Celebrities Getting Away With Anything and Everything
Mark Wahlberg was convicted for two counts of battery with a dangerous weapon and assault in which he blinded an Asian man while beating him with a stick and calling him racial slurs. He was only given a three-month prison sentence for which he only served 45 days.
Hollywood Stars, pro athletes, and other celebrities should be held accountable for their behavior especially if it's illegal. Famous people have always been able to get themselves out of federal charges from the police because of who they are. With all of the money, connections, and access to resources they are able to get out of charges very easily. Some examples are pro athletes like Ray Rice or actors like Terrence Howard.
There is a long list of athletes and actors who have been charged with crimes but never served the consequences or the time for them. Celebrities are a huge part of American culture and are looked up to by most people. They should have to suffer the consequences just like everyone else. Just because they are celebrities doesn't give them a pass or allow them to do illegal things. There are laws for a reason and everyone needs to follow them.
The companies that these celebrities work for have started to take a stand against this but for the wrong reasons. In the NFL’s case, these offenses were hurting their brand and their image which they work so hard to keep positive. In order to keep their brand looking good they have established new standards and punishments for players in their league. The issue is that they are setting these standards to make their brand look good and don't really care about the issue and don’t enforce them until it starts to affect their brand.
Another problem is companies and networks not doing anything to their employees at all especially in Hollywood. Actor Terrence Howard who starred in Mr. Holland’s Opus has a history of abuse towards women but still plays a lead role in a TV show. Howard has never faced punishment from his network and still gets his paycheck just like nothing has ever happened.
The typical counter argument is that kids are already encouraged to commit violence by current video games and TV shows. In video games like Grand Theft Auto you can usually commit minor crimes like a robbery and get away with it; this teaches young kids who look at this game like it’s real life that this is possible. Also on current TV networks there are constant shows on that broadcast violence in them. Many argue that this is already swaying kids towards accepting violence and not whether the athlete or actor has a violent past.
The fallacy used is appeal to tradition because the opposing side states that the viewers don't care about the personal lives of the athletes or actors that they watch. But the fact is that a lot of people do care about their favorite celebrities personal lives. With Twitter and Instagram viewers are even more engaged with their favorite celebrities personal lives these days then they have ever before.
We the people need to start pushing for celebrities to get the same punishments that we would get if we committed the same crime. We don't want children looking up to celebrities that have criminal backgrounds. We can make these companies and networks punish them if we work together and push for change. If we don't force them to be punished then who will?
