What manner of fans in today’s entertainment industry?

ROTIMI IGE writes about the alarming attitudes and actions of fans, mostly youths, of entertainment celebrities and how social media has influenced these in today.

When fans of popular Ivorian musician DJ Arafat, woke up to the news of his death weeks ago, they took to the streets to register their grief. The coupe decale singer, 33, had died from injuries suffered from a biking accident. On  August 12, 2019, Arafat died in hospital after a motorcycle accident in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

A speed addict, videos showed that Arafat’s motorcycle collided with a car in the Angre neighborhood on Sunday, August 11, 2019. He was subsequently admitted to a hospital in Abidjan for a skull fracture before eventually giving up around 8:00 a.m. the following day. After the news of his death was broken, it was reported that thousands of his fans assembled in the Cocody suburb near the hospital where he died and mourned his death, chanting ‘Arafat cannot die’. DJ Arafat was one of the most popular African musicians in the Francophone world, and had been referred to as the ‘king of coupé-décalé (cut and run)’, an Ivorian form of dance music fused with hip hop. During his reign, he came to symbolise the flashy, well-dressed lifestyle associated with the music, which features fast percussion, deep bass and hip hop-style vocals.

While many of his colleagues in the entertainment industry, among many others across the world took to social media to pass their condolences, no one was prepared for what was to happen at his funeral held in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital. A large stadium overnight concert had been held in Arafat’s honour before the musician was laid to rest.

On the morning of Saturday, August 31, 2019 before the private burial, DJ Arafat’s casket was placed at the centre of the 35,000-capacity Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan, drawing wild applause before the mood turned sad and many of his fans burst into tears.

Top acts, namely Davido, Fally Ipupa, Serge Beynaud, Sidiki Diabate, among others, performed at the funeral.  During the funeral, Davido was given a rare moment to honour his friend. He performed hits like ‘FIA,’ ‘Skelewu’ and ‘Naughty’, his 2014 collaboration with DJ Arafat. But as he performed, he had to be guarded as fans swarmed and mauled him. Nonetheless, for a moment and as he performed ‘FIA,’ the sad faces became lit and mournful souls briefly found happiness.

However, after a while, the crowd became uncontrollable and it was reported that the police had resorted to using tear gas to try to disperse those who had gathered at a private family ceremony that was held locally.

“We wanted to see the body of our idol before the tomb was sealed,” one unnamed fan told AFP news agency.

Some fans of the late musician got so frustrated for not being allowed at the private cemetery ceremony that they overpowered the security agents at the cemetery and proceeded to desecrate Arafat’s grave by exhuming his coffin and extracting the remains of the singer to confirm if it was indeed Arafat’s that were  buried. The late musician’s clothes were also opened and his tattoos checked by the hundreds of fans who besieged the grave site to ascertain their idol’s identity.

Videos on social media showed fans opening his coffin and undressing the late musician’s body to check if it was truly Arafat.

This, according to Alex Osiwa, a blogger, was disheartening.

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“Watching the videos and seeing hundreds of young people invade a cemetery with the singular mission of exhuming a corpse and undressing it in order to ascertain the identity of Arafat, humanly speaking, is too far-fetched. Such fans can willfully destroy properties at any slight provocation and it must not be encouraged. Sharing the footage of the insane action on social media is another level of insanity again. The youths CAN always be rational and realistic while idolising their favourite celebrity because anyone can be one,” he said.

Another respondent, Sarah Chigozie, a radio presenter in Delta State said that she was appalled by the actions of many of Arafat’s fans who desecrated his grave recently.

“How could anyone have thought that unearthing a corpse was the best way to show loyalty? It is absurd!”, she said.

While many have expressed displeasure with the action, another focal point, worthy of note in various discussions were fans of the very popular Big Brother Naija show who have, based on their Housemate preferences, been divided into various groups to support. While growing a huge fan base and viewership is necessary for the show, some fans have become toxic with their comments online, and even go to various lengths to attack one another. Some have even issued threats to other support groups, with claims and counter claims in favour of their favourite Housemate. Some of the feuds have even lingered with former Housemates from previous years, as observed in cases where some former Housemates took sides with their fans against their colleagues.

Some fans have even gone as far as stalking their favourite celebrities, buying gifts and even throwing parties in their honors to spite others.

In all, social critics opine that a balance is necessary in such situations and celebrities, as role models must know their position and also show exemplary character by chastising or controlling over zealous fans.

Fatima Abdulkadri, a psychologist, in a chat with Friday Treat said the actions of fans were an important ingredient in entertainment. While cautioning that fans must never go overboard in their support for their favourite celebrities, she said that most times, they (fans) may be wrong in their perceptions and actions.

She said, “Fans should be careful when taking sides or sharing opinions about actions or inactions of celebrities because they may not fully understand the reasons behind such action (s). Everybody seems to have an opinion online about other peoples lives and most times, people talk trash just because they are not seen. Take for instance the bitter feud between former Big Brother Housemates Alex and Cee C’s fans which affected both women so much. Also, the brewing issues between Mercy and Tacha’s fans online at the moment. It is important that fans realise that it is entertainment afterall and the people they are fighting for, may have different reasons for their actions or inactions because they are the actual people involved in the Big Brother House. Fans must realise that entertainers have the sole responsibility of entertaining, whether positive or negative. Fans, however, must learn to keep some opinions to themselves before it spurs others like them to misconstrue a simple situation.”