Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Internet

Fame, Ain't It a Bitch in the New Media World? R. Kelly Walks Off HuffPost Live

Controversial singer refuses to answer questions about lyrics and lawsuits, walks off set, shows power of new media.

Nick Gillespie | 12.22.2015 12:06 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

If you need more evidence that new media—ranging from all sorts of web-based platforms, social-media services, and the like—have radically changed attitudes towards stars, celebrities, politicians, you name it, check out the video snippet above.

It features the controversial and popular singer R. Kelly talking with HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy Tehrani (disclosure: I've appeared on her show). When she asks him questions about his sexually explicit lyrics and his fans' ambivalence toward his history of legal issues surrounding statutory rape and sex tapes involving children, Kelly ends the interview.

Whether you like Kelly's music or not, this episode is simply the latest example of how cultural elites and the relatively powerful have been taking it on the chin for much of the 21st century. As with the Snowden leaks, the Sony hack, Lena Dunham's aborted book tour, police-violence videos, and Bill Cosby's hijacking on Twitter, there has been a great (though imperfect!) leveling as discursive power becomes more dispersed and decentralized. This is part and parcel of the Libertarian Moment that is everywhere around us and proceeding apace despite the exaggerated reports of its death.

The world has changed and, despite constant attempts by various old regimes, will not be going back any time soon to its old hierarchy and systems of social, economic, political, and especially cultural control.

When every person has a video camera on their phone and can broadcast their footage to the world, when the price of entering "the media" approaches zero, and when entertainment companies can no longer control the settings and scope of interviews, well, things are bound to get more interesting, aren't they?

Even a few years ago, a star as big as R. Kelly would never have had to consent to an interview with a relatively small-audience outfit as HuffPost Live and he certainly wouldn't have been subjected to the very questions most people wanted him to answer. The same goes for people in all sorts of power positions and it's pretty great, isn't it?

As A.J. Benza used to say, "Fame, ain't it a bitch?" Now more than ever.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: What the Heck Is the First Amendment Defense Act, and Should We Be Worried?

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie.

InternetMusicLibertarian History/Philosophy
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (48)

Latest

A Broad Ruling Against Trump's Immigration Policies Illustrates Alternatives to Universal Injunctions

Jacob Sullum | 7.3.2025 4:40 PM

Environmental Regulations Are Literally Baking Europeans to Death

Jack Nicastro | 7.3.2025 3:38 PM

Federal Prison Guards Allegedly Beat an Inmate to a Pulp. The Supreme Court Says He Can't Sue.

Billy Binion | 7.3.2025 2:48 PM

Jurassic World Rebirth Chases Summer Movie Nostalgia

Peter Suderman | 7.3.2025 1:40 PM

The $4 Trillion 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Breaks the Bank and Violates Congress' Own Budget Rules

Veronique de Rugy | 7.3.2025 11:25 AM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!