The Met Gala is home to the biggest night in fashion, and on the first Monday of every May, the world’s biggest stars strut up the steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City at the event curated by Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour.
But this year, like many others, the annual fundraising event for the museum’s Costume Institute became a battleground in the American class and culture wars. As the cost of living balloons and simultaneous deadly international conflicts continue, the reported $75,000 price tag for a ticket to the fête already rubbed some on social media the wrong way. Then came the viral TikTok.
Influencer and model Haley Kalil turned heads for a video using a TikTok sound that muttered, “let them eat cake,” a slogan commonly associated with French queen Marie Antoinette, who was central during the social unrest of the French Revolution in the 1700s.
Much like Antoinette, the internet wanted off with Kalil’s head – and a slew of other influencers and A-list celebrities from Kim Kardashian to Taylor Swift blocked in droves by ‘digital guillotine’ on social media due to silence on Gaza. A-list rivals and many others have become targets of the ‘Block Out 2024’ 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.
The social media movement comes as pro-Palestinian activists have flooded the comments sections of social media sites for months, urging stars to join calls for a ceasefire in Gaza’s deadliest war.
But matters came to a head after last week’s Met Gala, a glitzy fundraiser and the biggest night in fashion featuring A-list stars from screen, stage, sports and the world’s runways. Dressed in an extravagant gown, the influencer’s ‘Let them eat cake’ a phrase – notoriously associated with Marie Antoinette that symbolizes the callous disregard of 18th century French aristocrats towards the poor.
Fellow TikToker ladyfromtheoutside, who started the movement, responded: ‘It’s time for the people to conduct what I want to call a digital guillotine, a digitine, if you will,’ referring to the execution apparatus used during the French Revolution. ‘Take our views away, our likes, our comments, our money,’ she urged.
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.
‘This is about lives and justice — if she can rally all of us to vote, she has the power to speak up about injustice,” said a TikToker who described herself as a ‘Palestinian Swiftie’ and said it was time to block, unfollow and stop streaming her idol.
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. Moreover, the losses could be short-lived, Natasha Lindstaedt, a University of Essex professor who has studied celebrity activism, told AFP.
‘Sometimes people make a decision based on an emotional response to an issue and decide that if a celebrity isn’t on the same side… they don’t want to follow them anymore, but that takes a second,’ she says.
This phenomenon is known in academic circles as ‘slacktivism’ — substituting low-stakes online actions like posting memes or liking posts, or choosing to unfollow a favorite star — for meaningful political engagement.
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.
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency UTA after speaking at a pro-Palestine rally in November. More recently, Jerry Seinfeld, long the model of an apolitical celebrity, has faced criticism for affiliating himself more closely with Israel. 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.
(Source: Daily Mail)
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