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Celebrity Worship Syndrome

May 7, 2021 | Trends

It was a shot seen around the world. At the 2014 Academy Awards, Ellen DeGeneres asked Bradley Cooper to take a selfie, surrounded by Hollywood’s elite. The image was retweeted 3.4 million times, setting an all-time Twitter record at the time. It was yet another clear example of “Celebrity Worship Syndrome,” a growing American affliction.

How did America get so obsessed with all things celebrity? Here’s the timeline:

  • The National Enquirer – In 1967, The National Enquirer refocused its editorial on celebrities, which many believe may well have been the inflection point.
  • People magazine – The 1974 debut of People magazine, accelerated the trend. People soon became Time Inc.’s most profitable property, with annual revenues of $1.5 billion at its peak.
  • Entertainment Tonight – On Sept. 14, 1981, Entertainment Tonight debuted its first broadcast, bringing daily tabloid-style reporting to television.
  • Celebrity industrial complexVanity Fair columnist Maureen Orth surfaced the term in her May 1, 2005 book, “ The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity-Industial Complex,” which describes the symbiotic relationship between celebrities and large corporations.
  • TMZ – The launch of celebrity news website TMZ on Nov. 8, 2005, symbolized the global institutionalization of celebrity watching. TMZ was created as joint venture between AOL, at the time owned by Time-Warner, and Telepictures International, a division of Warner Bros. By September 2007, TMZ had already become the fifth most popular news site, with 10.5 million unique U.S. visitors, by virtue of its chatty, and stalkerish, coverage of the Hollywood set. In 2007, TMZ dwarfed its entertainment-news rivals, besting all non-portals, save for CNN and MSNBC.

Courtney Love outside Mercer hotel in New YorkPixel Paparazzi: Courtney Love captured outside The Mercer Hotel in New York’s SoHo district on Friday, Jul. 13, 2007 at 6pm. This image, taken by Michael Tchong, is the first paparazzi photo ever shot with an iPhone (notice the image’s highly visible artifact).

In 2003, New Scientist magazine reported that about one-third of Americans were suffering from an affliction it dubbed CWS, or Celebrity Worship Syndrome.

Ruled by the Voyeurgasm Ubertrend, the future of CWS can only be imagined. With billions around the world armed with smartphones, action cams, and mirrorless cameras, boasting ever-higher-resolutions, expect an explosion in crowdsourced, celebrity-obsessed reportage.

Ubertrend Categorization: Voyeurgasm.

Michael Tchong

Michael Tchong

Founder, Author, Adjunct Professor, Futurist

Michael Tchong is a distinguished analyst renowned for his expertise in scrutinizing and dissecting societal, cultural, and technological trends. His invaluable insights serve as a cornerstone for guiding businesses and organizations towards more informed decisions regarding their products, services, and innovation strategies.
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