With the deadly pandemic spreading around the world, a new kind of virus is on the rise: Affluenza-19, the richest of the rich not following the pandemic’s guidelines with a certain lack of humility that only wealth can buy. From Kim Kardashian’s island birthday get-away to the Sway House’s electricity getting shut off, celebrities who have been caught partying during a pandemic have created a COVID hotspot in Los Angeles. To people who have followed COVID guidelines or have been directly impacted by COVID, this can feel like a slap in the face and negligence of their losses.

The Jenners’ and Kardashians’ career monopolizes on their ability to be both wealthy and relatable to the lower classes to hold a balance of unattainable wealth and relatability. This is important to their careers to sell their products, gain brand deals, garter ratings and views on their TV show, and keep them on the pedestal as idols. Kim Kardashian’s birthday bash had gotten her in a bit of hot water. She and her friends and family celebrated her birthday on private island Tahiti with no masks or social distancing. “We danced, rode bikes, swam near whales, kayaked, watched a movie on the beach and so much more,” Kim wrote in a tweet. She then continued on to say the goal of the celebration was, “to pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time.” Backlash quickly followed as many were upset over the ignorance and tone deafness of sharing the photos whilst more than half a million people have died from COVID. The British actress Kelechi Okafor wrote back, “Happy birthday. I hope someone got you an alphabet book as a gift, so you can learn to read the room.”

An important response was Kim getting humbled by normal people who are struggling with common issues during the pandemic. “Good for you. I lost four months of pay, still tied up with unemployment and have seen a significant drop in future earnings. I’m helping my daughters with childcare and virtual school for my granddaughter. Still haven’t gotten my 2019 tax return. Glad you had fun,” wrote MariaKChica. However, this didn’t stop the Jenner family from throwing another party for Kendall’s birthday. Celebrities like The Weekend, Doja Cat, Jayden Smith, the Biebers, and Winnie Harlow were all in attendance. Seemingly the only change they made was asking all the guests to not post pictures on social media. Spoiler alert, celebrities posted on social media. In a statement to Radio Andy, Kendall Jenner said “We do what we can. We try to follow the rules.” This leaves the questions of why billionaires can not simply follow the rules instead of “trying” to. Before the pandemic, the difference between the Kardashians and the Jenners and their followers was they could afford to buy luxury items like Louis Vuitton whilst their followers could not. During the pandemic, the difference has shifted to being that they can afford to keep their families safe and live like normal whilst their followers can not.

The Kardashian’s and Jenner’s are not the only ones finding themselves in the hot seat when it comes to pandemic etiquette. Lana Del Rey had a book signing at Barnes and Noble for her latest poetry book called Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass. The first issue was with her mask. It was mesh without a plastic lining to cover her mouth and nose properly. The second issue was she was very close to her fans when taking pictures. For something as non essential as a book signing, proper facial covering and social distancing should have been enforced. Following COVID guidelines has become synonymous with kindness and caring for others. Del Rey not following them feels like a slap in the face for people who have been directly affected by COVID and have no issue practicing the guidelines.

Before moving into the category of TikTokers who have continued to party during the pandemic, it’s important to remember that in a world full of underage teenagers that there are adults on the platform too. Adults who pay taxes, who voted in the last election, and who would be drafted if there was a war. These are not stupid teenagers, they are unhinged adults. One of those unhinged adults is Larri Merritt, or better known as Larray, who got ridiculed for celebrating his birthday with a massive party. Larray had a surprise birthday at the Hype House mansion, and with so many people coming, they needed a host to plan it. No one socialized or wore masks. The YouTubers James Charles and Nikita Dragon were in attendance and everyone involved got called out by Tyler Oakley on Twitter. “If your favorite influencers are at huge house parties,” he wrote, ¨(& are dumb enough to post it on)..they are bad influencers, unfollow them.” He then continued on to tag everyone in attendance. Larray wrote back by saying “I 100% understand where your coming from & it was a dumb thing to do. I will do better & will actually take **** seriously. Appreciate you Tyler much love.” The idea that it is a choice for someone to not take the pandemic seriously until they receive hate for it is egregious. For too many people it starts out as a life or death situation and to be a place of privilege where it isn’t and continuing to put people’s life at risk is beyond selfish.

Another popular influencer collective called the Sway House also got called out for a birthday celebration. Bryce Hall threw himself a birthday party and invited over one hundred people. In attendance were the Nelk boys, Josh Richards, and Faze Banks. This party was such a threat to people’s lives that the Mayor of Calabasas shut down their power and charged Hall and Blake Gray criminally with a three thousand dollar fine. Fines are supposed to affect the people who have to pay, so why not make them pay more, like two million dollars? Why not bankrupt them? Why not deplatform influencers that should not be influencing people? Why not make the length they will go to spread COVID financially impossible for them?

Influencers who built their content off being loud, dumb, and annoying—Jake Paul and the Nelk boys—got the attention from the governor. They did a live merch drop in the front of their Jersey Shore house with over 1,000 people in attendance, which the police had to break it up. “On Monday night,” said the Governor in a statement to the media, “We saw perhaps the most extreme, which is saying something, agriculture display of knucklehead behavior.” Jake Paul also filmed maskless crowd scenes—without clearance—-for his music video. Jake Paul has also said he believes the coronavirus is a hoax. “COVID cases are at less than one perfect and I think the disease is a hoax,” he told The Daily Beast. When he was informed that COVID had killed around 260,000 people, he replied back by saying “Ugh. Yeah and so has the flu.”

Perhaps the worst influencer not following COVID guidelines is YouTuber Dr. Mike. His channel is popular for him being both an influencer and a doctor who has taken a vow to do no harm. He has been the poster boy for handling COVID. After his birthday party on a yacht in the state of emergency city Miami, he might just be the poster boy for spreading COVID. He claims the party was a surprise thrown for him by his closest friends and that he checked the guides for water activities on the CDC website. He said that according to the CDC they were not required to wear masks, however the CDC says when participating in swimming, wearing a mask isn’t advised, but when partaking in above water activities, masks are required. He also claims he checked the local boat capacity guidelines and said they were below. Despite what he said, the boat capacity is maximum ten people or fifty percent of rated capacity and based on the picture he posted to instagram, there were more than ten people on the boat.

Something that is overlooked is the trauma of almost losing a loved one; the idea of wondering if that person won’t make it out the pandemic is heartbreaking. Not to mention everyone who has lost someone in the pandemic has gone through an immeasurable amount of emotional pain. Anyone who has chosen their temporary happiness over someone’s life needs to take a step back, seek help, and become someone who cares.

Sources:
https://youtu.be/nDb6-9-MTw4
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS868US868&hl=en-US&ei=3-c6YLfnH5Hv-gTVz5aYBQ&q=hiw+many+peiple+have+died+firm+the+corona+virus+in+us&oq=hiw+many+peiple+have+died+firm+the+corona+virus+in+us&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAM6BAgAEEc6AggpOgQIABANOgUIABCGA1C5RVibT2CHUWgAcAF4AIABkAGIAY4EkgEDMy4ymAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jake-paul-coronavirus-hoax-youtube-covid-b1762111.html%3Famp
https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/larry-merritt.html