Does being a 'kind' celebrity mean an inevitable fall from grace?
The cast of ‘Queer Eye,’ Jay Shetty, Kanye West and how a star’s brand can come back to bite them (or not)
Another week, another celebrity takedown story.
Jay Shetty faced an exposé last week, claiming he lied about his past as a monk and stole content from other creators (which I wrote more about here). This week, the cast of “Queer Eye” got the deep-dive treatment, with an article in Rolling Stone alleging that the Fab Five weren’t the BFFs they appeared to be on-screen, that Jonathan Van Ness had “rage issues” on set, and that Tan France, who has had some drama with Bobby Berk, campaigned for his friend to replace Berk. (France has since responded that he campaigned after Berk’s exit was confirmed, not before.)
It’s a formula we’ve seen time and again. A celebrity gains notoriety for being “one of the good ones” — spreading positivity and seeming to genuinely care about uplifting people and making the world a better place in an industry that’s rife with stars who seem to only care about fame, fortune and vanity.
But then something happens to shatter that illusion. A shady past is unearthed. A comment faces backlash. They don’t act as nicely as they do on camera. And suddenly their reputation comes crumbling down.
Ellen DeGeneres is a great example. She spent years building a reputation as a celebrity who stood for kindness. And then came accusations that she was running a “toxic” workplace environment.
"Being known as the 'be-kind lady' is a tricky position to be in," DeGeneres said in 2020, in her first TV appearance since the allegations arose. "The truth is I am that person you see on TV. I am also a lot of other things. Sometimes I get sad, I get mad, I get anxious, I get frustrated, I get impatient. And I am working on all of that, and I'm especially working on the impatience thing. And it's not going well, because it's not happening fast enough."
Being the “be-kind” star is a good gig, if you can get it. But it also comes with the risk of losing your empire the second you deviate from what’s expected of you.
Then there are stars who ditch that “be-kind” mentality altogether. Let’s look at Kanye West.
Nora Princiotti of The Ringer’s “Every Single Album” podcast (a great culture of music podcast if you’re in the market) outlined this well in an episode looking back on Taylor Swift’s complicated relationship with West.
After the infamous 2009 VMAs incident, both artists returned to perform the following year. Swift sang “Innocent,” a ballad about forgiving West for his actions. West, in turn, performed “Runaway,” an anthem to celebrate the “douchebags,” “assholes” and “scumbags.”
While “the package of Taylor Swift can be damaged by not being kind or generous,” Princiotti said, West had an “undeniable advantage in being the person who is able to say ‘let’s have a toast for the douchebags,’ because then what do you say about him when he’s already said it about himself?”
You could argue that West in recent years has even overstepped the very generous leeway he set up for himself. But 2010s-era Kanye is a prime example of how avoiding the “be-kind” label can save a star from losing everything over one less-than-kind incident.
This isn’t to defend stars who do un-kind (or worse) things. Or to say that everyone in the public eye should give up and live a life of corruption. But it’s fascinating — and sad — to watch the ways certain celebrities can fall from or remain standing on the pedestals on which we once placed them.
What I read this week:
Dakota Johnson Can’t Fake It // Bustle: I’ll never skip a Dakota Johnson interview. This quote in reference to Madame Web was great: “Art does not do well when it’s made by committee. … You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not.”
Who TF Is Reesa Teesa Now? // The Cut: The woman behind the viral “Who TF did I marry?” TikTok series speaks out. A fascinating inside look at what it means to get your 15 minutes of fame in the current digital media landscape.
Are You Buying What Kylie Jenner Is Selling? // The New York Times: Kylie Jenner can’t stop introducing new brands. What’s her end goal? Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks? I’m fascinated by conversations about what it takes for a celebrity brand to actually become successful and stay successful — ahem, Rolling Stone’s callout to the “Queer Eye” cast staying on the show to attempt to keep their failing personal brands afloat.
What I wrote this week:
How does IVF actually work? Plus what the process is like and how much it costs. // USA TODAY
What is an IUD? Answering the birth control questions you were too afraid to ask. // USA TODAY
What is bran? Here's why nutrition experts want you to eat more. // USA TODAY
What’s new in entertainment:
A celebrity on regular “Jeopardy”: No spoilers if you’re behind, but Ike Barinholz (of “The Mindy Project” and “The Afterparty” fame) holding his own on “Jeopardy: Tournament of Champions” against real contestants — not other fellow celebs — is iconic.
“eternal sunshine” by Ariana Grande: Ariana Grande’s seventh studio album is here, and I wanted to like it more. I did enjoy the back half more than the front, namely “we can’t be friends” and “i wish i hated you.” But as I wrote back when her “yes, and?” single came out, I just really struggle to take this music seriously when it’s about leaving her husband for the (then-married!) man who played SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway.
“The Idea of You” trailer: Fanfiction is becoming mainstream and I’m so here for it. Based on the book of the same name, which is essentially Harry Styles fanfiction, it stars Anne Hathaway as a 40-year-old single mom who meets and falls for a 24-year-old One Direction-esque boyband member (Nicholas Galitzine) at Coachella. Here for this fun-looking flick, curious if Styles (or Olivia Wilde 👀) will ever acknowledge it, and obsessed with the person on Twitter who called Galitzine the Noah Centineo of Amazon Prime.