A cynic once said that the reason people become artists is so they can have wealth, attention and beautiful lovers, and it’s equally true of the other branches of the creative and performing arts. Though they can talk about their ‘craft’ until the cows come home, most people go into showbiz so they can be recognised as special – not as ‘civilians’, 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’s their own business.
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’s fine for them to speak out in favour of whatever candidate they fancy during elections. Although, after Kamala Harris’s 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, but they can also have a repelling effect. Beyoncé and Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen sure helped cook Kamala’s goose. She also won endorsements from – deep breath – 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.
I find it splendidly sensible that ‘ordinary’ people are able to see through celebrity endorsements. It was F Scott Fitzgerald who famously said, ‘The 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’. Regular people are able to admire, even idolise, a singer or an actor – and then totally do the opposite politically to what that performer calls for.
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’s about preventing policies that the ‘civilians’ have voted for from ever being carried out, if they offend the famous. It’s preposterous, but the likes of Billie Eilish really do seem to believe in this moderated, mutilated version of democracy.
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’t silly or sinister, responded enthusiastically. Yet now – after #MeToo, BLM and ‘Palestine’ have had their day – 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 ‘far right’. We saw this most flagrantly when Eilish, after accepting the Song of the Year Grammy for ‘Wildflower’, went on to give us her two-penn’orth about the Trump administration’s migration policies and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. She began with a random reference to the Native American people:
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‘No one is illegal on stolen land… It’s 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!’
Some equally prominent troupers – from Bad Bunny to Joni Mitchell – either wore their ’ICE OUT’ 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.
Showbusiness celebrities who truly give back – as opposed to just lending their names to a few fashionable causes – are extremely rare. One thinks of Dolly Parton’s amazing Imagination Library, 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’s so much easier to slap on a badge and swear, and call that social concern instead.
The relationship between the famous and their fans is not straightforward. It’s 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’t imagine any of today’s 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’s $2.5million gaff is built on!
I’m afraid that I also couldn’t help but feel that these celebrities’ 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 if mass immigration were to end. I suspect the super-rich showbiz types are mostly worried about losing the cheap Latino labour that’s notorious for keeping them living in a picture-perfect world.
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 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: ‘It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.’
Julie Burchill is a spiked columnist. Follow her Substack, ‘Notes from the Naughty Step’, here.