Hollywood Stars Should Refrain from Politics
Zihan Chen (Political Science ‘25)
In the 2024 presidential election, a long list of Hollywood stars supported Vice President Harris. Celebrities like Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Billie Eilish and more have publicly endorsed Harris-Walz for the presidency. Their voices not only were heard millions of times more loudly through social media but were discovered to influence the outcome of the election. Here are three reasons why Hollywood stars should not speak out about politics.
First and most importantly: Hollywood stars may lack the ability to understand the lives of ordinary people. Most of them earn seven figures or more annually, with lives surrounded mostly by celebrities sharing a similar working background and spending level. The social status they enjoy makes them unable to share the plight of ordinary people. In other words, their understanding of the political agenda is unlikely to be in the position of ordinary. Playing the role of a poor or marginalized individual in a movie does not equate to understanding those realities. Instead, it may give them a false sense of insight, distancing them further from the actual problems people face. This disconnect means their perspectives on political agendas are unlikely to reflect the concerns of the majority.
Second, Hollywood actors abuse their voice to express something they shouldn’t, or even can’t understand, which in this case is politics. Hollywood actors are flesh and blood just like you and me, no different in construction or intelligence. Hollywood stars achieve fame and wealth due to their looks or acting talent — not their expertise in public affairs. When it comes to big issues, in addition to following the interpretation of governments and officials, influential celebrities are always expected to speak out, and this situation is not only harmful to elections but also to political participation in general. Most stars don’t have much political experience; they don’t understand the process of policymaking or even how government works. As a result, their interpretations of policy tend to be oversimplified, even grossly inaccurate, and are thoughtlessly absorbed by their supporters because of their identity — they are attracted by the celebrity’s identity over the actual policy. They abuse the fame they have gained through their acting careers to express their opinions on key issues, crowding out the space for true professionals to speak out. To illustrate, imagine placing an ordinary office clerk, without significant political knowledge or interest, on a stage to address millions. Would their commentary be insightful or beneficial to society? Likely not. Celebrities, whose fame is predicated on their entertainment careers, are no different in this regard. If we wouldn’t entrust a random individual with such influence, why should we treat celebrities differently?
Third and finally, consider the demographics of their audience. Hollywood stars primarily appeal to young people, especially teenagers, who are in the early stages of life when their outlook on life, their values and their world view are not fully mature, and their views are very vulnerable to social media agitation and incitement. When a bunch of stars play superheroes in movies, do they actually play superheroes in real life? Obviously not, but for teenagers, the blurring of the line between film and reality allows this identity to spill over into reality, adding a baseless credibility to the star’s real-life happenings. This subtle influence on adolescents will greatly affect their perceptions of society and the world early in life. The cultural high ground gained allows growing teenagers to be drawn into their political camps before they are able to think for themselves. This negative effect is much greater than mere political survival, because he can get rich political returns at a very small cost (entertainment products), and the influence is unfair.
But we also need to be clear that our hands are not tied, and there are many things we can do to balance the effects before things get completely out of hand. Additional fact-checking is necessary for statements made by influential figures such as celebrities, and this step does not have to be done by the government: the collision and debate of civil society opinions can largely weed out distorted statements. Transparency is also important, and requiring the disclosure of specific financial details will expose many stars’ actions on behalf of companies and make them think twice before making radical statements. Of course, the most important thing is that each of us, as a member of civil society, use our own voice to counter a single propaganda. Promoting independent thinking and equal communication among each individual is a difficult task, but it is also the fundamental cure for star politics.
Zihan Chen (Political Science ‘25) is from Wuxi, China and is an Undergraduate at Duke University. This piece was submitted as an op-ed in the Fall ‘24 PUBPOL 301 course. This content does not represent the official or unofficial views of the Sanford School, Polis, Duke University, or any entity or individual other than the author.
