So it’s been a while since I wrote a blog, but there is something that I feel needs to be said. In the last couple of months, Sasha Banks has taken some flak for her take on fans asking for autographs and waiting for her at the airport or other public places. There have been numerous superstars who have spoken out against what she said.
To recap, Banks was explaining how she feels about the fans who call airlines or hotels to find out if she is flying in or staying at the hotel and waiting there to ask for pictures and/or autographs. She called this stalking and how she feels that it’s a violation of her privacy, and she is absolutely right to feel that way. Banks talked about how she tweets out which arena she’ll be at or a which autograph signing she is doing, but showing up when she has not given out that information is an invasion of privacy. Here's a clip:
Some superstars and even some fans took her comments to be disrespectful and diva behavior. But let’s be clear about something, just because someone is famous and in entertainment does not mean that every aspect of his/her life belongs to fans or the public. Being a public figure should not mean that someone has to give up all sense of privacy. As a performer, the only thing that Sasha Banks owes her fans is to perform when she is scheduled to perform. When it’s 4 am in the airport, she is a private citizen; she’s not Sasha Banks, the WWE superstar.
We need to stop this culture surrounding celebrity that we the public own them. We don’t. They have every right to do the same things that we all do without people bothering us. This should not be the cost of fame. And while this may be an unpopular opinion to some, this thought process is the same one that allows for the predatory behavior of paparazzi and hackers who steal and release private photos of celebrity.
I listened to one take on this situation that basically said that Sasha Banks is a role model for young women so she shouldn’t be speaking like this about fans who appreciate her work. He said that waiting at hotel for several hours until Banks arrived was the same as those who camped out to wait for a Hillary Clinton signing of her new book. Here’s the difference. Clinton was scheduled to be at a specific spot for a signing, and the people were waiting in line for the event. These are people who are showing up at the hotel where Banks is staying; this is not a publicized event that they are waiting for. That is crossing a boundary and why it is STALKING.
As a role model for young women, I would say that Banks speaking out like she has is exactly what young women need to hear. She is a strong woman who is creating boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. I think back on an incident with Alexa Bliss that happened around the same time. A young WWE fan slapped her on the ass at a live event. This was a violation that is simply a sexual assault. We don’t like to think of it that way because women have come to expect and accept that kind of behavior as something that happens. It’s the same attitude that kept women in Hollywood silent for decades as they dealt with sexual harassment and assault from a powerful man like Harvey Weinstein. We need to set boundaries, and we don't have to accept unacceptable behavior because that's how it's always been. (I will be writing more about that situation in another blog this weekend.)
Truth be told, celebrities and entertainers do not belong to us. They don’t owe us anything beyond when they are performing. They have the right to be able to go out for dinner and not be bothered. They should be able to go about their lives like ordinary people. We don’t own every aspect of their lives. This idea that the fans made them famous and therefore they owe us anything total bullshit.
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