Why Celebrity Endorsements Mean Literally Nothing

Could Taylor Swift be the deciding factor for Americans in our 2024 presidential election? Ever since she broke her political silence back in 2018 to oppose Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn and support two Democrats (though I will note she failed to keep Sen. Blackburn out of office), legacy media publications have swooned over her endorsements – from President Joe Biden prior to his election in 2020 to current Vice President and Democratic candidate for president, Kamala Harris, this summer . RollingStone jumped on the recent news after Vice President Harris acknowledged Swift’s endorsement, headlining their article a cheeky “Kamala Harris Is ‘Very Proud’ to Have Taylor Swift’s Vote — Even Though They Disagreed on Last Year’s Super Bowl.” Billboard asserted that, after they spoke to some political consultants, pollsters, and professors, “Election Experts Say ‘Taylor Swift Effect’ Could Impact Presidential Election After Kamala Harris Endorsement & Trump ‘Hate’ Tweet.” And the Associated Press opened their “What to know” article covering the current event with “superstar Taylor Swift has officially launched her Kamala Harris era.” She’s hardly the only celebrity who has come out in recent months to get on the Harris bandwagon – one that skeptics like myself may look at and question her sudden rise in popularity as a manufactured narrative instead of a genuine shift in Democrat voter sentiment. After all, the party appeared to be do-or-die for President Biden’s re-election campaign before he dropped out. Now, the sudden surge in celebrity endorsements is leading to further skepticism, as the optics could point to media manipulation. It’s high time people stop putting celebrity opinions on such a high pedestal and get back to the point of politics and policy. Thank Goodness Celebs Are Speaking Out for "Women’s Rights"! Singer Billie Eilish and her brother came forward with a video in support of Vice President Harris’s bid for the White House, saying that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, “are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet, and our democracy.” Actress Aubrey Plaza, likely taking a page out of Swift’s textbook, posted a pic of herself on Instagram with Grumpy Cat and simply captioned it, “Harris Walz.” Actress Jamie Lee Curtis (yeah, the one with the perverted art of naked children on her wall, the one with a “ trans furry daughter ”) made a very passionate post on Instagram featuring a photo of Vice President Harris right after President Biden stepped down, “unreservedly” writing: “SHE IS TRUSTED AND TESTED and she is a fierce advocate for women's rights and people of color and her message is one of HOPE and UNITY for America at her time of great national divide.” Yeah, okay, define women’s rights. The “right” to kill an unborn child, you mean? Wake me up when a celeb actually defends meaningful women’s rights , like the right to have sex-based protections, her female identity to not fall to the wayside, the ability to walk around town without fear for her safety, or her right to choose the baby or the bag. Singer Charli XCX may not have made any sort of formal endorsement, but capitalizing on the success of her meme-ified album brat , she wrote on Twitter, “kamala IS brat,” which irreversibly tied any bipartisan memery to a very partisan election. The list goes on. Actor Ben Stiller, rapper Megan Thee Stallion, singer Stevie Wonder, actor Mark Hamill, director JJ Abrams, musician John Legend, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, director Spike Lee, actress Mindy Kaling, singer Karen Morris, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, actor Bill Nye, and many more have already gone public with their support for the Democratic nominee. Swift has made bigger headlines for her endorsement, since her status as a global phenomenon has only grown after her Eras Tour. But should her fans even trust her seemingly passionate political opinions when she has written lyrics like 2020’s “mirrorball”? The lyrics read: “I want you to know / I'm a mirrorball / I can change everything about me to fit in” or “I've never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try / I'm still on that trapeze, I'm still trying everything to keep you looking at me.” Perhaps “mirrorball’s” transparent lyrics shouldn’t come as much of a shocker after she released woke cringe which isolated any moderate or right-of-center fans like 2019’s “ You Need to Calm Down ,” where she, a straight woman, seemingly tried to make some sort of LGBTQ+ anthem. Touting an endorsement from Swift or Eilish like a badge of honor is merely virtue-signaling and very obvious lust after social media clout. Celebrity political endorsements are, in most cases, pretty dumb, and we shouldn’t put their opinions