The Celebrity Controversy

Suffering is an ever-present concern across the globe and it spurs the need for charities and advocacy groups to help bring it to an end. Often times, celebrities become the voices of these charities and advocacy groups because of their popularity and impact on the public. This, however, strikes a controversy regarding the ethicality of having celebrities as public figures for humanitarian causes. It is debatable that celebrities’ vast influence on the public can negatively impact the cause. Realistically, the celebrities influence on the public is the reason that celebrity humanitarians are successful advocates. Celebrities hold the power to generate awareness quickly and talk with bureaucrats to initiate change, while also benefiting from the publicity. These qualities make them strong candidates for becoming the voice of humanitarian causes. …show more content…
People read about them in magazines, listen to talk shows and radio stations all geared towards informing the world about celebrities’ lives. When celebrities advocate for humanitarian issues a “massive amount of attention and money” are brought to humanitarian causes (Text 4, Lines 23-24). A celebrity’s followers see that this person they admire is trying to help a cause and it wills them to want to help as well. People donate time and money to the cause therefore aiding the cause. A concern is because celebrity humanitarians can “dilute debates, offer misguided policy proposals, and lack credibility” (Text 4, Lines 11-12). However, celebrities appear before global assemblies and lobby for humanitarian causes (Text 3, Lines 4-5). Celebrities could not be appearing before global leaders if they were not credible advocates with accurate information. Having celebrities being the voice for humanitarian issues allows the issue to be recognized globally, raising more funds and providing the public with more knowledge about the cause so that the cause can be