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7NEWS
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Should celebrities and influencers speak out on social issues?
How often do you see your favourite influencer or celebrity talk about social issues? Whether it's on the Israel and Gaza conflict, the Los Angeles riots over US immigration and mass deportation, or the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, these events have sparked a wave of pressure on celebrities and influencers to speak up. So, it begs the question: Do celebrities and influencers have a responsibility to speak on social issues? Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today To settle this debate, we spoke to two academics and someone in the entertainment industry. 'We should always be responsible. Our responsibility in some sense, is also proportional to the kind of audience that we have in front of us,' said lecturer in data analytics at the University of Sydney, Francesco Bailo. Bailo said influencers, specifically, have created 'a sort of intimacy with their audience' and with that comes an expectation of authenticity. These people share their lives, bringing viewers into their homes, their travels and their families. Loading TikTok Post 'Authenticity' is key So, subconsciously we can develop an expectation that they should they also share 'what they think, what they're doing and, and their opinions'. 'People are expecting authenticity and are expecting intimacy. And you can't have intimacy if you don't have authenticity.' 'As soon as people think that the authenticity was actually constructed, so was not authentic at all, then of course you have a huge backlash.' 'So, when it comes to influencers, the whole bubble is extremely productive for them ... but also is extremely fragile.' Senior lecturer in government and international relations at the University of Sydney, Peter Chen described this as a 'parasocial relationship' where the audience feels like the people they are watching have become their friends. Dr Chen said this kind of relationship can put a lot of pressure on influencers. Pressure to share opinion But, he believes, they're 'not obligated necessarily to speak' and 'that it is extremely contextual'. 'The first thing we should say to ourselves is, are we holding other people to a standard we wouldn't hold ourselves to?' Dr Chen also said that 'it's a requirement for their audiences to be informed too' and even though we expect influencers and celebrities to speak out, 'we don't have to accept what they say'. Now, let's pivot to someone who's in the industry. 'The question that influencers and people with platforms need to ask themselves is, if 'I'm only sharing something, do I actually give a f--k?',' Aussie comedian and influencer Lewis Spears said. 'You cannot care about everything. It's impossible. You can't. There are so many horrible things happening every single minute of every single day. It's impossible to care about everything.' Spears has received backlash and criticism for jokes he has made in the past, and says he often gets pressured into speaking out on issues. 'I will always try to only speak when I have something to say or something that I think is impactful.' 'Because personally, I've certainly shared things about issues that I care about, but I've also attended rallies. I've also donated money.' 'So, I'm not saying that people should not raise awareness, but people should ask themselves, 'why am I raising awareness?'.' The Rock and Oprah backlash Spears said when celebrities and influencers are pressured into sharing information on social issues, this can lead to misinformation and, ultimately, can 'dilute' the message rather than fix the problem. 'I think shaming people who don't lend their voices to a certain cause when they have lent their voices to something else that they do care a lot about and that they do understand, seems silly.' 'Awareness is great, but it doesn't do things. People who do things, do things.' In 2023, American personalities Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Oprah Winfrey received backlash after launching the People's Fund of Maui fund, to raise money for people who were affected by the deadly wildfires in Lahaina and Kula in Maui, Hawaii. In a joint Instagram post, Johnson and said they had donated $US10 million and asked others to contribute further saying, 'we thank you in advance for your contribution'. However, many were quick to criticise the fund questioning why they were asking others to give money instead of donating more themselves. Johnson acknowledged this backlash, saying he 'could have been better'. Bailo urges the audience to be 'more critical' of the content received from celebrities and influencers. 'I'm not saying we need to distrust everything because that will be the wrong response, but we need to be more critical in terms of understanding the content that we are receiving, also in the context of the source of that content.' 'So, what is problematic is not that influencers are expressing their opinions, of course, they should feel free to say whatever they want. 'But at the same time, again, they're not journalists.' Dr Chen said celebrities and influencers who speak on issues they are ill-informed about is 'harmful' to not only their reputation, but to the causes they speak out about. And the infamous 'Imagine video' during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic could be a 'cringeworthy example' of this. The video orchestrated and posted by actress Gal Gadot, is two-minutes long and features a number of celebrities, including Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig and Natalie Portman. The A-list stars sang, in acapella, line-by-line to the song Imagine by John Lennon, intending to be in solidarity, with Gadot captioning the video with, 'we are in this together, we will get through it together'. Many criticised this as being tone-deaf, as most of the celebrities were filming from their multi-million mansions whilst singing lines such as 'imagine having no possessions'. Actor Chris O'Dowd, who was in the video, told Louis Theroux in his BBC podcast Grounded, that the backlash was 'justified'. 'It was just a bunch of people running around thinking they had to do something, when we really didn't,' O'Dowd said. 'We just needed to chill out and just take everything in. So, I think any backlash was fairly justified.' Dr Chen said, 'at the end of the day, it is hard always to determine, are people genuine when they say things?' 'Speech is easy. You are your actions. So, what have you done?'