on some pedestal as if they could ever truly empathize with the experiences of average Americans . They’re Performers, for Christ’s Sake – Their Politics Are Performative Celebrity endorsements are shallow and performative. It’s no secret that Hollywood’s elite are out of touch with us everyday Americans. Since they are part of this elite bubble, their political views don’t reflect the priorities of your average Joe or Jane. I have read some people trying to play devil’s advocate, arguing that because they can outsource many of their tasks and therefore have more time to get educated on the issues, they might know better than blue-collar folk, but that’s just blind optimism. Not all “education” is equal – some are extraordinarily biased or just outright misled. I mean, a celebrity with a bunch of time on their hands to undergo Scientology auditing may become an expert on Dianetics (cough cough Tom Cruise ), but that certainly doesn’t mean they’re an expert on psychology. See what I’m getting at? Marxists have historically swayed liberal elites who run in the entertainment industry circles. Recall during the mid-20th century, the Red Scare and the House Un-American Activities Committee ( HUAC ). Writer for the Audrey Hepburn classic Roman Holiday , Dalton Trumbo , was a member of the Communist Party USA who was ultimately blacklisted and imprisoned. Similarly, the first president of the Screen Writers Guild, John Howard Lawson , was a Communist Party member and also spent time in prison after refusing to cooperate with the investigations done through Congress’s HUAC. Hollywood, as an influential vehicle for popular culture, has the power to reflect whatever ideology they choose within its content, and it’s pretty obvious just how far left that has swung in recent times. Progressive causes, like LGBTQ+ rights or environmentalism or racial justice, are peppered throughout screenplays and popular song lyrics and are rooted in the Marxist critiques of Americana, individualism, and capitalism. A-Listers (and B-Listers, too, to be honest!) endorsing a candidate almost always feels like more of a publicity stunt with empty platitudes than a real understanding of the issues that need to be solved with substantive policy solutions. Celebrities, who ironically make their millions thanks to capitalism, endorse candidates whose policies threaten free markets. Celebrities, who ironically hire private bodyguards and install state-of-the-art home security systems, endorse candidates whose policies threaten national security. Celebrities, who ironically are all about having their own unique brand image, endorse candidates whose policies threaten personal freedoms. What Would You Do or Say for a Massive Paycheck? How much do you actually trust celebrities? Wealth and fame can serve as a signal to some that this particular celebrity’s lifestyle, mindset, or opinions are somehow better than the others. After all, why would they be living such great lives otherwise? But celebrities notoriously have some pretty complex financial interests. Think about the KarJenners, and how it seems like one of them is always promoting some sort of hunger-suppressing lollipop or dieting tea. They’re money-hungry. They’re empire-building. They’re willing to endorse some pretty dishonest products to impressionable women and teen girls that provide false hope for results and end in wasted dollars. Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Khloe Kardashian, for instance, promoted detox shakes from Flat Tummy Co. for weight loss but remained super hush-hush about any body plastic surgery or cosmetic procedures they’ve likely had done to get super snatched postpartum. Celebrities get paid big bucks to endorse products. If a product isn’t outwardly harmful but also not really all that effective, why wouldn’t they be motivated to just take the paycheck – even if they don’t genuinely believe the product is good? Singers are experts in the field of singing, while actors are experts in the field of acting – but when it comes to brand endorsements, it really feels like a lot of celebs lack expertise in the products they promote. To me, this feels more like their promotion isn’t actually based on an informed understanding of the product and how effective it would be for your average consumer. Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton shilled cartoon monkey NFTs on live television – a product/service which people use as either investment or currency. So many rich celebs have bought into NFT or crypto schemes that they then used to make more money off their fans. Is it borderline money laundering? A Ponzi scheme? Or is it just a bad investment? In any case, it can be scammy and scummy. We can’t forget about the failed cryptocurrency project FTX , endorsed by many A-List celebs from Larry David to Tom Brady. Celebs on social media are also known to blur the lines between paid promotions and genuine recommendations. Sometimes, they’ll make a note in their caption or use the “ Paid partnership ” functionality, but if the celeb regularly wears a piece of clothing, for instance, they have actually been paid to wear, they may not disclose that their promotion of the product is paid. A smart girlie like yourself could deduce that they’ve been paid, but some people aren’t as observant. Misleading advertising is all over celeb social media feeds. Luckily, some celebs have accidentally pulled the curtains back on their deals with brands. In 2016, for example, KarJenner clan member Scott Disick posted a photo of himself with a jar of Bootea shake mix but accidentally pasted the company’s instructions in the caption: “Here you go, at 4pm est, write the below. Caption: Keeping up with the summer workout routine with my morning @booteauk protein shake!” Yikes! Similarly, in 2016, model Naomi Campbell made a post promoting Adidas sneakers that was meant to look organic, but she also pasted the company’s instructions in the caption. It read, “Naomi, So nice to see you in good spirits!!! Could you put something like: Thanks to my friend @gary.aspden and all at adidas - loving these adidas 350 SPZL from the adidas Spezial range. 😘 😘💜✊ @adidasoriginals” Yikes times two! At one point, talk show host Oprah Winfrey tweeted about her love for the Microsoft Surface and said she bought 12 for Christmas, but because it was back in 2012, Twitter had that pesky little feature that showed where you were posting from…and in Winfrey’s case, that was “via Twitter for iPad.” So, was she really using the Microsoft Surface? Could you actually trust that hyperbolic endorsement? So, in a similar vein, voters need to question whether celeb endorsements reflect genuine concerns or if their endorsement is driven by personal gain or a thirst for publicity. Civic Knowledge Supersedes Superficial Narratives Americans, by and large, desperately need a refresher on civics. Aside from one AP Government class I elected to take in my senior year of high school, I didn’t learn about civics in school. But without solid civic education, voters can’t truly understand political issues themselves. If you don’t know the basics of how federal legislation is drafted, debated, passed through both chambers of Congress, and then signed into law by the President, you might think the Executive Branch can just do whatever it wants. Sure, executive orders are pretty common, but presidents who prefer limited government don’t abuse them because they go around the standard process unique to our constitutional republic. Celebrity endorsements undermine voters' ability to make their decisions based on a more profound understanding of real issues. When you look at the top issues celebrities seem to care about, why is it that it’s always something like “reproductive rights”? Billie Eilish (as mentioned before), Halsey, Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber, Madison Beer, Jenna Ortega, and many other female A-Listers joined a movement with Planned Parenthood called #BansOffOurBodies back in 2022 to oppose the Supreme Court’s successful overturning of Roe v. Wade. But I hear crickets when it comes to the things that affect everyday Americans’ abilities to survive. Why don’t they discuss the skyrocketing cost-of-living and how to combat inflation? Why don’t they address how illegal immigration is out of control and how everyday American women and children are in danger of being raped and killed? Why don’t they – as bastions for the American image – promote policy for American energy independence, thereby bringing critical jobs back to our country instead of outsourcing them to hostile countries? Celebrities are all about style over substance, promoting political messages that operate on emotional appeal but lack nuance and depth. You should be looking to policy experts to dig deeper into the complexities of our government and the consequences of certain political decisions, not millionaire singers and actors. Closing Thoughts A sufficiently informed population lies at the core of a functioning democracy. For all the talk on the left of “saving democracy” from so-called fascists, it’s sure not in the spirit of democracy to manipulate voters with celebrity allure. If you truly want to help uphold the American principles that ensure freedom and safety from government overreach, you should steer clear of the self-serving, shallow opinions of celebrities. This doesn’t mean that you need to ignore their work entirely – I mean, if I protested all art from people I disagreed with on politics, my life would be colorless and drab. So maybe, let’s just listen to our favorite pop stars’ songs or watch our favorite actors’ movies and make our own more thoughtful political choices.