Opinion: Celebrities and Politics

This year’s US election had the world watching on the edge of their seats; even those who don’t usually take much interest in politics were talking about it and refreshing the polls. Whether to your delight, or likely not, Donald Trump took the win and the presidential campaigns that attracted the attention of millions, came to an abrupt end. 

Voters across the country had the opportunity to listen to many endorsements made by celebrities for either Trump or Harris. For some young voters in the US, this may have been their first time voting and therefore became a highly impressionable audience.

Various celebrities came out in full force to show their support for one of the candidates, although some to different extents. Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk was seen on stage at a Trump rally, making it undoubtedly clear where he stands.

However, there were a fair few celebrities who came under fire for not sharing their political views. Chappell Roan hit back at her fanbase who made continuous calls online for her to endorse Kamala Harris. The Pink Pony Club singer took to TikTok to explain her reasoning, saying she would not endorse Harris, but equally cleared up that she would not be voting for Trump. Roan concluded by noting that she simply wanted to question those in power. This comes after the star has been candid about the harsh realities of fame and the importance of fans understanding boundaries. 

It appears that Roan was conscious of the fine line between endorsing a candidate, and just voting for them. To endorse would provide the idea that she fully aligned with Harris’ policies and views, when it seemed that she recognised Harris as her preferred candidate of the two, and didn’t necessarily want to put her name to it. 

With fans pressuring their favourite celebrities online, can the stars really win? If they stay silent they face online harassment, as seen in Chappell Roan’s case and also by Taylor Swift, yet if they do shamelessly share their political view and are outspoken, like Jake Paul has been for his endorsement of Trump, then they too face online hate. 

From a UK perspective, I think it’s hard to imagine British celebrities coming out of the woodwork with such strong backing for one of our Prime Ministers. Of course, it does happen, but on a much smaller scale, and I feel that voters don’t rely on the views of people in the public eye as much as people in the US do. 

While it is hard to tell through the bigger picture whether voters were influenced by celebrities or not, it does appear that US voters were paying close attention to who spoke out in favour of each candidate, implying that they highly valued the celebrities opinion. 

Edited by: Jasmine Pegg