13 Instances When Celebrities Shamelessly Used Personal Tragedy To Get Fame

While it is usual for artists to sing about social issues or incidents that have affected them deeply, there are quite a few who have used their own personal tragedies to profit from. At what point should such a factor stop being considered art and expression and considered instead of a blatant exploitation of one’s public outpouring of grief through music. Is it ethical to sing about someone’s death and end up making millions or should such situations be restricted to one’s personal life only. There are many who don’t exactly feel remorse from profiteering from tragedy. Here are 13 such celebrities who used tragedy for profit or promote their careers.

1The Temptations – Used the death of a band member

The Temptations used a member’s death to boost their album. Rodger Penzabene was 22 when he joined the group. He was a good songwriter and two of his most noted songs were “I wish it would rain” and “I could never love another” written after he found out his wife was having an affair. A week after the release of “I wish it would rain” Penzabene committed suicide. The group made the song the main hit of their album naming it also “The Temptations wish it would rain”. The album was a huge success.

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2Joe Jackson-Used Michael Jackson’s death to peddled his own label

There were several reports of Joe Jackson being a hard taskmaster and manager of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Some also reported the singer faced years of abuse at the hands of his father. Days after Michael Jackson died in what was a shock to the entire music industry and fans worldwide, Joe Jackson used the prevailing media mood to promote his new record label. He was observed several times brushing off questions about Michael’s death preferring to peddle his record company instead.

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3De La Soul-Used a friend's personal tragedy in a song

One rarely hears about this archaic hip-hop group of the eighties but they influenced many rappers that came on the scene after them. One of their most famous songs that spoke about molestation and indecent abuse was “Millie pulled a gun on Santa”. The song was written by De La Soul member Posdnuos after one of his friends revealed that she was constantly molested and abused by her father. The song is one of the more famous rap storytelling songs till date.

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4Steven Spielberg-Used his movies to feature daddy issues

He is undoubtedly one of the best directors of his time with his most famous hits being E.T, “Saving Private Ryan” And “Jurassic Park” but what many don’t know is that as a child, he suffered his parents going through a nasty divorce.  This element was reflected in his movies where the father figure was absent or workaholics who had no time for their children. This was what Spielberg also blamed his father for considering him responsible for the divorce. However, after his reconciliation with his father, he began portraying a positive father figure that is visible in such movies like “Catch Me If You Can” and “War of the Worlds.”

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