The influence of ‘the cult of celebrity’ has increased hugely in recent years. It influences our fashion trends, diets, music taste and even the way we vote. There was much at stake in the recent US presidential and congressional elections and celebrities had a lot to say about it. But is this right – should we really be listening to what celebrities say when deciding who will govern a country for the next 4 years? Perhaps even more importantly, we must understand why celebrities choose to endorse candidates.
After much anticipation (or maybe that was just me) Taylor Swift endorsed Harris and Walz in an Instagram post in September. She spoke about registering to vote and doing her own research and encouraged others to do the same. She cited AI and ‘the dangers of spreading misinformation’ – a reference to Donald Trump reposting an AI image of her endorsing him – as well as Harris’ leadership skills and the need to defend human rights. But why does this matter? Well, Swift has 283 million followers on Instagram alone – that is four times the size of the UK’s population – and the post was liked by over 11 million users. This is not only impact those voting in the election, but also the younger ‘Swifties’. They are learning about politics and in particular – the need to do their own research. We can see this with the movement ‘Swifties for Kamala’ who have been calling and texting potential voters, as well as having stands at events such as ‘Slay the Vote’. This demonstrates the impact celebrities can have on mobilising their fans, thus spreading even more awareness.
In recent months many stars came out in support of the candidates – Kid Rock and Azaelia banks for Trump, and Harris was endorsed by George Clooney, Oprah and Charli XCX. Charli XCX was particularly influential. Harris’ team regularly referenced ‘brat’ – Charli’s recent album which topped global charts, with over 1 billion streams on Spotify. This included Instagram posts quoting the album and using its graphics. Although clearly designed to appeal to younger voters, this method faced some criticism; young people are becoming increasingly educated, often through social media. They would rather have seen Harris talk about real issues, such as the war in Gaza, unemployment and climate change, rather than posting memes.
It’s important to remember that basing our political opinions on our favourite celebrities is not necessarily a wise choice, as much as we might admire them. Any citizen over 18 in the USA can vote – unless they are deemed to be mentally incapacitated or in prison, and who am I to tell them they cannot take their favourite celeb’s advice on voting. But we need to look at the facts. A healthy democracy is based on voter participation and engagement. Anyone who is blindly following a celebrities’ endorsement is not really engaging with democracy or politics. Voter apathy is a major problem in both the US and UK and the way to fix that is not for us to listen to the words of our favourite actor.
On the other hand, it could be argued that celebrity endorsements, or simply just a reminder to register to vote, do encourage citizens to get involved and educate themselves, bringing refreshing new perspectives to the world of politics. However, research shows that only 4% of Americans get most of their information about politics and elections from celebrities and influencers on social media. Nonetheless, a study conducted at Harvard concluded that celebrities play a significant role in increasing political engagement. They found there is a gap between what people say in polls about not being influenced by celebrities in politics and what the real evidence shows. In reality, there is a significant impact.
Another major problem with celebrity endorsements is that the US lacks clear rules about paid advertisements. It appears celebrities do not have to disclose if they are being paid to endorse candidates. This endangers open debate; critical to a healthy democracy. Tana Mongeau alleged on her ‘Cancelled’ podcast that a party had offered her millions to endorse the candidates and that they had sent her a list of hundreds of others who were doing the same. This emphasises the risk to democracy posed by undisclosed paid adverts for candidates.
Tech moguls are often celebrities in their own right. In particular, Elon Musk has been very vocal about his support for Trump. This is especially powerful due to Musk’s control of ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). Much debate about the upcoming elections has taken place on the app and Musk has faced accusations of censoring Democrats. Moreover, tech moguls will often donate millions to candidates – according to the Wall Street Journal they donated $204mil to Harris’ campaign and $47.5mil to Trump’s. This, although paling in comparison to the $6.6 billion spent on the 2020 presidential campaign, can have a significant impact on a campaign.
As you can imagine, it’s very difficult to measure the impact of celebrities’ on election day. But, with the ever-growing popularity of celebrities and use of social media, we cannot underestimate their influence. Therefore, it should be with great caution that celebs express their opinions – they must also be educated and transparent about any paid advertising before choosing to share their opinion. All I can say is in future, do your own research and register to vote. (do I sound like Taylor Swift yet?)
Written by: Anna Price