By Annabel Simon, Staff Writer

“What in the world have they done to my beloved Kat Stratford?” Yes, I know Julia Stiles has a real name and countless other roles besides the one I just named, but the second I saw the headline, ‘Julia Stiles gets another public apology, this time from Juilliard,’ I felt embarrassingly protective of my favorite 2000s movie protagonist. Yet after reading the article, more than anything, I felt confused. She was getting free Juilliard merchandise and a heartfelt apology because the institute… made a joke about her not going there?

The entire thing felt ridiculous and blown far out of proportion. I do not believe the new Dancing with the Stars participant was personally victimized in all this, nor do I think the entire thing had to become a multi-exchange ideal. And while I know that Ms. Stiles undoubtedly deals with tons of pressure working one of the most highly sought-after jobs in the world and making tons of money while doing it, the entire thing left a bad taste in my mouth. As the story replayed in my mind and I searched for the issue, beneath all my thoughts, I found the underlying question: do celebrities really require apologies?

This is not the first time I’ve scoffed at the childlike, spoiled attitude of celebrities. While no one has cherished The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess more than me, seeing Chappell Roan state that she does not owe fans niceties or attention outside of her concerts left me somewhat awestruck. While the singer is certainly not entitled to spend her every waking hour with fans, the courtesy of common niceties being treated as an optional task left a bad taste in my mouth. Roan is not acting alone, however. With over a million likes on that single post, the die-hard fans are just as much at fault in their favorite star’s petulance.

Which leads me to the point this very article is centered on: Fame, and all the attention from both paparazzi and devotees, is absolutely a part of the job. Making it in the music, acting, or directing industry is a vague dream for all those who wish to pursue it. According to research done by The Metalverse, effectively less than 1% of musicians ever get signed by a major record label. Of those who get signed, between 1% and 5% ever become famous. With the odds stacked up against you like that, it seems incredibly insensitive to our poor starving artists to complain that you’ve essentially made it “too big” and now have to sign a few autographs.

It is not just insensitive to other artists. Roughly one-third of Americans aged 65 have no retirement savings. The lower class is growing. The average American is not working their dream job, or even remotely close. And yet, we persevere. A celebrity not only makes more in a year than most Americans will ever make in their own lifetime, but also get the luxury of committing to a job that they are passionate about on their own schedule. Acting disserviced on account of too much blind devotion enrages me. People look up to celebrities. They will buy outrageously priced tickets with their entire month’s salary and show unwavering sympathy until the day they die (or until their almighty spits out a slur backstage). But kindness and cancel culture go hand in hand, and all too soon, the middle class will grow tired of being stomped if their divinities show no change in ways.

The truth is, it is not just Roan and Stiles whom I could call out for acting this way. The new generation of Zoomers is experiencing a steep decline in soft skills. In case you haven’t been bombarded with a video journalist sharing these stats on TikTok yet, soft skills are the opposite of the “hard skills” that require a degree to enter a profession, such as computer science or psychology. They are characterized by attributes that would make up your favorite co-worker: being respectful, polite, punctual, and capable of appropriate communication. And according to recent research done by Babson Business College, Gen Z just doesn’t have them. As of this year, 60% of employers report having to fire Gen Z employees due to a lack of soft skills. While this certainly builds towards a more rude, abrupt working generation, seeing these skills adapted by millionaires with every whim catered to breeds a special kind of insanity. And while it does not surprise me that the growing generational discourtesy is most easily acclimated to by our multi-hyphenate, Academy Award winning, renowned peers, it also does not rationalize it.

Not everyone needs an apology. Not everyone deserves one. And while there are certainly exceptions to this rule—harassment of a celebrity is never warranted, and neither is the sexualising or bullying of stars, especially children in the industry—the incredible arrogance of assuming that because you are famous people must walk on egg shells around your ego is as ridiculous as it is galling. At the end of the day, when there is nothing but conceit for fans to consume, they will only consume you.