I was deeply saddened this morning when I read about the fued between Lady Gaga and Kelly Osbourne on behalf of her mother Sharon.
Look, we all know there are some crazy pop music fans out there.
Britney Exhibit A
Tiffany Exhibit B
Beiber Exhibit C
But as I took a got ready for work this morning, I kept pondering to myself,
“At what point do pop artists need to take social responsibility for the actions of their fans?”
Let me just say this. I’m both a Gaga and Kelly Osbourne fan. Gaga is amazing, captivating and I am hard-pressed to say anything negative about her. Kelly has always been an amazing and underrated musician in her own right, outside of her celebrity persona (I think similarly about Lindsey Lohan too). Both have some uber amazing fans with hearts o gold. But some of their fans, for example the blogger who started this online fued (whom as since had their blog deleted) are just taking things too far when they are suggesting that people “kill themselves” or that certain artists are “responsible for the spread of AIDS” – all in the name of defending their beloved pop icon’s status. It’s disgusting and as fan and “little monster” myself, I’m really disheartened when I read this trite garbage. I would think that Lady Gaga would have felt the same, but perhaps that’s not the case.
In this particular instance, I must side with Sharon Osbourne, although I don’t agree with all of her rebuttal points, I think what she is saying is rather spot-on and brings up a lot of particular sticking points. Instead of making a private situation public, Gaga should have addressed her hateful fan and nipped this problem in the ass, making an example of the individual and used her celebrity to send a message that such remarks by acknowledged immature fans are not tolerated. Instead, she chose to eloquently lash out publicly against Kelly Osbourne and in essence, almost defended her hateful fan’s actions. This fan was most likely looking for some attention and in the end, she gave them exactly what they wanted.
Now maybe this whole thing is a big pile of steaming bullshit (most likely). Who knows what “really” is going on here behind-the-scenes of this celebrity obsessed culture we human beings have created that feed the headline mongers, but let’s just say that if what was presented as fact here, really is fact, then indeed we truly have a problem that could spread like an epidemic if not controlled.
I think all artists with a sizeable fan base really need to implement a social responsibility stance towards their fans as part of their business brands. Most sizeable corporations go to great legal lengths to defend their beliefs this against outspoken customers and it’s high time that music brands take a similar approach. All it takes is a single tweet, email or “cease and desist” statement to overzealous fans for them to realize that hey, “your a bit cra cra” and perhaps you should tone it down just a wee bit.
Musicians should not be defending the clearly horrible statements or actions by their off-kilter fans for fear they may turn the other way and forego buying a concert ticket, not download their album or shift loyalty to another artist or diva. It’s high time that these type of hateful pop fans get a slap on the hand when they post such extreme bullying hate online. Celebrities are people too and although most of them have the thickest skin on earth, remarks such as “go kill yourself” or “you are responsible for spreading AIDS” can chip away at anyone, regardless if you are Kelly Osbourne, Lady Gaga or Madonna. It only perpetuates the stereotype that women are competitive, back-stabbing bitches towards each other. Instead, just start taking responsibility for something you can squash quite easily with your celebrity power and try to make your fans think like you and your business brand.
There is no art pop in grown ladies publicly bitching about each other.