- So today we're gonna talk about Ariel Winter,
and the actress who has been
on many people's TV screens since she was very, very young.
She's been suffering for a long time
and has recently decided to leave California, or LA.
You know, just not be there anymore.
And from two people's perspective of leaving that area
but still working in the media,
I think we know a thing or two about this.
What we don't know of a thing or two about is paparazzi,
which is primarily why she left, right?
- Yes. She was being followed around all the time.
She has been followed around since the time she was a child.
- 11. 11 years old.
And then, well, 14 years old,
it says in the article that she, since she was going
through this crazy trial to get emancipated from her mother.
Which in and of itself is a big issue
because this poor girl has gone through so much trauma.
You know, I actually know somebody who's related to her,
who will remain nameless, but says that the same thing.
She's the most wonderful, loving person.
Ariel has, does not deserve any of this kind of treatment,
and she needs to be protected after, you know,
having been through all this stuff for so many years.
- It may seem obvious to people that aren't in this industry
that leaving could be an answer to this.
But what they don't understand is the grip
and the tractor beam that being in LA has on people
that are in the business.
It's, you feel like if you leave
that you'll never work again.
You'll become persona non grata,
and it seems like it's the death note for your career.
Now, something that COVID actually provided
was an opportunity to start auditioning via Zoom.
So she's now exercised the option to get out.
And if that's what's healthy for her,
I commend the move.
Like you can't go to a lunch in LA with a friend
without one of you, or maybe even both of you
if we're being transparent,
looking around to seeing who's there.
And when that happens, it's like, is this even real?
Is this even a friendship? - I remember,
my brother visited me in California.
And he was like, "Does everybody just sit?
Like, does everybody just look at you?"
Like, there's a palpable difference between certain cities.
I feel like Austin's starting to become a little bit more
like that because people are aware of the fact
that celebrities and actors and stuff like live here.
- But not like LA.
- They come through here.
Even the people here in Austin though, they know how to act.
- I was gonna say. People here are very respectful.
Like when they come up to you, they're like,
"Does it seem like the right time?"
- Totally. They evaluate all that stuff.
Just like proper. - Yeah they approach you so...
But in LA, it's like you're asking for it.
But poor Ariel has been dealing with this
since she's, you know, been a child.
Now the bigger picture here guys
is what the heck are we doing to kids in the industry
if they have to suffer at the hands of paparazzi like this?
- Is it- - It should be illegal.
- Well, yeah, it should be. It should be.
- No. No "Well." It should be illegal.
- It should be illegal.
- Anybody under the age of 18
should not be photographed against their will.
- 100% - And if they are,
the people doing it should be prosecuted.
- 100% because they're making money off of those photos.
Look, I think that there's been a lot of advocates for this.
Hilary Duff has been one, Jennifer Garner, Blake Lively.
Like they're trying to get, I think, legislation passed.
And I think there's been a sort of a quiet understanding
from the paparazzi not to do stuff like this.
- If you take a photograph of my kids without my permission,
get ready for your camera to be broken
into thousands of pieces.
- That's true. He will do that.
- 100%, and that's probably putting it lightly.
- Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'll tell you what it feels like
to get, you know, a picture taken of you
without your consent.
Like I have never, I would say there's been maybe one
or two times when I've been like, "I can't,"
"I'm sick" or like I am in a situation
where I can't stop what I'm doing
to take a picture with somebody.
- You always are gracious.
- But I would say 9 1/2 times out of 10. 9 3/4.
- Yeah. Someone will pop up in the comments,
"Well, I remember."
- I get that. But-
- And it's like the day you had your worst breakup ever
and like you-
- I mean, but honestly, like really though.
Like, that's just my protocol
and the way that Disney kind of groomed us to love our fans
because those were the whole reason we existed, right?
Still to this day. - And that's actually true.
- Yeah. But like, if I was eating
and somebody would take a picture of me
'cause they were too scared
to come and just ask me for a picture, I felt violated.
You know, it's like, okay, you take a picture of me,
then you put it on WhatsApp.
My, you know, I'm not posing for it.
Like, you know, it's kind of sneaky.
I feel like my environment isn't safe for me now.
And like, I don't know if you like me or don't like me.
Or like it's kind of one of those things
where it's like if you're a fan and you're coming up to me,
I know you like me. You know?
- But you stated it.
I mean, maybe it is that they're just,
they're just too nervous to talk to you.
I mean, I think now with age and perspective,
you'd probably, do you still feel the same way
when that happens now as you did, you know, 15 years ago?
- I do. I do.
I feel like, you know, traumatized
from being a public person in that regard.
