“What’s your beef with Dane Cook?” #hesrich 👾

I’m not sure why (actually I am and I’m about to tell you), but beefing with a celebrity is on my bucket list. And every so often, when I’m feeling extra bold, I make a video that pokes fun at a celeb in the hopes that somehow.. some way, said celebrity will see it and respond.

This is absolutely a pipe dream at the moment because, well, I’m a nobody. I have a combined 3,000ish following across all platforms. And it is, pun intended, *rich* that I’d actually think a celebrity would take notice of anything I do or say. I’m just a small, delulu fish swimming in circles around big fish who could gulp my insignificant self up in a second.

That doesn’t stop me, though. Celebrities, objects of society’s fascination, do fascinatingly objectionable things with their fame at times. Or in Dane Cook’s case, rise to fame in arguably objectionable ways (*cough* stealing jokes). But with celebrity comes some level of societal immunity that is *not* afforded to us regular folk.

Let me give you a comparison. If I lie on my job application and this transgression comes to light later, instant firing. It doesn’t matter how well I did at said job or what I accomplished, there is no forgiveness for said action, and this is ultimately for the greater good. If one knows that lying on their job application is grounds for firing, then they’re less likely to do it.

If you’re a celebrity, however, consequences are doled out in far less consistent and straightforward ways. Once a certain level of fame is reached, one does not have a single boss. There are of course consequences if a celebrity does poorly on a single movie or does something unthinkable on a single movie set, but said celebrity would then get fired from just that job.

They do not typically get stripped of their celebrity status overnight and thus can move on to another movie or project, unless they’ve done something unthinkable enough that their reputation is destroyed. And oftentimes, even if their reputation is destroyed, they’ve made enough money with prior projects that they can go retreat to the countryside reputationless, but cloaked in richness.

In the case of Dane Cook, who is now known for taking material from other comedians, he does in fact have a spotty reputation but, after a quick Google search, a net worth that appears to have been largely untouched by this.

So even though Dane is now ironically the butt of many jokes, he still has comedy specials. Dane still has a large social media presence. Meanwhile, there are countless other lesser known plagiarists or generalized liars who, unprotected by celebrity status, cannot continue to get jobs because of a tarnished reputation.

That is why I think that poking fun at certain celebrities, if done in a way that is not demeaning or a “low blow,” is necessary. Richness may afford one certain special perks, but it should not make one immune to criticism. Those doling out such tasteful criticism are not “unhinged and unhealed” (sup Katy Perry); they’re serving tasteful truths. And well.. truth hurts.

#celebritydislike #celebrities #truthhurts