Is your life going to stop if you don’t know your fav celeb’s every move?

As a fellow pathological bystander in today’s society, I too am thoroughly engaged in the lives of those with major influence and social standing. If I’m being wholeheartedly transparent,  I really only have social media to escape temporary boredom and be nosy in the lives of those I follow, celebrities and familiar faces alike. 

As of late, I’ve noticed that fandom has been taken to a new level, with fans seemingly being overbearingly invested and even excessively critical of those that they follow. I’m aware that this isn’t really a new concept, however, I think that simply wanting to consume what is being presented to us through media has turned into us fans expecting to get exactly what we want to see when we want to see it.

  An example of this would be a phenomenon I like to call “Post Your Pregnancy Pronto.” Essentially, it’s the insensitive demand of celebrities that people suspect are pregnant to just come outright and say that. This has happened recently with celebrities like Halle Bailey, Kali Uchis, Kylie Jenner, etc. All of these women are indeed in public relationships, so I can sort of understand how people may believe that they’re entitled to this development as well.

However, the lack of sensitivity and understanding for the fact that pregnancy is a precious experience and that these people are still entitled to some sort of privacy is really what grinds my gears. Being a fan and wanting to share in the excitement is great, but there’s a better way to do that than hounding and harassing people to share something so delicate and intimate.

 In the case of Halle Bailey, I, along with many others, felt like she and her partner DDG, formally known as Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr., somewhat gaslit us into believing that we were insane for thinking she was pregnant. While that was slightly irritating, even for me, I completely understand why they chose to take that route. 

Their relationship itself has been under fire since it began, largely due the fact that people seemingly haven’t adjusted to the fact that Halle Bailey is no longer a Disney child actor, but a full-fledged grown woman who can make her own life choices, even if one of them is dating a not so well liked rapper. It also doesn’t help that DDG has publicly disrespected Bailey in a diss track, but that’s neither here nor there.

Though I’m sure they believed that delaying the release of the information would quell the potential backlash, it would later be apparent that the tactic wasn’t enough. People all over social media were fiercely attacking Bailey and Granberry, demanding that they stop with the cover ups and confirm the pregnancy. I’d seen comments on various Instagram posts surrounding the pregnancy that said things like “Just say it already!” or “OMG give it up”. 

This, to me, raised the question of whether or not we as fans are entitled to every single detail of a celebrity’s life just because we’re fans of them and so much of their life is public. In my honest opinion, the answer is a hard no. At the end of the day, while they have a certain level of status and stature that we gave them, they are still normal human beings. They live normal lives and do most of the same things that we do on a day to day basis.

I understand that being in the public eye does mean that a lot of their business is privy to exploitation, but that doesn’t mean that it is a requirement that the information be shared. I’d also like to shed some light on the fact that many of us don’t know how to just read/listen and scroll.

Another situation that ties into this would be the interview that world renowned gymnast Simone Biles and her husband, Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens, did on The Pivot podcast. Basically, Owens was asked how he and Biles met and during the explanation, he made the comments that he “didn’t know who she was” and that he was “the catch” in their relationship. Obviously, in this age of cancel culture, these comments were heavily scrutinized.

Fans of Biles, especially women, were outraged at Owens’ comments. Given the notoriety of Biles and Owens’ relative lack thereof prior to their relationship/marriage, it was perplexing to many how he could possibly say those things about her and their relationship. 

Biles’ fans even began to question the validity of their marriage and her security within herself, commenting things like “Girl, leave him immediately!” or “You must be real insecure to stand by a man who said that”. Biles and Owens’ response to the hate was nothing short of a heroic effort to block the negative energy. Both Biles and Owens made several Instagram posts and stories about how their relationship will continue to thrive despite others’ opinions.

I’m going to keep it real with all of you. Having listened to the full podcast episode, I believe that what Owens said about him being “the catch” in the relationship was valid. From what he described, Biles sought him out first and made every single move of advancement when it came to the relationship making progress. To me, that could definitely be perceived as being “the catch”. Now, him not knowing her prior is a load of crap and that’s just that.

Their joint reaction to the backlash, while somewhat understandable, was unnecessary and more so validated people’s concerns and points of view towards their relationship. If it was indeed as solid as they portrayed, there wouldn’t have been such a need for them to “clap back”. 

On the other hand, and I say this with love, people need to mind the business that pays them. Whether or not these people’s marriage is stable or Simone Biles loves herself is none of our business. For so many people to have the audacity to make out of pocket comments about them is crazy. These people may be famous, but they’re still just people.

I wholeheartedly understand that we all have opinions and the ability to express them but some things are just better left unsaid. At the end of the day, realistically speaking, negative comments most likely will do more harm than good in any given situation. We never know the impact of what we say has, no matter celebrities’ public response or lack thereof.

I say all of this to say that though we are fans of celebrities, we need to remember that we are not at all entitled to any of their lives and they are people too.