In keeping up with her squeaky-clean image, Beyoncé rarely made her political views heard outside charity songs and performances. After the release of her Lemonade album and with 17 years in the public eye, her music took a drastic political turn after her husband's cheating scandal. This coincided with a new approach to artistry that embraced black-owned products, performers and ideologies often citing the musings of Chimamanda Ngozi in her approach to feminism.
This also opened the door for Beyoncé parodies that would see her fan base recognise her racial identity. Rarely one to give interviews, Beyoncé has taken control of the narratives surrounding her career. As a result, her political views come out sporadically and inconsistently.
The star rarely takes on boycotts, often making her feelings on a political issue an allegory for her relationships. Alongside other notable performers including Black Coffee and Demi Lovato, fans would lambaste her for not pulling her movies from screening in Israel when the latter country's cinemagoers would post numerous videos of them singing her club anthem Break My Soul as a song of hope.
Numerous issues lie with relying on celebrities in the political sphere. While others including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sonny Bono have entered the political realm successfully, others remain entertainers whose parasocial relationships with fans can be assumed to churn out voting numbers.
As history is being made in African countries, it's hard not to notice the rest of the globe going in the opposite direction, particularly with American politics. In what could have been a historic moment in American political history in a year of great political change, America is instead dominated by its love for celebrity and pomp. With a lower voter turnout and an interest in voting back an incompetent leader, Trump's re-election reflects the country's love for celebrities and their political inconsistency.
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Donald Trump’s election and US celebrity culture signal a trend that is starkly different from the direction Africa is taking
Image: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
This year, South Africa formed a government of national unity, Duma Boko curtailed the Botswana Democratic Party's road to a 60th consecutive year in government, and Samia Hassan, the first female president of Tanzania, has been embraced for her subdued approach to leadership.
Slowly but surely, African nations are embracing different leadership. A stark contrast to the war-torn stereotype that has latched itself on to the continent's many countries. In contrast, the news of Donald Trump winning another election after he was defeated by Joe Biden in 2020 came as a shock to many. A move that seems to reflect the West's direction. Dominating Kamala Harris, Trump's victory is a historic one as he overturned the previous election loss.
Harris had a legion of celebrities endorsing her, including music icons such as Bruce Springsteen and the cast of Marvel's highest-grossing trilogy The Avengers led by Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.
However, the biggest names that endorsed Harris were Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. For the past few years, the pair have broken numerous records, and along with their loyal legion of fans, they seem like an unstoppable force to influence millions do to their bidding. Or so it was thought.
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As political movements and activism are constantly transforming, so are the conversations around issues that affect different people. Bringing the most adored artists of the 21st century into her campaign, Harris seemed a shoo-in for getting the numbers, but it was only enough to pull just more than 40% of Americans to her side.
The politics of celebrities is a tricky one. Stars like Springsteen, Harry Belafonte and Jane Fonda have taken an active stance in ensuring change happens in global plights. More contemporary examples include former Beyoncé collaborator Kanye West, who took to a live screening to lambaste then president George Bush.
The only celebrities who could share their opinions were A-listers such as West or those who were not afraid to lose their time in the limelight including Michael Moore, whose documentary lambasted Bush and celebrated anti-war sentiments. The 2010s and 2020s have embraced a much more insular entertainment industry dominated by airtight long-term contracts that have seen Swift and Beyoncé embrace politics when they are not as easily digestible as gender equality.
This contradictory song and dance constantly erupts when celebrities' opinions come to the fore. For Swift, this was especially the case in her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana, where she said she had been mum about her political opinions in fear of her alt-right fan base. However, this changed as she made her opinions known on women's rights and leadership when she endorsed Phil Bredesen, the 2018 Democratic candidate in Tennessee.
The endorsement did not affect the outcome and Marsha Blackburn cinched the win for the Republicans with her often-contradictory views on women's rights.
In keeping up with her squeaky-clean image, Beyoncé rarely made her political views heard outside charity songs and performances. After the release of her Lemonade album and with 17 years in the public eye, her music took a drastic political turn after her husband's cheating scandal. This coincided with a new approach to artistry that embraced black-owned products, performers and ideologies often citing the musings of Chimamanda Ngozi in her approach to feminism.
This also opened the door for Beyoncé parodies that would see her fan base recognise her racial identity. Rarely one to give interviews, Beyoncé has taken control of the narratives surrounding her career. As a result, her political views come out sporadically and inconsistently.
The star rarely takes on boycotts, often making her feelings on a political issue an allegory for her relationships. Alongside other notable performers including Black Coffee and Demi Lovato, fans would lambaste her for not pulling her movies from screening in Israel when the latter country's cinemagoers would post numerous videos of them singing her club anthem Break My Soul as a song of hope.
Numerous issues lie with relying on celebrities in the political sphere. While others including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sonny Bono have entered the political realm successfully, others remain entertainers whose parasocial relationships with fans can be assumed to churn out voting numbers.
As history is being made in African countries, it's hard not to notice the rest of the globe going in the opposite direction, particularly with American politics. In what could have been a historic moment in American political history in a year of great political change, America is instead dominated by its love for celebrity and pomp. With a lower voter turnout and an interest in voting back an incompetent leader, Trump's re-election reflects the country's love for celebrities and their political inconsistency.
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