Should a celebrity’s politics matter?

The majority of Americans don’t want to know how their favorite celeb votes, according to new research.

A survey of 2,000 Americans examined the thoughts and opinions on celebrities and politics and found that nearly two-thirds (64%) would not want to know their favorite celebrity’s political affiliation.

In fact, only one in four (22%) said they’d be happy to know if their favorite singer or actor voted red or blue.

Conducted by Talker Research, the results also showed how the average American would react after finding out their favorite celebrity did not agree with them politically.

One in six (18%) said they’d stop being a fan, suggesting that respondents would forgo political transparency for art and entertainment.

“For one thing, people like to feel that their favorite celebrity lives in a world of their own, a special place free of mundane issues, like going to the grocery store or figuring out who they want to vote for or support,” said Dr. Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist-consultant for reality TV. “For another thing, they are fearful that their favorite celeb holds opposing views and this would either disappoint them or make them question their own views.

“For example, they want to imagine their favorite singer ensconced in an environment that inspires their music. They like to imagine country singers on their ranch or riding a horse. They like to imagine singers like Taylor Swift sitting alone in their bedroom, looking over mementos of past loves — not writing social media posts and signing them ‘Childless Cat Lady.’ Indeed, Taylor lost a lot of fans by making her dislike of Trump known.”

But, it’s not just celebrity political affiliations Americans don’t want to know about.

Over half (57%) of respondents said they don’t want to know how their colleagues vote either, with 63% saying they think it’s rude to ask people who they voted for. 

Younger Americans are more likely to wear their politics on their sleeve in the workplace. Fifty percent of Gen Z respondents said they’d prefer to know how their colleagues vote.

Only 14% said they would prefer to know whether their colleagues are more conservative or liberal and don’t think it’s rude to inquire.

When asked to consider differences in speaking about politics in the past decade, more than half (59%) said they think people are more hesitant to share their political views today than in the past ten years.

The survey also revealed notable differences among generations.

Younger Americans like Gen Z (37%) and millennials (30%) said they would want to know their favorite celebrities' political party affiliation more than Gen X (23%) would and baby boomers (18%).

Similarly, Gen Z (41%) said they would stop being a fan if they learned their favorite celebrity disagreed with their politics compared to older generations, like millennials (20%), Gen X (17%) and baby boomers (17%).

“Most people think that others are more hesitant to share their political views today than in the past. This is probably true," added Dr. Lieberman. "There is more distrust these days. So some people may feel ’safer’ knowing that their colleague believes the same things as they do.”

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans; the survey was commissioned by Talker Research and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Feb. 7 – Feb. 2025.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.