Yoko Ono and Taylor Swift. One’s the greatest living female artist; the other wrote “Cruel Summer”. However, a burden they both share is extreme public scrutiny of their relationships, with Ono being unjustifiably blamed for the collapse of The Beatles, while Taylor can’t go for a date without the combined force of the entire world’s media being there too. Not The Courier though, we’re not like other gir- sorry, newspapers. With statements by artists such as Chappell Roan stressing that celebrities do not owe us their private lives, should we reevaluate how we treat our stars?
Whatever your views on 1975 frontman Matty Healy, it’s safe to say that his short relationship with Taylor Swift in 2023 has become a sensationalist nightmare for both parties. Healy can’t even go on a walk with new fiancée Gabriette without being labelled as “Taylor Swift’s ex” by the Daily Mail or an “ex-fling” by The Mirror. While Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, was heavily implied to contain jabs at Healy, she has faced more than her fair share of public scrutiny herself. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, the singer stated that “I feel like watching my dating life has become a bit of a national pastime,” and last year’s ‘Taylors Version’s re-release of 1989 doubled down on this with the song “Slut!”.
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, the singer stated that “I feel like watching my dating life has become a bit of a national pastime,” and last year’s ‘Taylors Version’s re-release of 1989 doubled down on this with the song “Slut!”.
The issue of celebrity relationship obsessions has a surprisingly deep history. 1936’s abdication crisis saw King Edward give up the throne following royal protocol’s refusal to allow him to marry a catholic divorcee, a story that repeated itself with fellow royals Harry and Meghan. Markle, in particular, was harassed relentlessly in the press, leaving her with suicidal thoughts and forcing the family to relocate to California in 2020. Women who have faced similar battles include Yoko Ono, who married John Lennon in 1969. Despite no member of the ‘fab four’ ever blaming the Japanese multimedia artist for the dissolution of The Beatles, malicious and frankly false rumours that she deliberately drove the band apart persist to this day. The disenfranchisement of celebrities, their bodies and their relationships happens not just in real life but on-screen as well.
The disenfranchisement of celebrities, their bodies and their relationships happens not just in real life but on-screen as well.
Several high-profile actors and actresses have voiced feeling uncomfortable or coerced into going nude on-screen. The famously graphic first series of Game of Thrones, branded “just tits and dragons” by Ian McShane, left actress Emilia Clarke admitting discomfort with “terrifying” sex scenes. Blue Is The Warmest Colour’s (2013) lesbian sex scene has faced criticism from both actresses involved, with Adele Exarchopoulos labelling director-producer Abdellatif Kechiche “manipulative”. Actors Ben Stiller and Richard Madden have been similarly outspoken. Madden criticised studios and their demands that actors lose weight in preparation for nude scenes, while Stiller claimed he was left ignorant of his right to request a body double whilst naked for Along Came Polly (2004).
To risk sounding radical, celebrities are people, too. How much or how little of their lives they show us is up to them. Celebrities such as Yoko Ono and Meghan Markle have lived entire lives in the public eye due to needless harassment of their relationships, and to call this unfair would be an understatement.
