In this op-ed, writer Aamina Khan explores the glut of celebrity responses to recent events in Israel and Palestine and why we shouldn’t wait for celebrities, often hurried and uninformed, to weigh in.
The cult of celebrity lives and breathes even through times of war. All eyes have been on Gaza and Israel for the past two weeks, after a Hamas attack on October 7 killed an estimated 1,400 Israelis, with hundreds still being held hostage. Almost immediately, the state of Israel declared war and launched a sustained military attack, killing and injuring over 6,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Civilians, including children, are dead; all eyes should be on Gaza and Israel. It seems, though, that quite a few eyes are also on Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, Kylie Jenner, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Noah Schnapp, Kehlani, Justin Bieber, and a number of other celebrities as people — and governments — look to the rich and famous for opinions about what’s going on.
Posts from celebrities have ranged from articulate and meaningful to messy and ignorant. A lot of public figures have spread blatant misinformation: Both Justin Bieber and Jamie Lee Curtis shared photos of atrocities from Gaza, incorrectly labeled as photos of Israel or with the Israeli flag, and then deleted them when called out. Meanwhile, hundreds of actors and executives, including Gal Gadot (who did compulsory service in the IDF), signed a letter to President Joe Biden calling for the release of Hamas hostages — a letter that doesn’t address the history of occupation and makes no mention of what UN experts warn is a “risk of genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Wherever your celebrity of choice falls on this spectrum, it’s worth asking why we look to them in the first place, why we can’t seem to shake our want for their opinions, and how we think through whose opinions are potentially helpful or harmful when we can’t ignore them.
Of course, some celebrities have used and will use their platforms to express opinions about global crises, which is their right. But we as a culture need to stop asking them to make statements, which are often hurried and uninformed. Celebrities aren’t experts. They’re not news organizations (which themselves can be flawed), and they’re not the sole arbiters of morality. We don’t have to treat them as anyone other than regular citizens, people whose social media output on serious issues deserves a critical eye.
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October 28, 2023 at 01:52AM
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Celebrities Are Full of Opinions on Israel & Gaza. How Do We Process Them? - Teen Vogue
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