In the past few months, I’ve become obsessed with celebrity gossip, perhaps to a fault. The first reason is the podcast “Who? Weekly” with Lindsey Weber and Bobby Finger. Lindsey and Bobby discuss the gossip surrounding “whos,” usually C- to D-list celebrities or higher list celebrities acting like a C- or D-lister. Common “whos” on the podcast recently include the cast of Netflix’s Bridgerton, Armie Hammer, and crowned “Who Queen”, Rita Ora.
Lindsey and Bobby often end up discussing gossip featured on celebrity gossip Instagram @deuxmoi, which led me down another rabbit hole of celebrity gossip. Deuxmoi has named themselves the “curators of pop culture” and post submissions from supposed Hollywood sources. Deuxmoi isn’t always accurate; they post info from just about anyone, so there’s no verification. Recently, someone reported that Daft Punk would be joining The Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime show, which obviously did not happen.
I find reading and listening to these stories an incredibly fun way to spend my time, but is it helpful? Am I allowed to like celebrity gossip?
Celebrity gossip can often be unproductive and invasive. Why should it matter if Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox are dating? The lives of celebrities have no bearing on how my life is going, nor the lives of the people I know. Furthermore, why should we investigate their lives? The details of celebrity relationships are unimportant, and investigating them could be invasive. A-Rod and Jennifer Lopez seem to have a very open relationship if you look into it, but that is their business and not mine.
However, what is celebrity beyond an entertainment category of person? Most, if not all, celebrities are involved in some sort of media production, like actors, musicians, directors, and athletes, and there’s a reason for that. In and out of their profession, they are entertainers to a certain extent, so why shouldn’t we follow their lives? There’s only so much I can do to influence their lives, and following them is not going to do much. You have situations like the resurfacing Britney Spears paparazzi issues, but you can choose to not contribute to those perhaps toxic situations. Besides— so many celebrities want to be talked about, so why should I take that away from them?
And in short, it’s really fun to learn about celebrity gossip. In the case of musicians and actors, it’s like a fun side-story to the stories they tell through music and screen. There’s no bearing on my life, but that’s exactly what I like. I love hearing stories about drama, but never being involved, and celeb gossip is perfect for that. As someone who finds themselves engrossed in so much TV and movies, I love hearing about my favorite actors and what they’re up to because I see them so much in the media I consume. Caution must be taken to avoid invasive stories or stories that the celebrity doesn’t want to have out there, but isn’t it fun to watch a celebrity’s story unfurl?
At the end of the day, there are definite pros and cons to following gossip like this. It’s generally fun to follow for the general inconsequentiality of it, and is a fun way to unwind and forget about your own problems. I can’t recommend following celebrity gossip instead of actual current events, but it is not the worst vice to fall into from time to time.
@deuxmoi on Instagram gets a bit invasive of celebrities at times, but I cannot recommend “Who? Weekly” enough, check it out on your podcast app!