Fall of fame: Why celebs need to start being mysterious again
Denzel Washington recently gave Michael B Jordan some killer advice: Stay out of the public eye. “Why would people pay to see you on the weekend if they see you all week for free?” Fair point, right? Washington, 70, has been on screen for four decades without ever posting a thirst trap or a single OOTD. Most people don’t even know who he’s married to, let alone what’s in his bag.
That’s roughly the point – fame isn’t the same as visibility. Spend a single full minute on Instagram and you’ll likely see a celebrity show off three airport looks, make a red-carpet appearance, cross-post a shampoo/serum/sneaker collab, or give us a tour of their empty home. Actors, ones we’d see perhaps twice a year in a movie or TV show, are now sharing their oat cheela recipes, their nightly cleansing routine, their 34th gym selfie. They’re filming a “73 questions” Reel, fuming through a Hot Ones interview, backtracking from a sketchy political opinion. But here’s the thing: No one asked for this. The more we see them, they less special they feel. And the more tired we grow of them.
Some stars learnt this the hard way. Remember 2011, when the internet suddenly turned on Anne Hathaway? The phenomenon even had a name: Hathahate. People blamed her awkward Oscars hosting, her overly earnest Les Misérables promotional campaign, and the fact that she was relentlessly perfect, polished, poised. But mostly, she was just everywhere. Hathaway later admitted, “People needed a break from me.”
Jennifer Lawrence felt it too. In 2013, she was Hollywood’s cool girl. She tripped on the stairs at the Oscars, fangirled over Jack Nicholson, and everyone ate it up. But then she tripped again. And somewhere between the millionth “relatable” soundbite and yet another Hunger Games promo, it all started to feel a bit rehearsed. By 2017, the JLaw fatigue was so real, she had to step away for a while.
It was Timothée Chalamet’s turn this year. At the SAG Awards, he told interviewers that he wanted to be “one of the greats”, like Bob Dylan. He came across as being full of himself. But really, we’d just been seeing too much of him. His relationship with Kylie Jenner didn’t help. (Side note: We’re also sick of the Kardashian-Jenner cinematic universe.)
Most celebrities haven’t yet figured out that their every little clip and interview now lives permanently online. Algorithms not only amplify, they deliver concentrated doses of coverage, which means that saturation points hit quickly with doomscrollers.
Sara Ali Khan felt like a breath of fresh air when she discussed PCOD on Koffee With Karan in 2020. Then, went too far, by cosplaying middle-class. It was mildly surreal watching a Pataudi talk about not owning designer bags, or refusing to pay ₹400 for cellphone roaming.
Denzel Washington’s advice comes from an era when celebs consciously stayed a little out of reach, a little unknowable. Beyoncé does it well. She stopped giving interviews in 2014. Rihanna built a billion-dollar brand by only making appearances to promote her beauty and fashion lines. Keanu Reeves has zero social-media presence, but is still the internet’s fave human. What does Rekha do all day? Who knows? She won’t tell us. And she deserves 1,000 aura points for that. Tabu surfaces every now and then, delivers a masterclass in acting, and vanishes again. We love her, regardless.
Publicists (and the creator ecosystem) might find Washington’s tip useful. Start off with high-quality art, not templated content. Take risks, be scandalous. Stay mysterious. Ghost us for a bit. Wind-up dolls were never much fun, anyway.
From HT Brunch, August 02, 2025
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