7NEWS
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
‘Feeling a little bit weird': Aussie woman's gross find at the bottom of her Chinese takeaway
An Australian woman got more than she bargained for when she found an unsual item at the bottom of her Chinese takeaway. TikTokker Shraddha, or shraddyvibes, posted a video to the social media platform detailing the story of how she ended up getting $50 back from her meal from the bizarre find. After eating a portion of the meal, the Adelaide woman kept picking away at the stir fry until she noticed something was off. 'The container was feeling a little bit weird... at the bottom of the container was a working phone,' she explained. 'I pressed on the screen and it said the screen was (too hot), it was still working.' She had come away with a meal and a new phone from the takeaway, a bizarre find to say the least. After the gross realisation, she decided to get to the bottom of it and gave the restaurant a buzz. Loading TikTok Post 'I rang the place and said 'Hey I found a phone in my hotpot',' the woman said. 'Apparently the chef put the phone down in the takeaway container, and because it was black... it just blended in with the container. 'Then someone else had grabbed the container and put the hotpot on top.' The TikTokker drove back to the establishment and was greeted by apologetic staff — and a cheeky refund. 'I paid $35 for the hotpot originally and they gave me $50 back, and the chef was also like 'let me know when you're here next time and I'll give you free hotpot,' she said. Luckily she lived close by to the restaurant and didn't need to heat up the food, otherwise it could of ended in a disaster. Despite the mishap, the woman elected not to name and shame the restaurant saying, 'mistakes happen'. Viewers also found humour in the incident. 'Dinner with a side of phone ! 😂,' one person commented. 'This has to be an original experience 🤣💯,' another wrote.
7NEWS
17-06-2025
- Health
- 7NEWS
CHOICE stands by results of Aussie sunscreens that failed SPF claims
CHOICE has doubled down on its test results of some of Australia's most popular sunscreens after the founder of one of the products called the consumer advocacy group's methods into question. The group tested 20 sunscreens with SPF 50 or 50+ labels, finding only four met their stated SPF claims. It found the worst sunscreen was the Ultra Violette Lean Screen SPF 50+ Mattifying Zinc Skinscreen, which returned an SPF of 4. Ultra Violette is a cult Australian sunscreen brand founded by Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd in 2019. The company's products are extremely popular among the wider skincare and beauty community. Chandler-Matthews' responded to CHOICE's testing in a seven-minute-long video late last week, in which she questioned several of the group's testing methods. She said the brand was first informed about CHOICE's testing in March and was 'obviously freaked out' when she heard the SPF 4 result. The company acted immediately, Chandler-Matthews said, running a series of its own tests. 'We checked that the SPF, the zinc levels in the product were as we had put in the packaging, which was 22.75 per cent zinc,' she said. 'There was no issue from a manufacturing point of view, there was no issue from a stability point of view.' Ultra Violette then tested the SPF of the product at an independent, third-party lab. Loading TikTok Post Chandler-Matthews showed a screenshot of the results of one test which said the sunscreen achieved a mean SPF value of 64.32. A second test found the product had an SPF value of 61.7. The results were sent to CHOICE. CHOICE said 18 of the 20 sunscreens underwent two five-person panel tests. After the Ultra Violette product received an SPF result of 4, a different batch of the product was sent to a laboratory in Germany for a 'validation test'. This test returned an SPF of 5. Chandler-Matthews said five-person panel tests do not meet industry standard. 