Star Power: #MeToo and the Celebrity Victim/Survivor

An Online Lecture and Q&A with Kerry Ferris

Celebrity media, including social media, is advertising—for the star’s newest project, or just for their “brand”—and is usually used to burnish and enhance a star’s image. In 2017, celebrities (mostly but not entirely female) helped drive the #MeToo movement by highlighting their status as victims of sexual harassment and assault. Framing celebrities as victims requires inverting many of the assumptions celebrity media and celebrities themselves encourage fans to hold about them.

In this online lecture and Q&A, Kerry Ferris, coauthor of The Real World, will examine how celebrity social media narratives create a celebrity-as-victim identity while also maintaining the celebrity privilege required to boost survivor stories and steer a social movement dedicated to justice for survivors of sexual harassment and assault.

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