KJ Apa under fire for staying silent about Black Lives Matter
So many celebrities have been using their platforms to raise awareness about the Black Lives Matter movement over the past few weeks. They have been sharing petitions, encouraging fans to protest safely, spreading the word about vital stories and teaching them about ways to help. They have also donated to anti-racism charities, victims families and attended protests themselves.
They are hugely influential figures and hold a lot of power, especially in a digital world. They have millions of followers who worship their every word, every move so using their social media accounts for good is vital. However, some celebrities have failed to use their platforms to raise awareness and fans are not happy with their silence.
One celebrity recently defended his silence after being accused of not caring about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Riverdale’s KJ Apa has been slated for not speaking out about racism on his social media accounts. The actor posted a black square on Blackout Tuesday but failed to share much else since.
Rapper Elijah Daniel called the actor out on Twitter after someone recommended The Hate U Give, a movie about police brutality that stars the New Zealand born actor. He wrote, “i love that movie but i do have a question, completely unrelated to the beef i formerly had with him, if KJ was the co-star of that movie why is he so silent? he has such a massive young audience and got paid to be in a movie about police brutality and … posted a black square?”
Apa responded by saying he does support black lives, but doesn’t feel the need to share his beliefs online, “I don’t need to post about my opinions and beliefs in order for them to be real to me. I support black lives – but I don’t feel it’s necessary to prove to people I do by posting my attendance at these protests.”
However, his fans disagreed and told the actor that he should be using his huge platforms for good, "Well I mean when you star in a movie about police brutality and all you do is post a black square…it’s performative and a waste of your platform."
Another said, “it's not about proving anything, kj. it's about using your privilege, the voice you have and millions doesn't, to demand justice. it's really about taking action. if we don't stay at their throats justice won't be served.”
“ur platform is huge. you have millions of followers and young people who support and look up to you; if you use the platform that you have to post or tweet links, to give people the resources to help it could change things massively. white silence is simply violence,” another wrote.
Since Blackout Tuesday, the actor has used his social media to complain about Apple TV remotes and to show off a pair of sunglasses and we can’t help but feel like he could do a hell of a lot more considering he has over 18 million followers on Instagram alone.
Do you think KJ Apa should use his platform to raise awareness? Or do you agree that he shouldn’t have to post about his beliefs for them to be real?
