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What I find super disappointing at the moment is that celebrities are lending their wide-reaching platforms to people who really need them – but, when amplified by the press, more often than not, the important conversations and messages are being lost in a land of click-bait.
Case in point, Gigi Hadid had a really interesting chat with young activist Sophia Roe. Things they covered were ceremonial gestures, white saviourship and looking at things through privileged veils. Within six minutes, the pair have brainstormed ways to help black and brown communities outside of simply “giving money” through a beautiful little anecdote about a woman in a flower shop.
“I always use this example of a woman in my neighbourhood who has a flower shop,” begins Roe. “You say you want to support her… so why not get to know this woman? [You will learn that she] lives in a brownstone right across the neighbourhood, she’s late on her property taxes, she lives with six other people. Wow, she might need some marketing help… or she might need some help with some social media.”
“And it doesn’t mean giving money!” interjects Hadid. “It might mean helping with resources and connections that we already have from being privileged.”
“Once you create the trust between someone and they actually know that you’re supportive of them, they will start to open up about what they need,” Hadid continued. “If you’re listening, you’ll pick up on the things.”
Hadid, 25, who is pregnant with her first child was answering some fan questions when one asked why she “didn’t have a tummy.” “This angle and the really baggy [Isabel Marant] jumpsuit make for an optical illusion. From the side it’s a different story,” she jovially responded.
A few hours later, British Vogue decided to run with the headline “Gigi Hadid Reveals How She Disguises Her Pregnancy”. The article acknowledges that Hadid and Roe talked about “racial inequality, privilege and the anti-racist movement” but that is as deep as it goes.
Hadid wasn’t having it.
“Disguise ….?” she tweeted at British Vogue. “I said in a baggy jumpsuit the front and side views are visually different stories- not that that was intentional or I was trying to hide anything. Will be proud and happy to share ‘insight’ when I feel like it, thanks.”
Don’t mess. And let’s get back to business. My particular favourite is the duo talking about cutting friends who have an inability to listen to another person’s experiences at 43.05.
