Do you remember when, in 2018, Taylor Swift decided to ‘come out’ as a Democrat just before the midterm elections after years of not disclosing her political preference? When in an emotive Instagram post she not only publicly endorsed two Democratic candidates, but also encouraged young people to get out there and cast their vote? People (her managers) thought her career would be over — a girl-next-door country singer should keep her political opinion to herself, right? But as it turned out her decision made a seismic impact and a record number of young people registered that year.
Something similar but then reversed has happened over the last couple of days with celebrities using their platforms to encourage people to practise social distancing in an effort to curb the spread of the disease. From Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, to Emily Ratajkowski and a wild Arnold Schwarznegger who asked his followers to self-isolate while feeding carrots to his ponies. Latest to join the mission is Ariana Grande, who took to Twitter yesterday to instruct her followers to simply stay the fuck home:
Stans were quick to pick up the impact her post had — many popular yoga studios were seen to be proactively closing after the tweet — and have dubbed it the ‘Ariana Effect’. Is the shutting down a coincidence? We think not. And with some governments seemingly underestimating how little people are willing to stay at home and sacrifice a little gym session or dinner party here and there, we might just have to turn to our queen of pop to safely guide us through this challenging time. The stans are unequivocal: “Ariana for head of CDC”, “Keep your thigh high boot on their necks and apply pressure”, “Hero” — they just never cease to amaze.