155 People (And Counting) Agree: Being Famous Doesn't Mean Being Above Accountability

First and foremost, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has signed and shared this petition! It initially started as somewhat of a joke, and I genuinely didn't think it would get a single signature. Now, here we are, 155 signatures (at the time of writing this update), and the petition is also now being reported in the media. 

But you know what? The more I think about it, the more I realize that perhaps this petition isn't such a joke after all.

As Adam Rubin said, maybe there should be consequences for what Kelly Clarkson did to Art of Play. Because at what point do we stop giving celebrities a free pass for questionable behavior simply because they're rich, famous, talented, or have millions of adoring fans?

Kelly Clarkson is entitled to her feelings about her experience at Art of Play. Nobody is disputing that. But having a massive platform comes with a certain level of responsibility, and using that platform to publicly put a small business on blast should not be without accountability. 

Being a superstar does not make someone immune from criticism or consequences. We cannot keep rewarding the bad behavior of celebrities simply because we like their music, watch their television shows, or have followed their careers for decades. Being famous doesn't automatically make someone right, and being a small business doesn't automatically make someone wrong.

This was never really about a $15,000 mechanical bird. It's about the enormous imbalance of power between a celebrity with millions of followers and a small business that doesn't have the same resources or platform to defend itself.

So, what started as a tongue-in-cheek petition has unexpectedly turned into a conversation that I think is actually worth having.

Thank you again to all 155 of you. Whether this petition ends up with 155 signatures or 15,000, you've already helped make a point.

And apparently, sometimes a joke can make a pretty serious statement.