Solidarity? Celebrities Refuse To Refund Advance

Once again it is proved that behind every nice, compassionate, intellectual and famous face lies a monster which understands only one language; Money. Irrespective of the wealth one has amassed, what one says to the media and what one projects himself or herself to be, the lure of money has stood the test of circumstances.

All of us know that many celebrities were being paid obscene sums by various city hotels for performing at their New Year celebrations. The hotels subsequently had cancelled the functions citing the Mumbai Terror attacks. The news now, from a very reliable source is that the celebrities who had taken hefty advances for making an appearance in the functions are refusing to refund the advance amount to the hotels. So much for solidarity.

The hotels are in a bind. In a way the celebrities are right, they did not back out of the deal, it is the hotels which cancelled the Program, so ideally the celebrities should get to keep the money. But if the reason for cancellation is a show of support and / or solidarity with the victims of terror attacks, any self respecting person will throw the contract away and refund the money.

Not our celebrities. No sir, unless they are aware of the actual reason for the hotels cancelling the New Year functions. It is the economy, stupid. No one is going to pay upwards of Rs 10,000/- to attend a party in these times, especially when the hotel and the police of the city can not ensure safety and security. Remember, last year a girl was molested by a crowd right outside the Mariott in Juhu.

Coming back to celebrities, don't they understand that there utterances in Public and in the media are powerfool tools for building public opinion, even if it is totally unintentional. They sway moods and their behaviour and moral/ethical valkues are imbibed by the youth of this country. They are doing great disservice to the nation with their thoughtless actions.

In my opinion, celebrities in our country who behave in a manner unbecoming of a role model for the youth of the country should be black listed and be denied media covrage completely.