'A five-person SPF test will not allow you to launch a product into Australia, you need a full 10-person panel test.' Ultra Violette used 10 people in each of its latest round of testing, Chandler-Matthews said. She also said CHOICE's decision to decant the sunscreen it tested into different jars could have impacted the results. 'Zinc sunscreens are very tricky,' Chandler-Matthews said. 'Zincs are very easy to destabilise. 'You should never decant the product, so that's why we never recommend you pumping your sunscreen into a travel container, or putting it into something that's more portable.' Chandler-Matthews said the company was continuing to investigate but she stands by the testing it has done. She pointed out that CHOICE was not an industry regulator and does not approve sunscreens in Australia before they hit shelves. 'We as founders, Bec and I, are so across the formulating, the testing ... the process behind how we bring a sunscreen to market,' Chandler-Matthews said. 'We are never trying to mislead someone or sell you a product that doesn't work.' 'Rigorous' testing In response, CHOICE chief executive Ashley de Silva said she stood by the company's 'rigorous' sunscreen testing methods. She said the sunscreens that didn't meet their SPF claims were 'tested to a 10-person panel, in accordance with the Australian/New Zealand Sunscreen Standard' and that the products were decanted into amber glass jars which blocks UV light more than clear glass. 'Amber glass jars were used in order to limit any degradation of the sunscreen ingredients and ensure the validity of our results,' de Silva said. 'After Ultra Violette's product returned an SPF of 4 when tested at the Sydney lab, we sent a different batch to an accredited, specialised laboratory in Germany, the Normec Schrader Institute, for a validation test. 'To facilitate blind testing, this product was also decanted into an amber glass jar, sealed, labelled and transported according to strict instructions provided to Choice by sunscreen experts at the Normec Schrader Institute. 'The validation test returned an SPF of 5.' De Silva called on the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to investigate the inconsistencies between its test results and the results the manufacturers achieved. 'We are calling for a compliance review, including independent testing of the mean SPF for, at least, the sunscreens that did not meet their label claims in our commissioned tests,' she said. Other sunscreens fail Some of the Cancer Council's sunscreen products egregiously missed the mark, CHOICE's testing found. The Kids Clear Zinc 50+ tested at 33, the Everyday Value Sunscreen 50 scored just a touch above the halfway mark at 27 and the Ultra Sunscreen 50+ came at a shockingly low 24. Only one product from the council matched the label — the Kid Sunscreen 50+, which scored a strong 52. Three other products from well-known brands — La Roche-Posay, Neutrogena and Mecca Cosmetica — delivered on their dermatological declarations. La Roche-Posay Anthelios Wet Skin Sunscreen SPF 50+ tested at 72, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Lotion SPF 50 came in at 56 and Mecca Cosmetica To Save Body SPF 50+ Hydrating Sunscreen scraped through at 51. Ultra Violette was not the only brand to push back against the results. Bondi Sands said its SPF 50+ Fragrance Free Sunscreen Lotion and SPF 50+ Zinc Mineral Body Lotion came in at SPF 72.8 and SPF 73.6 respectively in its testing. Invisible Zinc last tested its Face + Body Mineral Sunscreen SPF50 in 2017, and returned a result of 63.1. 'The formulation has not changed in the intervening period,' the brand said. 'It is also worth noting that the SPF test results were achieved after two hours of water resistance testing.' Woolworths also said its Everyday Sunscreen SPF 50+ 100ML last tested at SPF 68. 'Water resistance testing showed an SPF of 60,' the company said.
