As election season rolls around and voting booths open, celebrities and major music artists have begun voicing their opinions by endorsing politicians. With these endorsements, many voters’ political decisions may change with the information given, while others are left with the question of what positive or negative effects these endorsements may have on the election.
Celebrities endorsing politicians can sway the votes and opinions of other American people. Although many may argue that celebrities endorsing politicians is wrong, these endorsements are highly beneficial allowing celebrities to voice their political opinions and inform other voters on the issues at stake.
When celebrities endorse politicians, Harvard University studies show that their media posts inform others to vote.
Research from Harvard shows that celebrities’ voices are astonishingly powerful when talking about politics, changing poll numbers. In 2018, major music artist, Taylor Swift, posted an Instagram story to her 140 million followers endorsing current President Joseph Biden and encouraging her fans to vote. In just 72 hours, Vote.org had over 250,000 new registrants.
This doesn’t mean that all 250,000 new registrants voted for Biden, but shows the impact that Swift had on the election with her endorsement. Because of her endorsement, Swift has encouraged fellow American people to register to vote for their rights and use their voice.
With the ability of celebrities being able to endorse politicians, it allows celebrities to state their political opinion and viewpoint. Many celebrity endorsements not only shine light to certain politicians running in an election, but can also state their viewpoints on the overall election process.
Although many people may have different opinions on celebrities speaking about politics or endorsing politicians, these endorsements simply allow celebrities to voice their political opinions and inform other voters on the issues at stake.
Celebrity endorsements also help bring attention to the politicians running in an election. In certain endorsements, they may mention what politicians want to achieve during their term.
These endorsements help politicians because the celebrities’ fame can grab the attention of their fans, helping the political figures running and bringing more awareness to themselves. With the politicians having fellow voters’ attention, viewpoints people may have and votes being cast may change with the information given.
With the wide variety of ages registered voters are, certain celebrities endorsements may reach a certain generation’s audience more than others. British pop artist Charlie XCX posted “Kamala IS brat” on the platform X. With the popularity her album Brat had all over the internet during summer of 2024, the post attained over 54.5 million views, reaching Gen-Z and millennial groups. Her endorsement had a major contribution to the Harris drive on social media.
Using platforms like social media and pop culture references are a very powerful way to reach younger generations, who are on social media more than older generations. These posts help grab the younger generation’s attention and help bring more awareness to the politicians running in the election.
Although celebrities endorsing politicians comes with many benefits, fake celebrity endorsements have recently been created with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Many social media apps have lately allowed AI-generated images to be generated in the app and posted, causing fake endorsements and information to spread rapidly throughout the internet.
Previously, an AI image was created and posted of actor Ryan Reynolds wearing a pro-Kamala Harris shirt. The post caused hesitation throughout social media. These false endorsements and the spread of misinformation have caused confusion all over social media, and can create conflicts in the overall election.
As a solution, voters should be conscious of what information we trust on social media. Don’t trust any posts you see online unless you have done your research and it comes from a trusted source. Another solution is to simply wait for celebrities to speak about certain politicians running in the upcoming presidential election, or acknowledge the AI images being spread on social media.
Celebrities endorsing politicians comes with many benefits in an election. With the attention celebrities have, it not only allows celebrities to state their political opinion and viewpoint, but also helps bring more awareness to the politicians running in the election.
