The Fan/Performer Dynamic Keeps Getting Decidedly More Employer/Employee

It used to seem so glamorous to be an “entertainer.” Yet even that word has connotations of being like a monkey with cymbals, “programmed” to perform no matter what the conditions or state of will and desire. In the latest instance of pelting something at musicians onstage (following the illustrious Bebe Rexha incident), Cardi B has proven herself to be a rare (but expected) rejector of “taking shit.” Or rather, “taking drink.” One that was splashed in her general direction as she was in the middle of partially lip-syncing “Bodak Yellow” at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas. A town not exactly known for harboring people with the best etiquette (as Adele tried to anticipate). After all, it’s still considered America’s playground. Except that Cardi B wasn’t playing when she reacted to a large splash of someone’s drink getting deliberately thrown in her general direction by tossing a microphone back at that person. Though “tossing” is too soft a word for the pelting wrath she exhibited. 

To add to the surreal, ironic quality of it all, the lyrics playing as Cardi launched the mic at the woman (yes, it was a woman) who sloshed her drink were, “If I see you and I don’t speak, that means I don’t fuck with you/I’m a boss, you a worker bitch/I make bloody moves.” How eerily apropos. Not just because things got violent, but because of how the fan/entertainer dynamic has been inverted of late. Where once famous people were endlessly confident about their role as the “superior” party, things have shifted to a point where fans feel entitled to demand more from the people they “admire” as they realize that, “technically,” they’re the ones who employ the celebrity. Keep expensive shelter over their head, posh food on their table and designer clothes on their back.

So just as fans giveth, so can they taketh away. A reality Doja Cat was faced with recently when she went off on fans giving her grief for dating J.Cyrus, an “entertainer” himself, one supposes. His history of sexual misconduct (in addition to some unearthed racist tweets for good measure) have drawn ire from those who wanted Doja Cat to explain herself. In response, she said, “I don’t give a fuck what you think about my personal life, I never have and never will give a fuck what you think about me and my personal life. Goodbye and good riddance miserable hoes haha!” She then went on to degrade her fans by giving such “fiery” “advice” as, “If you call yourself a ‘kitten’ or fucking ‘kittenz’ that means you need to get off your phone and get a job and help your parents with the house.”

Ah, the old jobist insult. But what sat even less well with her “Kittenz” was the fact that when a fan wrote in the comments section that they just wanted to hear her say she loved them, Doja spat back, “I don’t though cuz I don’t even know yall.” Where’s the lie? And yet, it’s the closest any celebrity has come to outright admitting how pathetic they think their fans are, and really, just need them for the cash. Except that Doja has also insisted she doesn’t actually need them anymore. Not just because she’s already rich now, but because she wants to emphasize that it was she who did the work to get where she is today. And yet, the complicated reality is that, without those legions of fans who paid attention to her from the beginning, she wouldn’t have those mountains of cash to fall back on after speaking her blunt, Liar Liar-level truth to them.

This serves as the crux of the issue at hand of late for why fans feel an entitlement to celebrities as their “property” (much the same way employers do with their employees, ergo treating them with similar acts of abusive behavior that an employer themselves would never suffer). In a manner that society has never really seen before. And yes, the evolution of the internet commingling with fame and how it interacts with fans is a key part of that. 

Taylor Swift, who has become a master in the art of cultivating parasocial relationships with her fans, knows something about that, too. And she wants “Swifties” to believe the contrary of what Doja has been touting. That she really cares about them and their well-being. Sure, maybe she does (at least enough to break up with Matty Healy due to the backlash against him). That is, as much as one can care about an endless sea of amorphous faces flashing the cash, so to speak, from the crowd. Her far more amenable attitude has translated into astronomical profits as she continues to parade her Eras Tour. Which, like Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, has created entire micro-economies in every town it stops in. Funnily enough, it was a Swiftie who waded into the comments section of Doja’s “I don’t even know yall” moment to explain the fan perspective on things: “And we don’t know you. But we supported you through thick and thin. Mind you you’d be nothing without us. You’d be working at a grocery store making songs on garageband miss high school dropout.” Maybe a bit harsh, but, to be fair, Doja’s willful lack of education shines through on songs like “Get Into It (Yuh).” 

Cardi B, who is also rarely known for censoring herself or her emotions, seems to be better adept at showcasing the idea that, ultimately, her fans are just consumers (and there’s really nothing too personal about that). Hence, her innumerable product deals ranging from Pepsi to Reebok to…Whip Shots. Thus, it’s harder to mistake that “Cardi” is a brand she wants to sell for the benefit of Belcalis…and her family with Offset. The subject of which has provided narrative fodder for her latest collaboration with him, “Jealousy.” It is in said video that, incidentally, Cardi launches a shoe at Offset as he leaves their apartment in a huff. Don’t say she didn’t warn anyone who trifled with her that she has a knack for aiming unexpected objects when vexed. In fact, before she threw the microphone at her “fan,” she had already gotten into another altercation at Drai’s Beachclub with the DJ who cut her song off early. So admittedly, Cardi can be a little too quick to react with her microphone sometimes. And in the now viral video, you can see how it takes her only a split second to counterattack with that launch of a much more damaging object than liquid. 

While the likes of Bebe Rexha and Ava Max were too stunned to instantaneously retaliate for the far more damaging abuse they got onstage, Cardi seems to have patently decided: enough. Almost like the barrage of employees during the Great Resignation who were struck with the overdue epiphany that they “didn’t have to take it anymore,” Cardi seems to have come to the same conclusion by actually fighting back against the “boss” who forgot that “workers” hold all the power. Until they need more money…