The average American spends approximately 2.5 hours on social media each day. During this time, many people engage with new content from celebrities and artists, meticulously watching every move they make. What these people fail to realize is that these individuals are humans and can make mistakes as well as bad choices. 

People are attentive to such individuals with high status for several reasons. Some may feel inspired by them, while others want to hold these individuals accountable for their actions. However, things can get problematic when they are carried too far.  

Some people wait for these celebrities to make a mistake or pick on any microscopic flaw just for the fun of it. While I do agree that celebrities should be held accountable especially ones with massive platforms, the attempt to “cancel” celebrities for human mistakes is outrageous. It will also prevent the individual from learning from their mistakes and growing as a person because their main concern is getting cancelled rather than understanding why what they did was wrong. 

However, you should not idolize celebrities either. These individuals are perfectly capable of consciously making bad choices. You do not have to defend a celebrity with every fiber of your existence when they make a bad choice. You can admire a celebrity while also acknowledging the choices they made and how they can have negative effects. 

I felt compelled to share my views after watching a video by the channel Jubilee in which there are six  Taylor Swift fans and one “hater,” and they collectively have to find the mole. At the end of the video when the mole is revealed and they explain their stance, one of the reasons why they are not fans of Taylor Swift is due to her failure to use her platform and choosing not to speak up on the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

One contestant saids they felt “rage inside” to the criticism while another contestant argued “it’s just kind of a topic not to be put in a box of Swift fans.” This type of reaction to your favorite celebrity being criticized is concerning. This does not just apply to Taylor Swift, but various other celebrities who are put on a pedestal by their fans. I think this type of celebrity worship is not just harmful to the celebrity but also the fans. The constant need to share the same belief and the inability to critique them will prevent them from being able to make their own judgments and form their own opinions.

This is by no means saying that you cannot admire a celebrity. But being a fan of someone does not mean you cannot criticize them. In actuality, I believe that real fans are ones that are able to put their feelings aside and criticize when they need to.

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