Social media users are collectively blocking celebrities and influencers who have been silent on Gaza
Hundreds of celebrities are on the “digital guillotine” as social media users campaign for a #blockout — urging one another to block the social media accounts of big names who have remained silent about the ongoing humanitarian atrocities in Gaza.
Hundreds of celebrities are on the “digital guillotine” as social media users campaign for a #blockout — urging one another to block the social media accounts of big names who have remained silent about the ongoing humanitarian atrocities in Gaza.
Selena Gomez, Zendaya, Drake, Justin Bieber and the Kardashian family are among the many targets. Even longtime fans of stars like Taylor Swift have announced their decisions to block the same celebrities they once followed and admired. (Some celebrities on the block lists expressed concern for both Israelis and Palestinians after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 but have not posted publicly about Gaza in recent months.)
Pro-Palestinian activists have been putting pressure on celebrities to show more support for civilians in Gaza for months, stirring a growing sense of disillusionment that reached a boiling point last week when the glitz and glamor of the Met Gala coincided with Israel’s announcement of a military offensive in Rafah.
Viewers of the Met Gala have long compared the event to “The Hunger Games,” the popular book franchise by Suzanne Collins that highlights the dystopian social divide between the wealthy Capitol elite and the impoverished district citizens living under state oppression. But criticism of what many online perceived as an excessive display of opulence grew even more pronounced this year as celebrities posed for photos while pro-Palestinian protesters marched outside.
The backlash bubbled into outrage after the popular social media creator Haley Kalil posted a now-removed TikTok video posing in her lavish Met Gala gown while lip-syncing to the TikTok sound “Let Them Eat Cake,” a quotation famously attributed to the last queen of France, Marie Antoinette, who was sent to the guillotine during the French Revolution. The phrase has come to symbolize the attitude of aristocrats who are out of touch with the realities of the less fortunate.
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