Article after article pours out, expressing the disgust of the actions a celebrity has committed. Why would he slap him? Are they finally going to divorce? Did he actually spit in his lap or was it the camera angle? The titles are so enticing, the viewers can’t help but click and read every speculation and theory.

In the age of social media, the baggage of celebrities has become an obsession. People spend hours picking and investigating every aspect of public figures’ lives outside of performing and acting. 

It’s not a secret why so many people write about this; it garners an insane amount of attention. Audiences love seeing their favorite celebrities analyzed, and sometimes even more so, they love to tear down the ones they hate. 

Celebrity fascination isn’t necessarily a recent phenomenon; the glamorizing of celebrity life has been a part of American culture for a while. Magazines idealize their lifestyle, talk shows make them seem relatable, and then we give them our full attention for just about anything they do. 

This year in particular has shown how much the media and audience love celebrity scandals, with events such as the Johnny Deep v. Amber Heard trial, the “Don’t Worry Darling” speculations and Ned Fulmer and Adam Levine cheating allegations. 

Articles and speculations flooded social media recommendation pages. Even months later, reports are still being written, dissecting the situations even more despite every aspect of them having been explored a thousand times over. 

A big reason for this hysteria is fans of celebrities tend to form a parasocial relationship, with fans being obsessed with the figure, but not really getting anything out of it. However, there may be more subtle reasons the public admires a good scandal.

The reasons why so many care about this can be from the gossip being a release and a way to vent, especially when a public figure did something wrong. Oddly enough, it can also form a sense of community. Everyone comes together to disagree or wholeheartedly agree on the morals and actions of a celebrity. 

The worship culture of celebrities, along with the ongoing growth of social media, means this practice of obsession with public figures will probably never be able to stop. It has become so ingrained into society that celebrities stand above us, and their problems are more than the average man’s.

It’s not necessarily wrong to look at celebrity speculation and rumors, but to become obsessed and further push the narrative that fame means your problems matter more might become a problem. There’s a line that should be acknowledged on how far is too far, and what I get from seeing all of this is that, regardless, the articles will continue to be pursued, but how we react is up to us.