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If you know, you know.
If you know, you know.
Whether they admit it or not, most elebrities with social media presences know about stan culture. Some may not know the distinction between their fanbase and their stans, and a lot of them may not interact with stan spaces/subtwts, but many have revealed that they at least know what these spaces are like. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion has acknowledged her stans, also known as the "Hotties," and said that she lurks in their Twitter groupchats. Pop singer Lil Nas X even confessed to once being active on stan Twitter when he was in high school - before he started releasing music of his own, he ran a Nicki Minaj fanpage with over 100k followers. However, celebrities being aware of the good facets of stan culture also means they know about the harmful facets too.
In 2020, Becky G, a singer-songwriter, sat down with Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony to interview her. In the interview, Jauregui described how, as a queer Cuban-American, she wasn’t ready to be out yet when she was outed by Perez Hilton and invasive fans who’d found photos her aunt posted of Jauregui and her then-girlfriend kissing. Harmonizers (Fifth Harmony fandom name) would write fanfictions about Jauregui having a romantic relationship with bandmate Camila Cabello, and it made both of them uncomfortable because they weren’t in a relationship at all. Jauregui was often made out to be the more “aggressive” of the two, and it made her analyze her relationships with Cabello, her other bandmates, and other women in general. Fans made her into the predatory lesbian stereotype in their heads, and it affected Jauregui negatively.⁶ This is similar to how Directioners (fans of One Direction) made fanfictions of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson being in a romantic relationship. The behaviors of these fans negatively affected both “Camren” and “Larry”’s relationships with each other. There are still people today who think that "Camren" and "Larry" are actually dating, and will actively harass people who date or are close with these celebrities. Lauren Jauregui is not the only celebrity who has spoken out about how uncomfortable and invasive stans can be: many others, including Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, have also called fans out on social media for their behavior.
Celebrities usually don't interact with stan spaces. They acknowledge their fans broadly, saying that they are grateful for and love their fans, but rarely do they dip their toes into the communities online. They also don't usually reply to "haters" or anti-fans. However, when they do, it can make a big impact on their fanbase. On March 1st, 2022, Charli XCX replied to a fan who commented that they didn't really enjoy any of Charli XCX's recent work; the tweet then said "she's still mother though." Mother in this context means that she's worthy of respect and praise, but XCX took it as the fan calling her old. She then replied several times to the fan, and at one point hurled an expletive at them. This shook up fans of hers, who thought that her response was an overreaction to a fan's opinion.⁷
Nicki Minaj is also known for responding to anti-fans on Twitter. In September 2021, Minaj made headlines for her tweets about her cousin’s friend who allegedly got the COVID-19 vaccine and ended up with a testicular infection.⁸ This was in response to a fan asking if she would be attending the Met Gala, to which she replied that she’s not going because she isn’t vaccinated; she then went on to talk about her cousin’s friend. She was accused of using her platform (22.8 million followers on Twitter) to irresponsibly discourage getting the vaccine. She and her fans, known as the Barbs (after Barbie dolls), continued to defend her actions on social media. This is a repeated pattern of behavior, and many people on social media believe that she is using controversial topics, hints at music releases, and random gibberish to disguise the truth about what’s going on in her husband’s life: that he’s being convicted of raping a woman. These incidents with celebrities are not isolated; their reactions to fans' opinions lean towards being sensitive and off-putting. This is not the case for all celebrities, but amongst younger stars it's more commonplace. When one has constant access to social media and has amassed millions of followers, it can be tempting to dip into the world of fans, as Charli XCX notes in a screenshot above. However, celebrities must exercise self-control in order to maintain their good reputations.
6. Mamo, Heran. “Lauren Jauregui Says Romantic Rumors About Her and Camila Cabello Were ‘So Traumatizing.’” Billboard, Billboard Media LLC, 29 Oct. 2020, www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lauren-jauregui-camila-cabello-rumors-fifth-harmony-9475024.
7. Brodsky, R. (2022, March 2). Charli XCX Responds To Stan Criticisms Of Her New Single. Stereogum. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://www.stereogum.com/2178055/charli-xcx-responds-to-stan-criticisms-of-her-new-single/news/
8. Rindner, G. (2021, September 16). Nicki Minaj’s Cousin’s Friend’s Balls, Explained. GQ. Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://www.gq.com/story/nicki-minaj-vaccine-twitter-met-gala-2021
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