TEHRAN - Calls are growing for social media users to boycott celebrities who have remained silent in the face of Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide against Palestinian people.

Earlier this month, an online movement known as "Blockout 2024" gained strength to block certain celebrities for their inaction amid Israel’s appalling atrocities in the Gaza Strip.
It was sparked by the 2024 Met Gala, which took place in New York on May 6.

A host of famous faces from the worlds of fashion, movies, music and sports participate in the event which is held every year.  

But this year’s event sparked backlash because it took place around the same time Israel launched a ground offensive in Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city. 

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population had been crammed into Rafah before the offensive. Israel’s ground assault on Rafah has forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee the city. UN agencies and aid groups have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe as Israel is expanding its military operation there. 

Israel has slaughtered about 35,400 Palestinians, including over 15,000 children in Gaza since launching war on the territory on October 7. 

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Prominent rights groups have also said Israel’s military actions in Gaza amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

UN experts, meanwhile, have accused the regime of deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza as famine is spreading in the territory. 

Fears are now growing that a large-scale incursion into Rafah could cause bloodbath.

The tragic situation of Gazans has led to rising pressure on certain celebrities in particular those who attended the Met Gala. 

Celebrities lose followers  

As part of "Blockout 2024" campaign, online activists are unfollowing or blocking famous names.

They put a block on content from the accounts of certain celebrities on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter. 

In addition, some other social media users have posted about the celebrities they have blocked while others have shared posts from users lambasting attendees of the Met Gala and contrasting it with the situation in Gaza. 

The move is aimed at reducing the earnings the celebrities make through advertisements on social media platforms.

Hashtags such as #blockout, #blockout2024, or #celebrityblockout are being used to draw attention to the celebrities who are deemed as being unsupportive or insensitive towards the death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. 

Some users have also called the Blockout, the “digitine” or the digital guillotine, leaning into the French Revolution reference.

Haley Kalil is a former American model and a current TikTok influencer who has nearly 10 million followers on the platform. On May 7, a video surfaced of her lip-syncing the words “let them eat cake”, outside the Met Gala. 

“Let them eat cake” is the most famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution. 

When she was told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread to eat, she suggested that they eat cake.  Because cake is more expensive than bread, the anecdote has been cited as an example of her obliviousness to the conditions and daily lives of ordinary people. 

The footage sparked fierce backlash as Gazans are grappling with starvation more than seven months into Israel’s war of genocide. 

According to Blockout2024.org, celebrities such as Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Billie Eilish and Selena Gomez have lost a large number of followers. 

The 2024 Met Gala took place as it was circled by protesters who brought to light the contrast between the event’s celebrity opulence and the situation in Gaza. 

Condoning crimes 

Many believe when celebrities keep mum on Israel’s genocide, they are tacitly condoning or supporting the reprehensible act. This is particularly true if their silence is considered a form of acquiescence, allowing Israeli criminals to go ahead with their atrocities without fear of consequences. Individuals, in particular celebrities, can raise awareness and play a crucial role in holding criminals accountable by speaking out against their atrocities.