The world loves its celebrities. They may be famous because of their sports, acting, politics, social media posts, or just famous for being famous (looking at you Kardashians). Some celebrities embrace this adoration and use it to further causes they believe in, some mock it or abuse it, and yet others try to live below the radar, avoiding the extra attention sent their way.
Regardless of how the celebrities themselves feel about it, the paparazzi feed the frenzy by focusing on how the stars live their lives, what they eat or don't eat, if they vaccinate or don't vaccinate, and what surgeries or procedures they may have had to keep their youthful look. Look at the uproar over Madonna’s face earlier this year (and don’t get me started on how women bear the brunt of those criticisms). Maybe it’s a price they pay for that fame, but the need for people to know anything about their favorite celebs goes beyond what the celebrities know.
Some people look at celebrities as experts outside their actual field just because they have the platform to speak out. It's one thing to want to know an athlete’s workout routine or how an actor prepares for their role. I’ll even give you that it’s fun to see what someone is wearing or how they decorate their home. But it's another thing to think that their celebrity makes them an expert on anything else. Is Gwyneth Paltrow really a nutrition and detox expert, or Jenny McCarthy an expert on vaccinations and autism? What about Real Housewives’ Dolores Catania, who started taking Ozempic for weight loss?
What about their health?
And then there is the subject of their health. Do they owe us an explanation of their illnesses or recovery? At the beginning of June there were several articles from people wondering about actor Jamie Foxx’s health recently. He had been admitted to the hospital, but no one knew why. It seemed to annoy the writers and social media posters that no one, not Jamie, his family, nor his publicists, were saying what the problem was. It’s gotten to the point that people are making things up – all because they feel they have the right to know what is wrong.
I do admit, I’m curious. I can’t deny that. But I don’t feel he or his family owe it to me to tell me. I’ll survive.
But sharing health news can educate
Having said all that, there’s no doubt that when a celebrity announces a battle with an illness, their fans take notice, whether it is something they can identify with (as with Angelina Jolie and her decision to have a prophylactic double mastectomy and removal of her ovaries) or something they likely know little about. I’m thinking about Bruce Willis and his diagnosis with frontotemporal dementia, FTD, and Celine Dion with stiff person syndrome. Sadly, I know all too well about FTD as a dear friend lives with it, but I’d never heard of stiff person syndrome before Dion’s announcement.
When celebrities or their families disclose illnesses or causes of death, this can start conversations as people want to learn more about the disease. This exposure might not only increase awareness, but it can drive donations for more research into diagnosis and treatment. Many foundations have been built this way. Look at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, dedicated to curing spinal cord injury, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Before Fox made his diagnosis public, how many people knew that someone so young could develop Parkinson’s?
Sometimes celebrities feel forced to share their experiences. Here in Montreal, a Canadian Football League star, Tony Proudfoot, had retired from the CFL and was working as a sports commentator on the radio. At one point, his speech was slurring and I remember people making comments, asking if he was drunk on air. He wasn’t. He had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease. I don’t know if he was planning to go public with his diagnosis, but it can’t have been nice hearing people say things like that. (A side note about Proudfoot because I want to give him his due. Not only was he a professional athlete, but he was also a hero. Proudfoot was teaching at Montreal’s Dawson College when there was a mass shooting, killing one student and injuring many more. Despite the danger, he stayed with an injured student, in the middle of the street, giving aid and comfort.)
Healthcare professionals who break HIPAA
In the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA (not HIPPA!), was enacted so sensitive information about patients is protected. A similar act exists in Canada, the Personal Health Information Protection Act, or PHIPA. These acts mandate that no one can disclose health or medical information without patients’ permission.
Unfortunately, as with any profession, there are bad apples also in the health system. Some healthcare professionals feel it is ok to snoop and share what they find when a celebrity is admitted to the hospital or clinic. This results in a breach of their privacy. This blog posts list 15 of these HIPAA fails.
I believe any nurse or other healthcare professional who leaks this kind of information, or even accesses patient files for their own curiosity should be fired and censured by their licensing board. There is no excuse for it.
Sharing or staying private: It’s a personal choice
You may agree with me or have a different opinion and I’d like to read what you think in the comments below. But I don’t think celebrities owe us anything besides what they are paid to do. Athletes are paid to play sports, actors to act, and so on. Although many go beyond that in their public life, that is their choice and they can pull back at any time. That said, I believe that if celebrities or their families choose to disclose their health battles, that can be a good thing. People may feel less alone, others may start to understand what a friend or loved one with the same diagnosis is going through. But they don’t owe it to us.
What do you think?
I do not believe celebrities of any kind owe us anything about their personal lives - health or otherwise. This article is very timely since it was just today that Madonna was all over the news being in the ICU with a bacterial infection (sounds like sepsis to me!).
However, I love seeing celebrities and rich athletes utilizing their money for the community at large. For example, Barbra Streisand has contributed much of her time and finances to build a cardiac wing at Cedar Sinai Hospital. And Derek Hough (of Dancing with the Stars fame) was recently interviewed about his work with migraine sufferers. People definitely listen to famous people and may benefit from what they have to say or the money they have donated for a cause. But, do they owe us....absolutely not.