Every year the Met Gala (a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute) marks the intersection between Hollywood and fashion. And 2024 is not the first time this event has drawn parallels with The Hunger Games, and it probably won't be the last.
Although stars like Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian took their new looks to great heights on the red carpet, a lot of folks were not exactly pleased as dozens of pro-Palestine protesters were arrested outside the event hoping to get those inside to acknowledge the war in Gaza.
The staggering number of innocent lives lost has only escalated with Israel stepping up the ravages of war in Gaza's southern city of Rafah.
Therefore, social media users have started a movement and those behind it say that the results could impact the money stars and influencers make from platforms such as TikTok, X and Instagram.
Blockout 2024 is a digital boycott where social media users are blocking celebrities ranging from Hollywood actors to social media influencers for their silence on the Israel-Gaza war, or in some cases, their purported support for the war. The movement was set off by this year’s Met Gala, which took place in New York on May 6.
This boycott or blocking campaign hopes to exert pressure on these A-list stars to use their massive influential platforms to spread the word on advocating for ceasefire calls.
Although there have been online movements in the past to unfollow some of the celebrities, experts have said blocking is more effective as a protest strategy than unfollowing.
Since many non-followers also view these celebrities' content if they have not blocked them, this does not significantly hurt the star's reach. However, “if someone blocks the celebrity, they completely cut off all interaction with their content,” said Eddy Borges-Rey, an associate professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar during an interview with Al Jazeera.
Based on social media posts, users are blocking a wide range of stars including Israeli actor Gal Gadot, American socialite Kim Kardashian, American actors Zendaya and Noah Schnapp; and British singer Harry Styles.
While the Blockout movement only started a few days ago, celebrities have been losing a significant amount of followers since then.
On Saturday, NPR reported that American pop star Taylor Swift lost roughly 300,000 followers on TikTok and about 50,000 followers on Instagram over the past week.
On the other hand, fans and social media users have recognised a few celebs like Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef and John Cusack who are actively trying to stop the war. On the night of the Oscars this year, many celebrities including Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell and Mahershala Ali showed up on the red carpet wearing red pins in support of Artists4Ceasefire.
Explaining the pin's meaning in a statement, the group asserted it “symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all of the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.”
