Will their fans abandon them?
Jill Tate
Issue date: 9/5/06 Section: Entertainment
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In the days since Mel Gibson's drunk driving incident and Tom Cruise's couch-jumping Oprah incident, we the fans have been left with some decisions about which celebrities we support. Lets not forget how both parties blasted Brooke Shields use of antidepressants (Cruise) and the Jews (Gibson). Now dare I say Michael Jackson (formerly accused twice of child molestation) and Lindsey Lohan (criticized by her movie production company for her wild ways)?
I personally don't judge celebrities by what they do on the "outside." A movie, album, TV show, is either good or bad and it doesn't have anything to do with what they do in their personal lives. It has to do with talent. If the person can do what they do to the fullest, personal lifestyle doesn't affect my opinion of them. If you're talented you're talented. It's strange that the celebrities that are the best entertainers seem to have the worst reputation.
Now whether I'll shell out money to support these stars is a different story. Who wants to give money to listen to a child molester's album? Jackson was found not guilty, true, but the same incident has happened one too many times. I deal with that situation in a different way. I listen to his early stuff, not the newer stuff that came after the accusations. Yes, I know, he still could've been doing what he did back then, but I was blinded to it when those songs came out, so I will stay blind to that fact. This right here shows you how fickle the consumer is when it comes to a star that they loved BEFORE the controversy.
My opinions obviously do not speak for the rest of the world. Not long after Gibson struck controversy in the Jewish community, network ABC pulled a special that he produced, but refused to say whether or not it was pulled because of the controversy. You decide that one.
Tom Cruise, a 14 year veteran of Paramount with a $10 million a year contract, was dropped from the studio. Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom Inc. said that Cruise's recent behavior, such as the couch jumping incident was "creative suicide" and lost the studio over $150 million in ticket sales to Mission Impossible III. Since then, Cruise and his producing partner found another investment partnership to fund his productions.
When you mention Michael Jackson's name in a room full of people the response usually includes a mixture of criticism and jokes. That's quite a contrast in the reaction you would've received in the late eighties. Lindsey Lohan is never known for her movies, but people will always talk about the drunken pictures that she decorates on a semi-regular basis.
Will these stars bounce back? Former fans can only hope.
I personally don't judge celebrities by what they do on the "outside." A movie, album, TV show, is either good or bad and it doesn't have anything to do with what they do in their personal lives. It has to do with talent. If the person can do what they do to the fullest, personal lifestyle doesn't affect my opinion of them. If you're talented you're talented. It's strange that the celebrities that are the best entertainers seem to have the worst reputation.
Now whether I'll shell out money to support these stars is a different story. Who wants to give money to listen to a child molester's album? Jackson was found not guilty, true, but the same incident has happened one too many times. I deal with that situation in a different way. I listen to his early stuff, not the newer stuff that came after the accusations. Yes, I know, he still could've been doing what he did back then, but I was blinded to it when those songs came out, so I will stay blind to that fact. This right here shows you how fickle the consumer is when it comes to a star that they loved BEFORE the controversy.
My opinions obviously do not speak for the rest of the world. Not long after Gibson struck controversy in the Jewish community, network ABC pulled a special that he produced, but refused to say whether or not it was pulled because of the controversy. You decide that one.
Tom Cruise, a 14 year veteran of Paramount with a $10 million a year contract, was dropped from the studio. Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom Inc. said that Cruise's recent behavior, such as the couch jumping incident was "creative suicide" and lost the studio over $150 million in ticket sales to Mission Impossible III. Since then, Cruise and his producing partner found another investment partnership to fund his productions.
When you mention Michael Jackson's name in a room full of people the response usually includes a mixture of criticism and jokes. That's quite a contrast in the reaction you would've received in the late eighties. Lindsey Lohan is never known for her movies, but people will always talk about the drunken pictures that she decorates on a semi-regular basis.
Will these stars bounce back? Former fans can only hope.
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