When Big Name Endorsers and Gossip Collide

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Hollywood gossip

Celebrity-induced support for companies or causes can create an influx of profit or donations from followers of a particularly celebrity, a fact that has led many companies or nonprofits to use celebrities to increase sales or donations, from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to Verizon Wireless.

Celebrity induced support for causes tends to be higher among the younger generation, as 27% of 18 to 36 year old have at point indicated support for a cause likely influenced by a celebrity support that cause or endorsing a product. Only 10% of people over the age of 68 indicate that they have supported a cause due to a celebrity.

And fortunately, as each year seems to pass, celebrities themselves are becoming more diverse according to ethnicity and general background. For instance, numerous African America celebrities have achieved hundreds of millions of dollars, whether through music or television or movies. Here are a list of some:

  • Jay-Z has achieved a net worth of $650 million. Along with his wife Beyonce, their combined net worth is $1 billion.
  • Jay-Z earned his 11th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with The Blueprint 3, which allowed him to beat out Elvis for most No. 1 albums by a solo artist.
  • Tyra Banks is the first African American to be featured on the covers of GQ, Sports Illustrated, and the Victoria’s Secret lingerie catalog, all in 1996.
  • Oprah Winfrey created the Oprah Winfrey show. The show grossed more than $120 million by the end of its first season, for which she received 30 million.
  • And Will Smith remains one of the most highly paid actors in Hollywood, as his movies typically gross over $100 million.

With the combined incomes of all these celebrities, their drawing power in their own communities, and the influence they can have particularly over the younger generation, it seems then likely that Hollywood gossip or gossip in general can have a significant impact on a company’s decision to have a celebrity endorse a product.

Hollywood gossip often contains the latest celebrity or latest entertainment or latest celebrity entertainment that can attempt to pull actors, actresses, and other public figures into a ‘muck’ involving false rumor, insinuation, and possible defamation.

Celebrity gossip and celebrity news can run from the genteel to the sensational, whether that involves cheating spouses, drug rehab stints, feuds between married couples, or politics within families. Often, they cite unnamed ‘sources’ in their stories, attempting to discredit a celebrity.

Black celebrity news, black entertainment news, and black entertainment gossip are often no different from Hollywood gossip in this respect.

Unfortunately for companies wishing to find an endorser, this is difficult in a landscape that rewards these publications for sensationalizing stories, which can damage reputations or draw a celebrity into the ‘muck.’ It’s important then for these companies to think about asking if there is a ‘scandal’ that could happen before signing this celebrity to endorse a product.