I attended an event at Lekki here in Lagos State, Nigeria, sometime in October last year. Halfway into the event, one of the Nigerian celebrities entered the event center, and immediately, the environment changed.
Many fans were screaming, leaving their seats and rushing down to where this young man is, as if they saw a god or something. In fact, some persons were even injured in the process because the crowd was much struggling to make their way to where the celebrity was standing, but later on, some security men intervened.
A Nigerian celebrity
To say that I was surprised at the fan's reaction at that time is an understatement. It's not a crime for fans to see their favorite celebrity and start jumping on them, snapping pictures, and all that. Personally, you wouldn't find me doing that even in your dreams, as much as I have lots of my favorite celebrities, from actors to musicians, dancers, and so on. As a matter of fact, I have seen some of them, aside from the one I mentioned above, and of course I didn't demonstrate any sort of madness because of a celeb.
On the other hand, celebrities acting aggressively is out of point because the moment you sign to do a job of serving the public, just know that such a thing is expected. You will definitely see strangers jumping on you in excitement, requesting to capture the moment with you to showcase to the world how good it feels to see physically a celeb he or she has been admiring over the screen. But truth must be told, it's baffling how we see fans overdo these things. For God's sake, these celebrities don't even know most of their fans, and it could make a celebrity feel unsafe seeing a random stranger jumping on them.
I think this is one of the reasons why some of the celebrities act aggressively; maybe they feel insecure. However, there should be limits to every action, both on the side of the fans and the celebrities.
Intruding into someone's life uninvited might make the other person aggressive because there's emotion in play. The fan might mean no harm or might be dangerous; no one knows because a fan might be claiming to love a celebrity, but deep down, it's not really a genuine love, and that's why most times, I don't blame celebrities for acting the way some of them act toward their fans. The annoying part is when some fans demand money from these celebrities, like, are you entitled to anything? Because you support such a celebrity? Perhaps this category of fans thinks it is their support that took the celebrities to the position they are in; even if it's so, we can behave in a more civilized manner.
Also, I wish some celebs would stop going too extreme with their fans by being arrogant and aggressive to them...let things just be balanced. Having said that, it might be a bit difficult for a celebrity to remain popular without their fans, who always support them and help them be known in society. So I feel that celebrities even need the fans more than the fans need them.
Overall, there should be mutual respect and understanding between fans and celebrities. As much as die-hard fans should maintain a boundary while expressing their love and admiring their favorite celebs, celebrities should also be humble enough and respectful towards their supportive fans. It becomes a win-win for all; after all, we need each other to survive.
This is my response to the #HiveLearners community contest on the topic titled, Fans and Celebrities.