Part of the territory of being a celebrity is having an audience that will listen to what a public persona has to say. Although celebrities have free will, celebrities and influencers should be using their platform to spread awareness and positivity.
“I think it’s fair to hold celebrities accountable because we hold our friends and family accountable so it’s only right to hold celebrities accountable too,” junior, Jordan Wheatley, states.
Due to large fanbases, public figures all over are able to spread hateful words and remarks around their social medias with little to no consequence. Kanye West is a particularly known example of through the antisemitic rhetoric he posts online. Posted on X, previously known as Twitter, West states he would commit, “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Even though this has been happening for the past few years, Kanye West is not seeing a downtick in his online following. In the past year, he’s lost 500,000 followers on X after the suspension of his account, while on Spotify he has gained 9,000,000 listeners since April of this year. As of December 2023, Kanye West has 62.5 million listeners on Spotify and 31.7 million followers on X formally known as Twitter.
It is important to hold these A-list celebrities accountable as the listeners have the power of their success and the scope of audience that each artist receives attention from in their voice. “The public is able to interrupt celebrities’ words in a way that they didn’t mean and is offensive,” junior, Lucy Rudolph, states, “If you say something that is offensive why would I support you if I was offended.”
In the music industry, artists revenue is dependent on the amount of listeners the artists music has which can be swayed by negative public image. For instance, after Chris Brown physically abused Rihanna in 2009, he still had 6 popular songs each ranging from 150,000 – 400,000 streams for the year.
Rihanna after being physically abused by Chris Brown. Photo Credited to TheRecentTimes.com
As a public figure, it’s up to you to be sure that the words you put out for the world are intentional but be aware of how your words could be interpreted. Many celebrities have a social media and publicist team to carefully review what is shared on social media, in interviews, and during fan encounters.
“I don’t think you can fully separate the two,” music teacher, Keith Nance, states, “most artists create from their personal being.” While looking at Kanye’s situation, the public is able to see how hatefully he speaks on the internet where it is said forever; however, he is still supported and brings in over $200 million per year.1
This amount of revenue should not be consistently brought in for someone with such a large amount of hate. Not only does he bring in a large amount of money per year, but he is still actively releasing music with his most recent release being his single “Vultures,” which dropped on December 15 of this year.
It is up to the listeners to discern how much of an audience a public figure receives. As the audience, it is our duty to decide what voices are boosted and what messages are given a voice through our listening revenue.
1. Ilic, S. (2023, December 4). Kanye West Net Worth 2023 – from $2B to $410M. Southwest Journal. https://www.southwestjournal.com/kanye-net-worth/
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