Most celebs like to keep it neutral and diplomatic when faced with controversies. But in the recent past, there have been a number of instances when the rich and famous have voluntarily shown their unequivocal solidarity for their best buddies. Take the whole Taylor Swift-Kanye West feud, for example. While Kanye’s Yeezy Season 3 was a huge hit, he ran into trouble with contemporaries and fans alike for the song Famous from his new album, Life of Pablo, which contains a song with the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why I made that b**** famous.” (Remember the Video Music Awards 2009 fiasco, in which Kanye jumped onto the stage and proclaimed that Beyonce deserved the award that Swift won ). Following the release of the distasteful song, the popstar Swift’s girl squad took to Twitter to express their ire against West. Actress Jaime King whose son is Swift’s godson wrote: “I’m so sad right now & disappointed right now. I stand by my sister. Always. (sic),” while supermodel Gigi Hadid who attended the show said, “My attendance somewhere does not mean I agree with everything being said in the music playing there. My friends know of my loyalty.”
When the infamous Steve Harvey goofed up on the Miss Universe stage, most people were infuriated at his careless mistake. But a few of his famous friends defended him without batting an eyelid. “You couldn’t have paid me to care about Miss Universe competition before this. I love Steve Harvey. And both contestants too, now, actually,” tweeted TV star, Mindy Kaling.
The entire nation believes that Salman Khan had his 10-year prison sentence coming, for his reckless driving. But some of his colleagues in the film industry, don’t subscribe to the same beliefs. Following the pronouncement of his sentence, actor Arjun Kapoor did not mince words on where he stands. “It doesn’t matter what anyone or any court says he doesn’t deserve this at any level... will stand by @BeingSalmanKhan no matter what ,(sic)” he tweeted.
“I think with platforms where celebs’ words can be heard without being twisted out of context, they are more comfortable expressing their thoughts on controversial topics. And it’s definitely nice to see them taking a stand without hiding behind ambiguous diplomatic statements, for a change. However, they need to do so responsibly, because supporting someone who is in the wrong sends out a disturbing message to followers,” concludes psychologist Swarnalatha Iyer.
