these people can take the time to learn and share, but as consumers we can’t encourage more performative allyship - it is counter-productive and effectively meaningless.
Berating celebrities and influencers in their comment sections for either giving or not giving an opinion on a political or social issue, does absolutely nothing to improve the lives of those currently suffering. Instead, consider using that time to protest, sign petitions, donate, and have meaningful conversations with the people around you.
Edited by Emily Duff