Social media 'blockout' targets celebrities for not speaking out on Gaza war

Critics of Israel's military operations in Gaza are taking aim at celebrity culture.

Some social media users are calling out celebrities who have not spoken out about the ongoing war in Gaza, and are blocking the stars in an attempt to undermine their revenue from brand partnerships.

The "blockout" trend was triggered by the May 6 Met Gala in New York City, a glamorous event that is held annually as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. It struck some as a stark, dystopian contrast to the situation in Gaza. 

While images from the gala flooded social media, Israel began an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is crowded with Palestinians who were forced to flee there under Israeli orders.

Some social media users highlighted this contrast, and launched a campaign to block celebrities they felt have been ignorant of, or in some cases supportive of, the killing and displacement of Palestinians.

Boulou Ebanda de B'béri, communications professor and research director at the University of Ottawa, says social change comes from people speaking out against injustice, and it's important for celebrities and others — including fellow professors — to use their platforms.

"They must speak out. This is the only way in which you bring back justice for everyone — for the Palestinian, for the Israeli. If you don't speak out, you are just an accomplice."

A TikTok video posted on May 7 by influencer Haley Kalil became a rallying point for the blockout movement. In the video, Kalil, who has nearly 10 million followers, lip-synchs the words "let them eat cake" outside the Met Gala.

The phrase — attributed, likely falsely, to Marie Antoinette — has come to signify the disconnect between the elite and the working class.

Her video ironically used a clip from a song by the band Le Tigre, led by Kathleen Hanna, who has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and spoken out in support of Palestinians.

Kalil, also known as haleyybaylee, was criticized for making the video, amid news that northern Gaza was experiencing "full-blown famine." She later apologized, saying the phrase was part of a trending audio clip on the platform. The apology video did not mention Gaza, Israel or the plight of the Palestinian people.

Ebanda de B'beri says the downside of a social media campaign is that the platforms can potentially suppress or censor certain voices, and there is "certainly going to be some kind of algorithmic discrimination."

Human Rights Watch has documented what it calls "systemic censorship of Palestine content" by Meta, the company that runs Facebook and Instagram, a charge it has denied. TikTok has also denied accusations of censoring certain political views. 

The Gaza war began on Oct. 7, when a group of Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli officials.