The entertainment industry is notorious for drama, and filled with a new scandal in every direction, which is not as coincidental as you may think. Top celebrity scandals over the years have included Britney Spears’ legal disputes with her father, AI leaked nudity of Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson’s suspected pedophilia. 

Many people, and supposed fans, get involved in circulating feuds and scandals they find on the internet, creating a game of telephone. In today’s world, the added element of social media induces and potentially falsifies, the spread of scandals to a new degree. Whether the information is true or false, good or bad, celebrities’ names are constantly thrown into the spotlight. The attention that they receive helps expand their publicity to the public.

“I always hear about celebrity drama, but honestly most of the time it comes off really unrealistic,” Kiki Hoglen (11) said.

One of the most common examples of celebrity feuds is the Kendrick Lamar and Drake conflict, which traces back over 10 years of diss tracks and features. It was brought up again a few months ago after Lamar dissed Drake and J. Cole in the song, “Like That,” by Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar.  

According to a newsletter by Billboard, “From May 3-6, Lamar’s discography earned 50.62 million streams — up 49% from the previous Friday-to-Monday tracking period (33.98 million from Apr. 26-29). Meanwhile, Drake’s overall catalog is actually down when you similarly compare his streams from that weekend.” 

“I’ve always listened to both artists, but as of late, I’ve been really getting into Kendrick, after everything that happened,” Tess Wheatley (11) said. “I stand more with Kendricks’s moral views, and I just like his music better as of late.” 

As the conflict heavily circulates the internet, appearing on numerous social media platforms, including Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, the artists have attracted a surge in attention. The attention that arose from their disputes after addressing each other and their differences in each other’s songs and comments only fills the internet with more toxic drama to feed off of. 

“I don’t know much about Kendrick and Drake’s drama, I think this one might be real…” Teresa Barnes, Marketing and Intro to Business teacher said. “But a lot of times when people are in feuds people use the phrase, ‘all publicity is good publicity.’”

Regardless of who benefits from the viral scandal on social media, it shines a spotlight on both artists. The idea that “all publicity is good publicity,” is essentially stating that even if the star is not recognized for something admirable, the public is still hearing their name and looking them up, adding to their list of streams. 

Explicit scandals and drama are becoming far too normalized across the internet, creating a dangerously fake online environment for all social media users.

“It’s interesting because years ago when Olivia released Driver’s License, Sabrina [Carpenter] was very unpopular in that light, I think she even got death threats, and actually a lot of bad publicity came from it,” Barnes said. “But I think now that it’s interesting to see that maybe Sabrina’s music actually went up now after the release of ‘Sour’ and everything, just because people noticed her name. So even though it’s a feud I think that a lot of the time even though she wasn’t super favored in that moment, it still raised her streams.” 

Evolving from a Disney channel actress, Carpenter rebranded into a global pop star. The rise in Carpenters’ streams after she became widely known across the internet proves that even when a star is being recognized for unflattering reasons, publicity can still boost their status. 

Another way that artists can obtain internet attention is by faking relationships. For instance, suspicion has risen about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce faking their relationship, in an attempt to generate more attention to both of their careers. Similarly, Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan were rumored to be in a fake relationship up until her album, “Short n’ Sweet,” was released. Carpenter is rumored to have created a mock relationship, ending in a tragic breakup to forge sympathy from her audience right before her album was released.

“A lot of people claim that Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan were not actually dating, and that was staged, then when her album comes out that’s when they break up,” Barnes said. “So celebrities do do that, but a lot of the time we just don’t know because why would they tell us if it’s fake or not.”

Celebrities attempt to involve their audiences in their personal lives to grow their streams. Many may even create their own scandals with the goal of expanding their popularity across all social media platforms. This affects both the celebrity and the public, each in their own way. Constantly hearing about celebrity drama may seem normal, but it’s not accidental that there’s always a new scandal arising. 

“Any sort of drama caused by celebrities is just a way to generate buzz around themselves,” Barnes said.