But it's not as bad for me at all, by the way.
I get the best of both worlds.
We call me like "fame-ish,"
'cause it's like, I'm not really famous.
- But you remember my stance on that?
It's like, you wanna be, the perfect amount of notoriety
is when you can walk into a Starbucks,
not any, everybody in line recognizes you,
but the barista does so you're like,
"All right, I know they're gonna make my drink well."
Or it's like, "You know what?
I really wanna go to that restaurant.
And I know that it's sold out for two months.
Maybe I'll throw out an Instagram message on there."
But like it's not that you would be hounded
everywhere you go because that is exhausting.
- But this poor girl, man. Ariel-
- Which is what happened to her.
- Ariel's just, but see that's the thing is
there's this tractor beam of paparazzi that,
I will tell you this.
If I had gotten into the paparazzi's purview or whatever,
if I've gotten into their like stable.
'Cause I think like some people
once they get on that marketplace of paparazzi,
they can never leave it.
Women do want to have agency over their brands
because for women in the media, that is their product,
their body, and their likeness and their brand,
their personalities, their voices, their singing,
everything about them that is contained in their body is-
- And who are we to tell them what to do or what not to do?
If that makes them feel good about themselves,
then we should champion that, right?
- Well, what I find interesting in this regard
is that young girls right now are doing two things.
Young underage girls we're talking about, right?
You have like the Euphoria concept, right?
And you have the Billie Eilish thing
where it's like I'm gonna wear really big, baggy clothes
so that people don't make, you know,
my identity about my body.
I guess the concern from two parents
that are elder millennials
is that if you're an underage girl,
we still need to be mindful of the fact
that people are still interested.
- There are predatory people out there in droves.
- And your images could be taken and misused
and you know, misrepresented.
And you know, if there's anything that my generation
of females learned, it was, you know,
taking and sending pictures.
Granted, you can choose to do whatever you want.
I think it's just when you have underage girls,
you know, that's concerning
- Social media has confused that for sure.
- I know, but see this is the bigger concept
is like we can't police the bodies of underage girls.
- Right This is where the, this-
- How do you protect them as the same time?
- This is where this debate or this narrative gets ugly.
Because people are saying, "No, no, these are children.
Like we should make sure that predatory people
aren't able to get ahold of these images."
And then other people are saying,
"Well, these are children.
They should feel positive about,
you know, themselves and their body images
and so they should be able to."
And that's a very, you know, loaded topic.
Regardless of that,
paparazzi and people should not be following,
I'm reiterating this point,
should not be following children
and taking unwanted pictures.
- [Christy] Right. - Right. Of them.
That is egregious.
And the fact that she had to move to get some solace
is also egregious so.
- I honestly think that there should be,
obviously I've always felt like, you know,
young performers need advocacy.
It's one of my main objectives
in the future of any kind of work I do with advocacy.
But really, I mean, our union should be protecting
our young kids and this should all be somehow,
it should be all intertwined.
There should be much more understanding of the fact
that this is a marketplace
and these people are misusing the marketplace
of image and brand and-
- Well, and you'll hear people say often like,
"Well this is their choice. They chose to do X.
So they need to bear the repercussions of that."
It's like, do you understand that most child performers
are not choosing like to move forward?
They are pressured into that.
And again, highly competitive working environment.
These are young laborers.
We don't allow school-aged children
to go work in factories in the United States.
So this is a form of child labor, right?
And so they'll say,
"Oh, look at these terrible things they're doing."
And we're fascinated about, you know,
child actors (beep) up.
Which is really crazy because if you think about it,
they never had a chance to grow up, right?
They've been stuck in this bubble.
And a lot of them don't start growing up
until they're like in their late twenties,
like into their thirties.
Because they've been barred from actually growing
by being in that environment.
- I mean, this is a huge concept to unpack
that Ariel unfortunately is a victim of.
I'm so proud that I've been able to educate you
about what it means intimately.
Because when we first started dating each other,
I don't think you understood the industry
through my lens 'cause how could you?
- Right. - But more images
and more success and influence that young creators have,
I think the more advocacy they need.
I think just because someone isn't SAG-AFTRA,
it doesn't mean that they're not gonna be traumatized
by the effects of influence.
And so there does need to be a growing concern for,
you know, understanding the needs of young people.
I will never back down from that.
That is not something that you can ever,
ever tell me differently for.
And certainly I know I have your support.
So yeah, I think we support what Ariel's doing, obviously.
We know a thing or two about leaving.
And you know, sometimes, if you're scared,
making the harder choices that you know is best
is really the best choice.
- Thanks for watching.
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