Celebrity Activism: Overview

Introduction

Celebrity activism is a phenomenon that occurs when a famous person uses their image or brand to draw public interest and attention to a particular cause, charity, or issue. In the twenty-first century's entertainment-rich culture, movie stars, musicians, and other high-profile figures or influencers have often stepped in where politicians and religious leaders once headed the fight against issues like poverty, disease, literacy, homelessness, the environment, and social justice.

From actor Humphrey Bogart's protest against the congressional investigation of communism in 1940s Hollywood to rock star Bono's crusade on global poverty, many entertainers have attempted to "give back" to society through charity work. Charities, in turn, have come to rely on the familiar faces and images of celebrity advocates to draw public attention to issues and encourage fans to donate time and money to the causes endorsed by their favorite stars. The trend toward celebrity activism continued and only grew into the twenty-first century amid the prominence of ubiquitous digital platforms such as social media that conveniently allowed for the spreading of activist stances as well as an atmosphere of increased political and social divisiveness that sparked unrest. Many theorized that stars may subsequently be feeling ever-increasing pressure to use their wealth and fame to make positive changes in the world. While some lauded the efforts of celebrities who used their fame for real, positive impact, others continued to criticize celebrity activism, claiming that the stars were more interested in publicity and boosting their careers than in the charities and causes they professed to support, making surface-level efforts and often distracting from the causes rather than effecting meaningful, systemic change.

Understanding the Discussion

Activism: The use of direct action or involvement to oppose or support a cause or to achieve goals.

Advocacy: The act of recommending, supporting, or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy.

Philanthropy: Altruistic interest in human welfare and advancement, often taking the form of donations of money, property, or charitable work by individuals or institutions.

Socially conscious: Possessing awareness of the hardships and difficulties faced by societies and communities.

Sustainable solutions: Resolutions to problems that fulfill human need without depleting natural or financial resources, or while maintaining the quality of the natural environment indefinitely.

History

Celebrities have long involved themselves in their favorite causes, and charities have come to rely on celebrity spokespeople to help promote them. Early celebrity activists included actors Audrey Hepburn and Danny Kaye, who campaigned for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) starting in the 1950s, and comedian Jerry Lewis, who hosted the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon from 1966 to 2010. Brigitte Bardot retired from acting in 1974 to work full-time for the rights of animals, and Elizabeth Taylor was one of the first stars to speak out openly about acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Screen stars are not the only celebrity activists who have used their fame to bring attention to social and political issues. England's Princess Diana is considered by many to have been the first modern celebrity activist because she redefined the degree to which famous people became involved in global causes. Diana personally traveled to hospitals in 1987 to shake hands with and embrace victims of AIDS when fear and social stigma about the disease was commonplace. In 1997, she walked through fields recently cleared of landmines in Angola to promote awareness of the danger of forgotten mines.

Musicians have also used their familiar names and faces in an attempt to make positive change. In 1984, Irish pop star Bob Geldof organized a group of internationally famous musicians under the name Band Aid to record the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Proceeds from the top-selling single went to famine relief in Ethiopia. Band Aid and its corresponding live concert, Live Aid, served as models for such fundraising music singles as the all-star group USA for Africa's 1985 "We Are the World," written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, and concerts like Farm Aid, created in 1985 to benefit American farmers.

One of the many stars involved in Band Aid and Live Aid was Irish singer Bono, of the rock band U2. Over the course of his career, Bono became more and more politically active. After cofounding the nonpartisan ONE Campaign in 2004, Bono used his fame to raise awareness of global poverty and the AIDS epidemic, enlisting the help of such stars as George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. Initially skeptical about discussing issues of world health and poverty with a rock star, politicians from Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to former senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) met with the singer and praised both his passion and his in-depth understanding of the issues. For his humanitarian work with the ONE Campaign, Bono was named one of Time magazine's "People of the Year" in 2005.

Bono's fight against global poverty through the ONE Campaign also enabled him to meet with billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, as well as many other politicians and world leaders. In June 2007, the ONE Campaign launched ONE Vote '08 to encourage American voters to engage their presidential candidates about issues of global poverty and disease. ONE Vote '08, headed by Senators Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Bill Frist (R-TN), intended to bring issues like AIDS and global poverty to the forefront on the foreign policy and national security platforms of all American presidential candidates. The ONE Campaign raised awareness of poverty and AIDS while attracting even more stars to its cause. Bono also met with Barack Obama during his presidency to discuss humanitarian causes.

