I'm about to serve you some candy cane realness right now.
Now I know it's not the most important issue
in the world right now, but I have to openly admit
I get really angry when people treat celebrities like crap.
I just need to say it.
And there's so many ways we mistreat celebrities,
whether it's gossip, bullying,
making them do a step and repeat,
or, you know, the worst?
Making them do the cha cha challenge
on "Dancing with the Stars."
But jokes aside, I think the reason it bothers me
is because when we have a conversation
around celebrities and how we treat them,
at the core, it's really a conversation about values.
I think we can all agree it is a fact
that we treat celebrities different,
and oftentimes, that's for their benefit.
They get free swag, free drinks.
They know what Diddy's White Party looks like.
One can only imagine.
But they also have to deal with a ton of crap
that we wouldn't do to "normal people."
Let's talk about bullying real quick.
The other day, I saw a celebrity
post about a hate comment she got,
but the hate comment was from a mother.
And that got me thinking,
because I feel like parents generally
like to set a good example for their kids,
but for some reason,
they throw that rule out the window
when it has to do with a celebrity.
And I'm trying to understand this because it's like,
okay, does that mean that it's okay
to bully a celebrity, and why is that?
Is it because they're rich and famous?
Okay, so how rich does someone have to be
before it's okay to make fun of them?
And I think the conversation gets even more interesting
when we talk about privacy
because that's where celebrities
have it really bad.
I mean, for the most part,
people are cracking down on social media being like,
"You can't sell my data,"
"I need my privacy,"
but the exception is celebrities.
Why does our moral compass have to have an asterisk?
That's not how compasses work.
North should not be different for North West.
And oftentimes when I say this, the argument back is,
"Well, that's what celebrities signed up for,"
and I don't think that's a fair argument to make.
Because really, they signed up to be an actor
or singer or really hot person.
Just because they got successful,
it doesn't mean that they deserve horrible treatment
for having a talent.
I'm gonna be vulnerable with you and share
this experience of mine, but, you know,
before in my last house,
I had a lot of issues with people coming to my house
and it wasn't always safe and it was scary.
And so when I moved, I made it a point
to make sure my privacy was intact.
I was very cautious to not post pictures in a certain way
or reveal the city I lived in, etcetera, etcetera,
to feel safe, and then what happened?
Some outlet and reporter posted an article about my move
with all of these pictures, and I was terrified.
I even requested for them to take it down
and my only reason was I want to be safe,
and the response I got was, "Well, it's freedom of speech."
Now, I was 22 years old when I decided
to post some silly videos on YouTube.
I didn't know I would be "signing up"
to feel like a fugitive in my own house.
The reality is that no one "signed up" for it.
It's just the culture we've created
and the expectation that we've set,
saying, "Yeah, I guess this is okay."
I mean, just stop and think how we don't even blink an eye
when a celebrity's nudes get leaked anymore.
We've normalized that behavior.
I mean, Jennifer Lawrence didn't sign up
to have her privacy invaded.
In fact, she didn't even sign up for social media.
And I know what some people might be thinking.
"Lilly, stop being so sensitive.
"Why you defending celebrities?
They can go cry into their piles of money."
Yet since we were little kids,
we've been taught over and over again
that money cannot buy you happiness.
I mean, all these stories from King Midas
to "The Great Gatsby" to "Eat Pray Love"--
all these stories we eat up have all taught us
that money doesn't guarantee a happy life.
We know this!
Health and wellness cannot be bought,
no matter what that spa flyer says.
And it's this culture that has driven so many stars
to the breaking point-- the stars like Britney Spears,
Lindsay Lohan, Princess Diana.
Here, spoiler alert. Stars are people.
But I'm happy that right now,
more stars are coming forward to fight this abuse.
Emily Ratajkowski wrote a great piece about how
she had to buy back pictures of herself from paparazzi.
Meghan Markle just won a lawsuit against a UK tabloid
for invading her privacy.
You know, Meghan said something here
that really pulled my heartstring,
and I wanna share it here, she said,
"For these outlets, it's a game.
"For me and so many others, it's real life,
real relationships, and very real sadness."
I feel that.
So next time you have the urge
to tweet something mean to a celebrity
or look at their baby's leaked photos
or their nude photos, just think about,
would you do that if that celebrity was your friend?
Because remember,
every celebrity is a real person,
even if their lip filler isn't.