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Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, May 13, 2024. Leo Correa, AP Photo 

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Gaza

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1715653898939AP24134619238197.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Smoke rises to the sky after an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Monday, May 13, 2024. Leo Correa, AP Photo </span> </span></span></span></div><p>WASHINGTON — Celebrities who have remained silent on Israel&#x27;s war in Gaza are feeling the wrath of angry fans wielding the &quot;digital guillotine&quot; to block them on social media and streaming platforms.</p><p>Taylor Swift, Drake and many more have become targets of the &quot;Block Out 2024&quot; movement, which began on TikTok in response to the perceived disconnect between the glamorous Met Gala and the grim realities of the Israel-Hamas conflict.</p><p>For months, pro-Palestinian activists have flooded the comments sections of social media sites, urging stars to join calls for a ceasefire in Gaza&#x27;s deadliest war.</p><p>But matters came to a head after last week&#x27;s Met Gala, a glitzy fundraiser and the biggest night in fashion featuring A-list stars from screen, stage, sports and the world&#x27;s runways.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/7/pro-palestinian-demonstrators-protest-outside-the-met-gala-1239">READ: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest outside the Met Gala</a><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2024/5/7/met-gala-in-full-bloom-with-zendaya-jennifer-lopez-among-standouts-902"></a><br/><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2024/5/7/met-gala-in-full-bloom-with-zendaya-jennifer-lopez-among-standouts-902">LOOK: Met Gala in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez among standouts</a></div><p>Dressed in an extravagant gown, influencer Haley Kalil posted on TikTok lip-synching &quot;Let them eat cake&quot; -- a phrase notoriously associated with Marie Antoinette that symbolizes the callous disregard of 18th century French aristocrats towards the poor.</p><p>Fellow TikToker ladyfromtheoutside, who started the movement, responded: &quot;It&#x27;s time for the people to conduct what I want to call a digital guillotine, a digitine, if you will,&quot; referring to the execution apparatus used during the French Revolution.</p><p>&quot;Take our views away, our likes, our comments, our money,&quot; she urged.</p><p>Her message was taken up as a rallying cry for the pro-Palestinian movement, and early signs suggest the boycott may be having an impact.</p><div><strong>SOME IMPACT, BUT FOR HOW LONG?<br/></strong></div><p>Reality star Kim Kardashian -- who attended the ball in New York -- has lost hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers in recent days, according to analytics site Social Blade.</p><p>Global music superstar Taylor Swift, who opted to focus on her Eras Tour rather than appear at the event, has also seen a decline of more than 200,000 followers since last Thursday.</p><p>&quot;This is about lives and justice -- if she can rally all of us to vote, she has the power to speak up about injustice,&quot; said a TikToker who described herself as a &quot;Palestinian Swiftie&quot; and said it was time to block, unfollow and stop streaming her idol.</p><p>It&#x27;s uncertain whether the movement is directly responsible for the social media hits seen by some celebrities, or if other trends are at play.</p><p>Moreover, the losses could be short-lived, Natasha Lindstaedt, a University of Essex professor who has studied celebrity activism, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;Sometimes people make a decision based on an emotional response to an issue and decide that if a celebrity isn&#x27;t on the same side... they don&#x27;t want to follow them anymore, but that takes a second,&quot; she says.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/1/eyewitness-captures-chaos-on-ucla-campus-as-firework-thrown-at-protesters-636">READ: Eyewitness captures chaos on UCLA campus as firework thrown at protesters</a></div><p>This phenomenon is known in academic circles as &quot;slacktivism&quot; -- substituting low-stakes online actions like posting memes or liking posts, or choosing to unfollow a favorite star -- for meaningful political engagement.</p><p>Instead of responding, celebrities might find it wiser to wait out the backlash, especially given the sensitive nature of the Gaza conflict, which has proven perilous for many stars.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/6/israel-orders-palestinians-to-evacuate-rafah-1755">READ: Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate Rafah ahead of expected assault</a></div><p>Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency UTA after speaking at a pro-Palestine rally in November.</p><p>More recently, Jerry Seinfeld, long the model of an apolitical celebrity, has faced criticism for affiliating himself more closely with Israel.</p><p>That backlash against the Jewish comedian intensified after a report said his wife Jessica donated to a group of pro-Israel counter-protesters at UCLA, where violence broke out against pro-Palestinian demonstrators.</p><p>She later wrote on Instagram that she supported a peaceful rally days earlier and did not support or contribute to any violent actions.</p><div><strong>ONE-WAY RELATIONSHIPS </strong></div><p>According to David Jackson, a professor at Bowling Green State University who has studied how the political positions taken by stars affect their approval ratings, told AFP &quot;there&#x27;s a history of celebrity involvement in politics that goes back a hundred years or more in the US.&quot;</p><p>But with the advent of social media, it&#x27;s become easier for people to develop &quot;parasocial&quot; relationships with stars -- essentially one-way connections that feel reciprocal.</p><p>&quot;You have your network of people you follow, and some of them are people you know, and some of them are celebrities, and the boundaries, I suppose, can be blurred,&quot; Jackson said.</p><p>That false sense of closeness makes the feeling of betrayal all the more acute when celebrities take a position you disapprove of, or don&#x27;t take any position at all.</p><p>Even appearing to respond to fan demands can be risky.</p><p>When rapper Lizzo promoted a fundraiser to aid a Gazan doctor and his family in leaving the besieged Palestinian territory, she was criticized by many for her perceived opportunism.</p><div><strong>— By Issam Ahmed and Charlotte Causit,</strong><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none"><strong> Agence France-Presse</strong></span><strong> </strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NzVn3Mofgp4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>It's uncertain whether the movement is directly responsible for the social media hits seen by some celebrities, or if other trends are at play.</p>

It's uncertain whether the movement is directly responsible for the social media hits seen by some celebrities, or if other trends are at play.

Celebrities face digital backlash over Gaza silence

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Celebrities face digital backlash over Gaza silence

Agence France-Presse

Published May 14, 2024 10:34 AM PHT

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