A cynic once said that the reason people become artists is so they can have wealth, attention and beautiful lovers, and it\u2019s equally true of the other branches of the creative and performing arts. Though they can talk about their \u2018craft\u2019 until the cows come home, most people go into showbiz so they can be recognised as special \u2013 not as \u2018civilians\u2019, as Liz Hurley memorably called non-creatives. Showbiz celebs sleep with each other and holiday with each other. Their children become friends and form icky little nepo-baby gangs. Still, no matter what big Jessies they appear by doing so, that\u2019s their own business.<\/p>\n
When the behaviour of celebrities becomes a matter for the rest of us, however, is when they take it upon themselves to pontificate on politics, as politics is in the public, not the private, arena. Of course, it\u2019s fine for them to speak out in favour of whatever candidate they fancy during elections. Although, after Kamala Harris\u2019s loss to Donald Trump, you would have thought they might have learned the lesson that when the rich and famous lecture ordinary people, it tends to end very badly for them. Not only do celeb endorsements not work,\u00a0but they can also have a repelling effect. Beyonc\u00e9 and Bruce \u2018The Boss\u2019 Springsteen sure helped cook Kamala\u2019s goose. She also won endorsements from \u2013 deep breath \u2013 Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ariana Grande, Barbra Streisand, Olivia Rodrigo and Charli XCX. But she lost every swing state. <\/p>\n
I find it splendidly sensible that \u2018ordinary\u2019 people are able to see through celebrity endorsements. It was F Scott Fitzgerald who famously said<\/a>, \u2018The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind, at the same time, and still retain the ability to function\u2019. Regular people are able to admire, even idolise, a singer or an actor \u2013 and then totally do the opposite politically to what that performer calls for. <\/p>\n A few mummers appear to have got the memo, but the Grammy awards last weekend reminded us of the unreconstructed arrogance on the part of the famous. Many now appear to believe that far from democracy being about one person one vote, it\u2019s about preventing policies that the \u2018civilians\u2019 have voted for from ever being carried out, if they offend the famous. It\u2019s preposterous, but the likes of Billie Eilish really do seem to believe in this moderated, mutilated version of democracy. <\/p>\n It was made clear by Trump during the last presidential election campaign that, should he win, stopping illegal immigration would be very near the top of his list. The electorate, to whom control of national borders is important, as it is to anyone who isn\u2019t silly or sinister, responded enthusiastically. Yet now \u2013 after #MeToo, BLM and \u2018Palestine\u2019 have had their day \u2013 being in favour of letting in literally every non-American who fancies living there has become the latest luxury belief that every cool kid must wear the badge of if they are not to be demonised as racist or \u2018far right\u2019. We saw this most flagrantly when Eilish, after accepting the Song of the Year Grammy for \u2018Wildflower\u2019, went on to give us her two-penn\u2019orth about the Trump administration\u2019s migration policies and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. She began with a random reference<\/a> to the Native American people: <\/p>\n Enjoying spiked?<\/p>\n Why not make an instant, one-off donation?<\/p>\n We are funded by you. Thank you!<\/p>\n \n \u00a35 Choose an amount<\/p>\n \n Donate now\n <\/p>\n \n Please wait… <\/p>\n \u2018No one is illegal on stolen land\u2026 It\u2019s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, and I just feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting, and our voices really do matter, and the people matter. Fuck ICE!\u2019 <\/p>\n Some equally prominent troupers \u2013 from Bad Bunny to Joni Mitchell \u2013 either wore their \u2019ICE OUT\u2019 badges and \/ or had their say while grabbing hold of their awards. Justin Bieber wore his badge with pride on an eye-wateringly expensive Balenciaga suit, which I found particularly amusing. Alas, as with the mass celebrity backing of Kamala, I suspect that this peacocking display of ICE-hatred may have exactly the opposite effect than that which the proud proponents of a border-free world would like. <\/p>\n Showbusiness celebrities who truly give back \u2013 as opposed to just lending their names to a few fashionable causes \u2013 are extremely rare. One thinks of Dolly Parton\u2019s amazing Imagination Library<\/a>, which gives away around 2.4million books a month, mailed to the homes of mostly underprivileged children. But such a project takes real effort and investment. It\u2019s so much easier to slap on a badge and swear, and call that social concern instead.<\/p>\n The relationship between the famous and their fans is not straightforward. It\u2019s a dangerous game, played on a thin line. The fans often sense the distaste the famous have for them, and the lengths they will go to avoid being near the proles. It has got worse in the 21st century, too. You can\u2019t imagine any of today\u2019s stars being in the phone book or hanging out with teenage fans, as Marilyn Monroe did. They prefer to play sexual musical chairs within incestuously small circles in their heavily guarded, privately policed mansions. Imagine how many indigenous people could live on the stolen land which Billie Eilish\u2019s $2.5million gaff<\/a> is built on!<\/p>\n I\u2019m afraid that I also couldn\u2019t help but feel that these celebrities\u2019 prime concern might not actually be the dignity of the huddled masses on the southern border. To lower the tone here, watching the Grammys, I recalled Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, giving that heartfelt speech asking who would wipe incontinent bums<\/a> if mass immigration were to end. I suspect the super-rich showbiz types are mostly worried about losing the cheap Latino labour that\u2019s notorious for keeping them living in a picture-perfect world. <\/p>\n Well, the celebs have even more to worry about when AI comes for them. Xania Monet became the first AI artist to hit one of the US Billboard charts<\/a> last November, and there are more where she came from. A panoply of performers who can do their jobs without feeling the need to lecture the rest of us in their free time sounds like a wonderful idea. Until then, the pop stars for illegal migration might consider the old saying: \u2018It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.\u2019<\/p>\n
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