“I would like to be an inspiration for people instead of a role model because I make mistakes just like everybody else,” Britney Spears said in a 2002 interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

While we view celebrities as the pinnacle of glamor and exclusivity, we often forget they are cut from the same cloth as you and me. Their image, status and money blinds us from seeing them as human beings. Instead, they are supposed to be morally and socially superior. 

Britney Spears knows better than anyone what it’s like to have your every move scrutinized by millions. From the media making jokes out of her public mental health struggles to questioning her parenting abilities. 

The worst crime Spears ever committed was not being perfect. 

The more we drag these celebrities through the mud, the less we see them as human beings and more as entertainment. 

While I do agree anyone with a platform has a responsibility to use it wisely, we must determine the difference between actual malice and living honestly. And it seems in the digital age, the lines between the two are more blurred than ever. 

Why do we care if Ariana Grande allegedly cheated on her husband with a SpongeBob actor? Is that enough ground for cancellation and public ridicule? I don’t think the personal matters of celebrities are a determining factor of whether they deserve their platform. 

I won’t say that Ariana Grande should have known better because I do not know her. In short, we do not know these people. 

It seems every time we’re shocked to learn a celebrity may not be exactly who we thought they were. Then, their actions become the hot topic of the week. What follows are waves of videos, articles and comments dissecting their personhood or lack thereof. The truth is the allure of the celebrity was never real. It was a carefully curated image. What exists behind the persona is a real person who is deeply flawed. 

We continuously put celebrities on a moral pedestal and get disappointed when they don’t meet our expectations. 

We don’t even hold our friends and family to the same high standards, so why are we doing so to people we don’t even know? 

As humans, we make mistakes. We may lie and hurt someone we care about. We may speak wrongfully about a topic. We may make promises we can’t keep. 

The difference is we have the privilege of failing and learning in privacy.

Faith is an opinion writer. Contact her at [email protected]