Zeeshan Siddique, Malaika Arora, and Shehnaaz Gill: Should Paparazzi Respect Privacy in Times of Grief?

Even with years between some of these events, the media’s treatment of such painful, private moments hasn’t changed. This raises a crucial question: Where should the line be drawn between public interest and intrusion into personal grief?

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The Hyperfocus on Grieving Celebrities

Funerals, hospital visits, courts or moments of mourning, one would think, should be off-limits. Yet, images of grief-stricken celebrities are often splashed across tabloids, and social media, driving engagement but raising ethical concerns. The focus of multiple cameras is on celebrities’ faces as they face one of their life’s biggest crises is a common scene.

Paparazzi crowds around houses of celebrities where deaths have occurred, capturing every movement and every emotion. Zeeshan Siddique, son of Baba Siddique, has had cameras following him around everywhere for days since his father's death. Shehnaaz Gill was seen visibly distraught after the death of Sidharth Shukla, and yet we got graphic glimpses of her from his funeral.

After actress Malaika Arora Khan’s father’s death, her mother's house had cameras parked outside for days, spotting the entry and exit of every single person. Actors Varun Dhawan and Vijay Varma called out their behaviour on social media. Varun Dhawan wrote on Instagram, “It is the most insensitive thing to point cameras in the face of people who are grieving. Please think about what you people are doing or what someone is going through when you do this. I understand it is work but sometimes another human might not be Okay with this #humanity.”

Pls leave the grieving family alone.. it’s not easy anyway for them. Thoda toh grace rakho media walon 🙏🏻

— Vijay Varma (@MrVijayVarma) September 12, 2024

Mandira Bedi chose to do her husband’s final rites and was mercilessly trolled on social media. Even worse, was people criticising her choice of clothes during the ceremony. From a hand raised and placed on someone’s shoulder to someone saying ‘hello’ to another on the spot – everything is recorded and reported.

The media then gets on to dissecting “untold secrets” and other such aspects of the lives of those who’ve died.

The same goes for celebrities facing breakups or divorces. Since her split from cricketer Hardik Pandya, Natasa Stanković has been constantly under the paparazzi's watchful eye. Everything from her airport appearances to social media posts—and even the attention drawn to her "A-shaped" pendant—has been scrutinized in detail.

If just shooting videos and posting wasn’t enough, the clips now have circles, zoom-ins and commentary accompanying them.

Should Public Lives Mean Media Spectacles During Private Moments?

Celebrities are well aware of the public scrutiny they face. Yet, during their lowest moments, they crave privacy. Social media has reignited the debate time and again: Is it right to turn someone’s pain into content for consumption?

It begs the question: Do celebrities sign up for this when they sign up for fame? Should all boundaries be tossed aside just because they are famous?

The portrayal of grief as part of a celebrity narrative risks turning deeply personal moments into nothing more than a media spectacle. The truth is, the media and paparazzi focus so much on these moments because the public eagerly consumes the content.

What Our Obsession with Celebrity Grief Says About Society

This paints a grim picture of society, where people seem to have become desensitized to others' suffering. The commercialization and widespread consumption of such content blur the line between empathy and voyeurism. It also raises an important question: Where does our fascination with this kind of material come from, and why are we so drawn to it?

For the general public, celebrities may seem larger than life, but at the end of the day, they are people dealing with the same emotions as everyone else. They’re more than characters existing for a narrative or to provide entertainment and “content.” Grief affects everyone the same. Allowing celebrities privacy during such times isn't just an act of compassion—it’s a recognition of their humanity.