Should celebrities be held accountable for their silence during a humanitarian crisis?

Blockout 2024 calls out celeb silence and exposes our one-sided obsession with them

For the better part of May 2024, a mere hashtag laid siege to that elite, glittering orbit of the world’s most powerful celebrities and influencers. Since the first Sunday of the month, the night of the Met Gala, celebrity “blocklists” have proliferated across social media—on Instagram, TikTok and X—with creators and activists calling for an urgent mass blocking of celebrities, influencers, and socialites online. They christened it #blockparty2024—a clarion call to demand attention from the world’s wealthiest and most influential towards Israel’s endless genocide in the Gaza strip. 

Weeks after it entered the digital sphere, the celebrity blockout continues to gain traction around the globe, including in India. The strategy? Mass blocking (not merely unfollowing) of celebrities who remain silent on Israel’s genocide in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip. The aim is to hurt the celebrities where it matters the most—their follower counts and a subsequent impact on their earnings. 

The rise of digital activism

The celebrity blockout movement is emerging as a unique case study in social media-based social justice. Since its inception, social media has been a powerful tool for activism—enabling people to fight for justice and voice their concerns, especially in times of political turmoil or a humanitarian crisis. Movements like Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, Me Too, and Black Lives Matter, and closer home, the anti-CAA and the farmer’s protests, all gained momentum on social media. 

Online social networks have also always been a double-edged sword. Numerous studies highlight their susceptibility to  manipulation—tools of misinformation, propaganda, and hate speech, all amplified by confirmation bias. These platforms are  available to protestors in Hong Kong and Tunisia, as well as to self-styled “karyakartas” on WhatsApp in India, and the QAnon adherents and Parler users who orchestrated the storming  of the US Capitol Hill in 2021.  

The celebrity blockout movement has captured global attention for it stands at the nexus of fame, power, money, and algorithms. Triggered by a specific moment in time—the stark dissonance between thousands of people dying, while a select few paraded their wealth and status at a New York party—on 6 May, as Israel escalated the war in Rafah and extinguished all semblance of normal life, the world was distracted by the Met Gala's glittering opulence. Social media and tabloids were fixated on the million-dollar sartorial choices, diverting attention from the crisis in Gaza.

When American influencer Haleyy "Baylee" Kalil posted a tone-deaf video, where she mouthed “let them eat cake” dressed in an 18th-century gown, it triggered TikTok user @ladyfromtheoutside, compelling her to call for a “digital guillotine.” “We gave them their platforms,” she said. “It’s time to take it back—our views, likes, comments, and money.”

This movement is fundamentally a battle for attention. Yet, it is raising more questions than answers. What “good” can possibly come of it? What does its existence say about celebrity culture and parasocial relationships? Are we expecting too much from celebrities? 

Fashion entrepreneur Qureshi is among a handful of Indian celebrities who has been vocal about her solidarity for Palestine on all of her social media accounts.

This genocide in Gaza is unlike any other recent humanitarian rights’ violation for another reason—as Qureshi observes, the reportage as well as individual accounts of the destruction are coming at us hard and fast, almost in real-time. The blocklists named Met Gala 2024 attendees including Kim Kardashian, Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya, as well as Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, BTS and Malala Yousafzai. 

Why are we blocking Indian celebrities?

On the Instagram page @blockoutnow, Indian celebrities such as Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ranveer Singh, Shah Rukh Khan, Mindy Kaling, Deepika Padukone, Jay Shetty, and Virat Kohli have been branded as "complicit" in their silence. Aindriya Barua, an artist-engineer-activist from Tripura, was among the first to post a comprehensive Indian blocklist. Under a painting of Alia Bhatt with her eyes taped over and holding a slice of watermelon dribbling onto her Sabyasachi saree she wore to the Met Gala 2024, Barua’s list of 34 celebrities to block also included Sundar Pichai, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin, and Salman Khan.

“I was very sceptical at first,” says Barua. “Does it even make sense [to block them], especially because I don’t follow these celebrities anyway? At some point, we began to feel numb. But this idea motivated a lot of us because it made us feel as if there is something we can do.”

So why target celebrities? “We might not have that much of a platform, but there are others who have much bigger platforms/ audiences than us,” says Barua.

On the other side of the debate is the free speech argument. “Calling for a block out—how is that an answer?” questions Praachi Kapse, founder of talent management agency Peoplekind.  Distressed by the images of violence and destruction crowding her social media feed, Kapse frequently discusses the genocide in Gaza in personal conversation but does not agree with the movement’s tactics.

“The ones who are selective in their approach are either scared of the outcome of being brave enough to take a stand on their platforms, or not informed enough to talk about it in a meaningful or educational way,” says Kapse. “We need to understand that hate and anger cannot be met with the same emotions.”

Rakshit Singh, influencer and co-founder of indie accessories brand Tanned, had also initially dismissed the movement in its early stages as typical online trolling, until he created a video detailing Kim Kardashian’s purported loss of  3 million followers—later found out to be fake—when he realised the sustained impact of the movement. 

“At that time, I felt it’s the celebrities’ choice [whether to speak up or not],” says Singh. “Then the movement blew up. These people are taking away attention from something awful taking place in another part of the world. That’s a little unfair.” 

Singh believes that one can’t be a person of influence and knowingly go into situations where they might be questioned, and feign ignorance. “I wouldn’t speak about issues if I’m not involved, or not a hundred per cent knowledgeable [about them], but I would be aware. I definitely wouldn’t do things to draw attention away from them either.”

The balancing act of being popular yet accountable 

In India, there has been a long history of blind reverence among the population for its celebrities, with Bollywood stars and cricket icons enjoying immense influence. For the longest time, we have conflated the artist with their art. But, according to Prateek Waghre, executive director of digital rights organisation Internet Freedom Foundation, this might be shifting for a digitally-savvy generation. “It’s a sign of how the parasocial relationship has evolved,” he says. 