As the founder of the Harpo multimedia entertainment company, Oprah Winfrey worked to raise awareness of issues such as education, poverty, and global health, giving hundreds of millions of dollars to a variety of philanthropic causes. One of the biggest beneficiaries of Winfrey's charitable donations was the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, which funds the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, a private school created to teach leadership and liberal arts to girls from seventh through twelfth grade. The other key beneficiary had been Oprah's Angel Network, a nonprofit organization that benefitted many charities before it was shut down in the early 2010s.

Actor Angelina Jolie traveled to Switzerland in 2006 to speak to international business leaders about human rights at the World Economic Forum. In her capacity as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Refugee Agency, Jolie paid for her own travel and expenses on all UN missions and reportedly donated one-third of her income to charity. In April 2012, Jolie was appointed as Special Envoy of the UN High Commission for Refugees, a position she would hold until 2022. Jolie and her husband at the time, actor Brad Pitt, announced in 2006 that they would donate the millions of dollars generated by the sale of photos of their newborn daughter, Shiloh, to charity.

American celebrities increasingly became involved in political campaigns in the early twenty-first century. For instance, during the closely watched 2012 election cycle, several celebrities lent their names to Republican and Democratic causes. In August 2012, screen legend Clint Eastwood infamously addressed attendees of the Republican National Convention, giving a speech in which he conversed extensively with an empty chair. Other Republican supporters of the Mitt Romney campaign included Meatloaf, Kid Rock, and Trace Adkins. Actors Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson were two of the many celebrities who publicly endorsed incumbent president Barack Obama during the 2012 race. Following Obama’s reelection, Longoria was even tapped to serve as cochair of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Social media campaigns seeking to raise awareness for a variety of causes drew noted celebrity support in the early 2010s. The KONY 2012 campaign—started by the nonprofit Invisible Children—lit up Twitter and Facebook with a viral campaign to raise awareness about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber was among the many celebrities who tweeted their support for the Kony campaign, urging his more than eighteen million followers to raise awareness. After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012, many celebrities, such as Piers Morgan, Susan Sarandon, and Bob Costas, began to advocate for tighter gun control. In 2014, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg led an online campaign to combat Ebola. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, ranked first on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s 2014 list of top fifty philanthropists, having donated $992.2 million in 2013.

Despite the seemingly good intentions of activist celebrities, some people doubted the altruistic motivation of famous movie stars, television personalities, and rock musicians. Critics argued that celebrity activists were more interested in creating good publicity to further their own careers than they were in raising funds, fighting for the causes they claimed to support, and making real changes. Some critics said that celebrity activists were hypocrites and ineffectively unrepresentative of those they were allegedly aiming to help, spending time in front of cameras with AIDS patients or victims of poverty abroad and then coming home to opulent lifestyles and palatial surroundings. Others questioned whether the money raised by celebrity activism actually benefitted the intended charities.

Celebrity Activism Today

Media coverage of celebrity activism continued to increase into the 2020s, as more and more stars brought their social and political beliefs into the spotlight, particularly through the use of increasingly popular and accessible social media sites like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. By that point, celebrity activists who had become known for using their familiar images and wealth to benefit causes included Michael J. Fox (Parkinson's Disease research), Ashley Judd (antipoverty and AIDS awareness), Sean Penn (antiwar), Ricky Martin (human trafficking), and Sarah Jessica Parker (UNICEF). Many celebrities lent their name to the issue of climate change, which had come more prominently to the foreground of both political and social debate as harmful effects such as extreme, often-deadly weather conditions rose significantly. Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, produced documentaries; sat on the board of several organizations dedicated to championing wildlife, natural resources, and clean power initiatives; served as a UN representative; and appeared at major events such as the 2021 international environmental summit COP26.

By the 2020s, heightened political divisiveness and social unrest had also prompted more celebrities to publicly express their views on a range of issues, including the highly controversial first term of President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021; the MeToo Movement against sexual violence that became widespread beginning in 2017; the continued pervasiveness of racial injustice, especially in the high-profile cases of unarmed Black individuals killed by police; and public crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. Such issues inspired greater activism efforts overall, including from celebrities. However, some noted that, as in the past, the extent of celebrity activism around such issues varied, and it was argued that while celebrity involvement in activism around the MeToo Movement, for example, had resulted in actual change, in other instances this involvement had been more superficial and distracting than directly effective.

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