7NEWS
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Australian influencer Dominique Elissa narrowly escapes death after sauna explosion in backyard
Australian influencer and model Dominique Elissa narrowly escaped death after a sauna exploded in the backyard of a property she was staying at. The 30-year-old revealed she was staying at a house 30 minutes from Byron Bay, had no reception, no close neighbours and was just minutes from entering the sauna when it blew up. 'I had the most crazy, traumatising, near-death experience the other night,' Ms Elissa said in a TikTok video. 'I had put the sauna on. . . I was in it the night before, and I thought I'll just cook dinner quickly and then go in, in 40 minutes, which is what you do for a lot of saunas, you let them heat up.' Loading TikTok Post Ms Elissa explained she had just finished eating and was about to put her bathers on for the sauna when she heard a huge bang. 'I hear 'boom' and I look up and the entire sauna exploded,' she said. 'It was like a 10 to 15-metre-high explosion, all the power went out, my phone was about to die, I have no reception. 'I am screaming 'Help! Somebody help me', like it was a horror movie.' Ms Elissa was able to dial 000 but by the time emergency services arrived, the whole sauna had burnt to the ground. 'It was the most horrific thing to experience because I was a few minutes from going into that sauna.' She said the incident has proven to her how precious life is and she is grateful to have escaped without injuries. 'Life is fragile, you have no idea what curveballs life is going to throw at you. It was the craziest 24 hours of my entire life.' 'I just feel so grateful to be alive.' Ms Elissa's year has not been easy, with her mother passing away in March after a devastating battle with cancer. Just two weeks before her mum's death, Ms Elissa held a wedding at the hospital so she could celebrate her marriage to her partner Tom Bull while her mum was still alive. She said it was the best decision she ever made. The couple will also hold another wedding in Italy later this year.
7NEWS
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
‘What's the point?': Aussie Larissa Kay questions if university degrees pay off in the housing crisis
A young Aussie's rant about the cost of living crisis has gone viral on TikTok as she poses the question 'what's the point?'. Larissa Kay posted a string of videos, with the first amassing 880,000 views, talking about the issues young Australians face and how she hasn't gotten where she wanted to be in life. 'Is anyone else kind of like what's the point, if you're maybe in your 20's, your 30's... and you've finished school, gone to uni, got a degree, which is meant to get you a good job,' she said online. Loading TikTok Post 'That job is meant to pay for a house, and maybe a holiday once a year, and maybe have some kids. 'And that's not happening now, you're kind of like, what's the actual point of anything.' It's a confronting question for many during the cost of living crisis Australian's face, as inflation continues to increase the prices of goods, services and housing costs. The video then moved towards self-reflection, as the TikTokker ranted about where she was at in life. 'I'm 28 and I thought by now I might have a three bedroom house, maybe thinking about kids, maybe be successful in my career,' she said. 'I live in a tiny f**k ass studio... I moved regional to try and save money and there's no jobs out here. 'It's made me reassess my whole life, what am I doing? Should I just go travelling?' In a follow up video, the blame is put back on the system with frustrations over people struggling to find jobs. While questioning the point of going to university. 'Australia is bloody cooked,' Kay said. 'If people are working harder than ever and most people I know, they're working their full time job, they've got a couple of side hustles, and they still can't afford a house. 'We have a serious problem and people who are university qualified - I'm talking engineers, doctors, lawyers, healthcare professionals, teachers - people who are in high demand. 'These people can't afford to live where they are required to work, that is a serious issue, no wonder productivity is down.' Housing prices continue to be an issue, with Perth seeing a 18 per cent increase in median house prices over the past 12 months - and showing no signs of slowing down. Comments echoed the videos opinion about the struggles young Australians face in today's economy. 'We have a doctor and lawyer in the family and they can't afford houses in Sydney where they work,' a comment said. 'Uni is the biggest lie young people have ever been sold,' another followed up. 'Our parents and grandparents still don't realise how good they had it,' a third said. 'The fact 'side hustles' has become the norm to just stay afloat is wild. Heaven forbid you thought your job you earn a salary from should support you alone,' one pointed out.