Our relationship with celebrities isn’t limited only to an admiration for their craft, art, or sportsmanship. We have a bigger window into their lives, their lifestyles and personas, because of social media. 

“Celebrities are certainly projecting or performing more of themselves on social media,” says Waghre. “They’ve encouraged these relationships, and people are following them because they, at some level, identify with them. So it’s not unnatural to then also see people expecting them to speak to the causes that they feel strongly about.”  

For some, sensing a lack of “spine” or “conscience” can lead to a process of undoing such a relationship. “Jerry Seinfeld has always been a Zionist but the more you see how ugly his actions and statements have gotten, the more shocked you are,” says writer and marketing professional Ankita Chawla. “I have been a long-time fan, but I doubt if I will ever be able to see Seinfeld the same way again.” 

Waghre points to the complicated dynamics of the situation and adds, “But from their perspective, they’re judging the cost attached to it.” And the toll isn’t small, no matter how wide their zone of influence is.

Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo’s posts to his 20-million-plus followers on Instagram, calling for a ceasefire, receive millions of likes and thousands of comments, many trolling him about "never speaking to terrorist groups" and the "symbolic meaning of the red hand" for Israelis.

Meanwhile, Bridgerton star Nicola Laughlin’s public appearances show her wearing a red pin, and she talks frequently and articulately  about living in Jerusalem and her proximity to the cause. Yet, people drop into her comments sections, demanding to know if she knows what the red pin really means. 

When singer Lucky Ali tweeted that he’d love to visit Palestine as a show of support last December, a section of trolls responded by building him an itinerary—which made him upset. Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Ali Fazal was tweeting about a humanitarian crisis in Palestine as far back as 2021 but has been silent on the genocide so far. Actor Kani Kusruti carried a watermelon-shaped bag at the Cannes Film Festival a few days ago to show solidarity with Palestine, and within 24 hours, her film Biriyaani had been dredged up online, along with accusations of “selective heroism”. 

Alia Bhatt, known for her environmental activism, has remained silent on the crisis in Gaza until 28 May, when she shared a story on Instagram with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah. Her Met Gala throwback post on Instagram has comments split between praise and demands for her to speak up for a ceasefire.

On 28 May, social media was flooded with the phrase “All Eyes on Rafah”. Besides Bhatt, celebrities like Sonam Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Dua Lipa, among others, posted the message on their respective Instagram accounts. Israel continues to launch airstrikes in Rafah, despite the collective global outrage. Kapoor was among the first few celebrities to have shared pro-Palestine posts in October 2023, and did not feature on the list, as opposed to Bhatt and Chopra. Chopra did post about calling for a ceasefire in Palestine last December, but it’s the first time Bhatt has posted about the genocide.

Since the beginning of this Israeli assault on Gaza in October 2023, half of the Palestinian population, or over a million people, have been living in Rafah, the southernmost point of exit from Gaza city that skirts Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Considered a “safe zone” for Palestinians, the people were, once again, forced to flee, since Israel launched what it called a “limited incursion” there earlier this month.

This Israeli airstrike follows merely days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ordered that Israel “[I]mmediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), however, said there is no such thing as a safe place in Gaza.

Meanwhile, actor Swara Bhasker, long vocal about her politics and the professional repercussions, continues to address the genocide. In a recent Instagram post, she lamented “the broken world that our children are inheriting” while calling for a ceasefire, and faced criticism for "playing the victim card" in the comments. This isn’t limited to standing up for Gaza. In 2020, when Deepika Padukone attended a student protest at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, the camps were divided—some trolled and called it a photo op for her upcoming film Chhappak, while others believed her stance would pressure more A-listers to take a stand. But no one did, and Padukone’s silent yet brave gesture was wiped as a blip in our collective memories. 

There is no “win-win situation”, says brand consultant Harish Bijoor. “Celebrities can take the tiny path out of this fracas by declaring on their social media handles that they do not, as a matter of practice or philosophy, comment on these subjects,” says Bijoor. Qureshi says she’s taken a hit on followers and engagement since she began to talk about the war on her social media platforms. “In the larger scheme of things, is my engagement important or the lives of innocent children?” she says. “If people who don’t believe in equality for all human beings unfollow me, I’m fine with that. I want to build a community of like-minded people—it can be small, but it has to be a strong community.”  

“This is not about cancel culture,” explains Barua. “We are just trying to hold people accountable because they have influence. They are not selling merely a movie or a product, they are selling their lifestyle and moral values. So this is a criticism of people who hold a lot of power from those who don’t. I think the question of ethics arises when we punch down, not up.” 

Punching up is one thing, of course; meaningful change is a whole other ballgame. “There are several questions that this movement throws up,” says Waghre. “In theory, we know we must use our platforms for ‘good’, but how do we agree on what’s ‘good’? From the perspective of someone who works in policy, and is always in search of nuance in such conversations, do we really want celebrities speaking out about everything?” 

Waghre admits there is value to the amplification celebrities can bring to causes but “what’s going to matter is, when a similar thing happens in the future, will it shift the calculus of celebrities, influencers, creators to be more proactive and say something rather than wait to be called out?” This leads to perhaps the most pertinent question: For how long, or how many of these movements can sustain attention as they get normalised? 

“The way we’re able to pay attention, at least globally, has become quite episodic,” says Waghre. “It was Afghanistan in August 2021; a few months later, it was Ukraine, now it is Gaza. Do we now have a limited bandwidth to pay attention and mobilise for causes? Because, it’s like they say—the Internet doesn’t forget. It mostly, on balance, just shrugs its shoulders and goes, ‘meh.’”

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