Conceptualising celebrity activists: the case of Tamsin Omond

Abstract

Research into celebrity and environmentalism has largely focused on studying how someone who is already famous – who is a ‘celebrity’ – uses this status to advance an activist agenda. However, there is a second category of celebrity activist which has, thus far, largely been overlooked. Inspired by Street (2004), this article considers the conceptual utility of differentiating between the celebrity activist (CA1) – defined as an entertainer or other prominent figure who uses their celebrity status to undertake activism – and the celebrity activist (CA2), who is defined as an individual who gains celebrity status as result of their activism. Against a backdrop of other efforts to categorise celebrity activists, this article presents an exploratory, qualitative media frame analysis of British climate activist Tamsin Omond. The primary focus is on three articles, two from tabloid newspapers (The Daily Mail and The Sun) and one from a broadsheet newspaper (The Sunday Times). It shows that, despite coming to notoriety through her activism, Omond’s media’s framing still drew upon her privileged background, but that how this was done depended on the politics and orientation of the newspaper. The article concludes by arguing that the representation of celebrity activists (CA2), like traditional celebrities (CA1), ultimately reinforces the codes of hyper-individualisation promoted by consumer culture. It points to the need for further research into these changing political media and activist landscapes whereby not only do celebrities become activists, but activists themselves become celebrities.