This year’s outrage against the Met Gala made the case specifically against its lavish, ostentatious presentation, with deafening bombs and ammunition flowing in the distance, with Israel and Hamas taking up arms against each other. . At the same time, civilians in the Gaza Strip are facing the wrath of one of the worst humanitarian crises. The shocking toll of innocent lives lost has increased as Israel escalates its war destruction in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.

Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered Palestinians to evacuate Rafah in a face-off with the Palestinian terrorist movement Hamas. As the BBC reported earlier today, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry announced on Saturday that at least 34,971 people have been killed in Gaza since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7. Furthermore, UN officials have also talked about the serious issue of food shortage in South Gaza due to the closure of Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.

With more and more heartbreaking news emerging from the war-torn landscape every hour, the growing uncertainty of the issue is taking a toll on civilian life. Meanwhile, a stark picture of wealth inequality pervades stark divides across continents, with A-list celebs strolling through the ethereally aesthetic Garden of Time on May 6, rising above the debris that has created generations’ worth of trauma. Has given birth to. side of the world.

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How is the general public dealing with this? In an era when the click of a button wields an unimaginable power, netizens are actively choosing to distance themselves from once-favorite international stars by blocking them on social media.

What is the Blockout 2024 movement?

In the age of digital petitions and mass campaigns that can be forwarded online, TikTok users have drawn attention to the Blockout 2024 trend. The “deplatforming of celebrities” campaign launched this week as an apparent response to the 2024 Met Gala, held on Monday.

The collective effort by TikTok creators has given rise to popular hashtags like #letthemeatcake, #celebrityblocklist and #blockout, as netizens publicly condemn high-profile celebrities for remaining silent over the ongoing humanitarian crisis. While a number of celebrities expressed their political expression at the 2024 Oscars by wearing red pins in support of Artists4Ceasefire, advocating for Israel’s attacks on Gaza, the Met Gala took a different path, turning its conversation into nothing more than a massive display of wealth. Kept limited around.

In a statement explaining the meaning of the pin, the group said it symbolizes “collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.” Visit the Artists4Ceasefire website Here,

The Met Gala blocklist frenzy has been slowly dying down over the past few months as fans are calling out celebrities who have either maintained their silence on the issue or haven’t spoken up enough. However, after the gala, the campaign became a full-fledged movement as netizens shared their celebrity blocklists across all platforms – even on X/Twitter.

According to NPR, Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan, described the Met Gala as “a little bit of a hyperbolic moment” that captured a lot of people’s attention. Continuing on how the benefit further fanned the flames of already existing celebrity boycotts, he said, “Celebrity boycotts existed, but they weren’t really at the top of social ideology. But then you have a moment like the Met Gala that wasn’t really related to conflict, but all the pieces were in play. when the attack occurs [in Gaza] Happening on the same day, the comparison got people talking and moving forward.

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The boycott or blockade campaign is expected to put pressure on these public figures to use their huge influential platforms to advocate a ceasefire call.

Collins explained, “The hope is that it will give more visibility to either cause and create a balance to get political forces like the U.S. government to do something to reduce the violence that is happening in the Middle East.” However, he also said, “As logical as this argument may seem, I don’t think there are very many examples where it has actually worked.”

Then why are people supporting these campaigns? As Collins rightly notes, at a time when the general public is trapped in a powerless state, encouraging people to speak out actively helps “provide some sense of agency”. “A feeling that I’ve done something to influence other people to do something that might make a difference. Because in those people’s minds, it’s better than doing nothing,” he adds.

Haley Kalil criticized for ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ Met Gala video

Social media also collectively went wild against model/influencer Haley ‘Bailey’ Kalil for sharing a video of herself lip-syncing the infamous line “Let them eat cake” from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette.

The French queen reportedly said these words while addressing the farmers’ bread shortage. Once again, as representative of imperial decadence, the queen is considered separate from the plight of the starving peasants in this fantasy.

Earlier this week, Kalil’s video sparked outrage after she too posted a video of herself wearing a stunning gown near the star-studded Met Gala venue. Haley later claimed that she was not invited to the gala, but was merely a pre-Met Gala host for E! news. However, the damage had already been done as netizens condemned her “insensitive” video for blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, as if the rich elite of society in The Hunger Games forced teenagers to compete in a televised game. As seen fighting for survival.

Celebrity blocklist revealed

tiktok user @ladyfromtheoutside His video two days earlier had called for people to perform a “digital guillotine” or “digitine”, in reference to Marie Antoinette’s guillotining after being found guilty of high treason against the French Republic. In his TikTok, was posted as a response. In Haley’s video, she urged people to block influencers, celebrities and wealthy socialites “who are not using their resources to help those in need.”

The grand list of celebrity blocklist includes popular names like Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kylie Jenner, Zendaya, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Khloe Kardashian, Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Demi Lovato, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, and many more. , Kanye West, Katy Perry, Zac Efron, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Kevin Jonas, Justin Timberlake and many others.

As this movement has gained momentum since the Met Gala, TRT World has also shared a video showing the dwindling number of online followers of these celebrities in real time.