Recently, “open letters” have been flying back and forth between Lady Gaga and Sharon Osbourne because of a series of Twitter occurrences that happened a few months ago, where Sharon’s foul-mouthed daughter, Kelly Osbourne, was “attacked” by Gaga’s fan base for some rude comments she made about the star.
You can read more about the letters here.
One thing that stood out to me in Sharon’s letter (amidst the glaring hypocrisies and childish insults) was when she basically said that not only does Gaga control her fans, but she encourages their bad behavior.
Apparently, there’s a need to point out that this is untrue. I have to point this out because several news outlets and various other celebrities and other severely bothered fan bases of other pop stars are quite adamant in their belief that Gaga can control her fans. She has a unique and enormous fan base and just because she groups them together and calls them “Little Monsters” does not negate their individuality. Her fan base is made up of millions of people who all love her, but think very differently from one another.
Some feel it is their duty to defend “Mother Monster” at all costs, others couldn’t care less about the criticism Gaga receives and ignore it. And still others troll the Internet just for the hell of it. Yes, Gaga preaches about acceptance and eschewing bullying and wishes that her fans would spread peace, love, and rainbows all over the globe. However, she is no one’s mother and her fans are not required to listen to her.
The idea that Gaga can tell her fans what to do is absolutely absurd. Half of her fans are grown adults, who don’t have to listen to anybody. The other, underage half already have parents who are responsible for telling their kids what to do. Kelly Osbourne and her mother were wrong in blaming Gaga for her fans’ behavior. Straight up. Blame the actual parents. Blame the open battleground that is Twitter. Blame the dragging culture that has engulfed the music fandom community. Don’t blame the artist when they’ve done nothing wrong.
I’ve seen many celebrities retweet the insults they get, because they know their rabid fans will attack. I’ve seen celebrities literally tell their fans to go after a person who insults them. Gaga has never done that. She rarely shows her frustration on Twitter and combats criticism with a smile and deep sense of modesty. She’s not perfect but she’s not the villain everyone is trying to make her out to be.
Whether Kelly Osbourne was bullied by Gaga fans or simply too sensitive to handle Twitter criticisms is a debate for another time. She put the blame on the wrong person and called even more attention to it instead of ignoring it. As a public persona, you will never escape criticism. Ever. To think this will all change just because you had your mother email the manager of a pop star doesn’t resolve anything. Gaga can’t suspend, ground, punish or put any of her fans in time out. She simply doesn’t have that control. Nor should she accept any responsibility for her fans’ actions. She has never encouraged them to bully people; she’s excruciatingly anti-bullying and against the belittling of anyone. People will surely say “Gaga’s a role model whether she likes it or not blah blah blah.” Gaga knows this and accepts that kids everywhere look up to her and she has never abused that. Yes, she smokes weed and wears dead animals, but she doesn’t encourage her fans to do so. She promotes individuality and self-responsibility. She’s even told her fans to back off insulting Madonna, which they’re prone to do and scolds them for bullying each other.
The news media only seeks to get website hits and they know they’ll get it when they report on anything to do with Gaga. Hence why you’ll never see any news article about the abuse Keri Hilson gets daily from Beyonce fans. Or the vitriol Christina Aguilera is faced with from Britney Spears fans. Gaga fans have been labeled as the worst fan base because of their reputation for insulting anyone who criticizes Gaga, but in reality that’s only because the news media persists on reporting their every insult. Every single fan base does this. Hell, Perez Hilton does it daily and gets paid for it. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m saying it’s not exclusive to just one pop star’s fan base.
Fair and balanced is what the media is supposed to be all about. And really who gives a damn that a bunch of kids on the internet are being mean? My God, there are mass shootings and gang rapes and terrorism happening all over the world and THIS is what the media chooses to spend it’s time on.
I’m sick and tired of hearing people place blame in the wrong place. That, too, will never change. Gaga’s influence and impact is wide and expansive so people look to her to use her influence to make a change. However, in the end people are responsible for their own actions.
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