Ariana Grande recently announced that she wishes to “step back from visibility.” The public statement said that “she looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.” A follow-up statement added: “Boundaries can need to be set.”
The announcement highlights the complicated balance between celebrity status, fandom, and the well-being of fans and celebrities alike. Where, indeed, are these boundaries? How are they set and what are their implications for mental health?
Celebrity Boundary Violations: Physical vs. Psychological
Audiences have the power to create and maintain a celebrity’s status. Fans’ activity is the economic fuel of the celebrity industry, and fans may therefore feel entitled to violate celebrities’ psychological and physical boundaries.
One way they do this is by seeking physical proximity, often more than celebrities wish to give—for example, by forcing personal interactions when incidentally encountering a celebrity in a public space. Celebrities have often lamented about the burden of being recognized and not being able to go about their everyday life without constant attention.
Even individuals who do not have a strong fan identity may feel star-struck when encountering a celebrity in a restaurant or on the street. A photograph or autograph becomes a trophy for being lucky enough to have an extraordinary encounter, which can then be used to elevate one’s social status, even momentarily, by sharing it on social media.
For more devoted fans, establishing a connection with a celebrity is meaningful on a psychological level. Being a fan entails attachment and integrating the celebrity into one’s sense of self.
At an extreme, celebrity worshipping involves identifying with celebrities, wishing to be like them, and idealizing them. So much is projected onto the celebrity that the relationship represents one’s sense of self-worth and meaningfulness.
Thus, as the relationship’s importance is exaggerated, a small fraction of fans may engage in extreme proximity-seeking behaviors, such as tracking a celebrity’s whereabouts or trespassing on their property or other places they may be. Behavior of this nature, or the fear of it, may have motivated the social media post from the creator of the popular TV show “Heated Rivalry,” asking that fans refrain from attending their set.
Importantly, stalking behaviors are very uncommon, even if they often draw media attention. Individuals who engage in celebrity stalking represent a small percentage of fans and often have an underlying psychiatric condition. For example, Meloy, Mohandie, and Green (2008) analyzed forensic investigation archives comparing celebrity stalkers with those who stalk private people. They found that celebrity stalkers were twice as likely to use drugs (77 percent vs. 38 percent among private-figure stalkers) and more likely to have a mental health disorder (52 percent vs. 38 percent). At the same time, these behaviors are almost always innocuous, unlike a sizable portion of stalking instances of private people that were violent or threatening.
In addition to seeking physical proximity, fans may feel that the social contract that gives celebrities fame entitles them to have—and voice—strong opinions about celebrities’ private lives. These opinions can range from criticizing romantic choices (e.g., wishing Justin Bieber would reunite with Selena Gomez) to scrutinizing appearance, especially changes in weight.
Research (e.g., Ouvrein et al., 2019) has demonstrated that social media can create a toxic media environment that propagates this behavior. Celebrity bashing is, in a sense, contagious as exposure to celebrity bashing normalizes the behavior and makes it seem more acceptable to others.
The Celebrities’ Perspective
Boundaries Essential Reads
Unsurprisingly, given the logistic and access constraints, there is little empirical research on celebrities’ perceptions of this social contract and coping with the eroding boundaries. In a rare study based on interviews with prominent celebrities, Donna Rockwell and David Giles (2009) identified several consequences and coping behaviors associated with fame. Celebrities reported feeling lonely and emotionally isolated, as well as full of doubt and distrust. Some reported a feeling of character-splitting, which entails a protective mechanism that allows the celebrity to construct a fake, public-facing self while maintaining their true inner self.
It is perhaps ironic that at a time when celebrities are called upon to be authentic and transparent and letting people further into their lives through social media, celebrities may feel increasingly violated and thus become more guarded and inauthentic to maintain their mental well-being. As some of Rockwell and Giles’ interviewees recounted feeling “addicted” to fame, it often takes particular courage and strength to step back and reclaim one’s privacy, at the expense of fame.
