OPINION | Celebs give back: Crisis of conscience, #HeroGoals or PR stunt?

The days of celebs smiling for the camera while young kids stand in line waiting for food or school shoes are over. Or at least they should have been left in 2018.

SA celebs have been giving back for a long time, perhaps even longer than I have been alive (not that any celeb came to my crèche and gave me ice lollies).  Besides it being the most gratifying experience in the world, giving back is quite a trendy topic and was even a basis on which to base a ticket giveaway to see Beyoncé a la Global Citizen.

The topic was thrown back into the spotlight this week with rapper AKA’s decision to meet with protesting students at Wits University in Johannesburg and pledge R100,000. He also filled their hungry bellies with 200 Big Mac meals from McDonald’s.

It was a kind act but, like a parent lending you their car for the night, it came with a lecture: Celebs need to use their influence for good.

In other words: celebs, come down from your ivory tower and be human.

Speaking to me just days before, the rapper said that he was in a better space and wanted to give back.

“I am doing this roast (with Comedy Central) and I want to take the check and give it to students to help pay for their tuition or boarding. Students are part of my fan base and I want to give what I get from this roast to them.”

No one can doubt that it’s a great gesture, perhaps truly born from an awakening of conscience, but watching the rapper mobbed by hundreds of student and surrounded by cameras it was hard to shake the feeling that maybe it was all for the attention.

Why didn’t he donate in secret? Why not arrange a private meeting with the SRC and give them a cheque? 

Maybe it’s about celebs being a security risk or something, but even “The People’s Blesser” Malcolm X shows up to places unannounced and in relative silence.

While many celebrities do give in secret, it is because the cameras are often flashing and there is a flurry of press releases about stars “giving back”, that some of us have had to stop and question what is the real going on.

Is it really charity when you are calling journalists to beg them to cover a “handover ceremony” or flood their inboxes with press releases of them giving back?

No matter how kind the gesture, the truth is when it is in the spotlight there is always the risk of being labelled a “show off” or “attention seeker”.

I once asked Malcolm why he thought it was that celebs give back in public when it probably would have been better to do it in private.

He responded by claiming that what many thought was “showing off” was actually inspiring others to do more and to give.

“The funny thing is, people will give more if they see others giving.”

Whether AKA’s gesture came from a life-changing moment, a message to other celebs to give back too or a PR stunt, the fact is that he gave to those in need and more celebs need to be on board.

So dear celeb, stop clapping back and start giving back - just spare us the pictures and press releases.