Public Enemies

Public Enemies

When Lionel Ritchie left the Commodores back in ’82, it was seen as a natural progression, because his star was on the rise. There were no major grumblings from the guys he left behind; it didn’t seem to faze them publicly, though in private they were probably pissed off and knew the money would slow up. If that happened today, “Clyde” Orange would just take to Twitter and air Lionel out, for the world to see. Twitter has not only become a social medium for healthy discourse and an exchange of ideas, it is also the place to be for the things we had to rely on Wendy Williams and other gossip hounds to report.

After years of subliminal disses and cryptic quotes, the stars are airing giving their fans a ringside seat to their version of a bar fight. At any given moment, one of your favorite singers or actors or some other random celebrity can wage an assault on another in 140 words of often misspelled and grammatically incorrect plain text. It happens all of the time, though most of us “working people” seem to miss it, because it seems to be a late-night sport for the rich & famous to lob insults at one another. Whether it’s for attention or is rooted in maliciousness, it’s become part of pop culture, virtually eliminating the beef record and shocking quite in an interview, we’re not getting disses in the first person.

Just a few weeks ago Rihanna took offense to comments Ciara made to Joan Rivers and took to Twitter to voice her displeasure. The two exchanged insults and entertained their followers more than they’ve been doing musically these days before letting it go. Ciara was weeks removed from a prior Twitter beef with 50 Cent, a man she’s been linked to in the rumors, over comments 50 made after leaving The Playboy Mansion. In that case, they were both cryptic in their tweets, though it was obvious they were directed their words to one another.

Chris Brown has turned into a bit of a “thumb thug”, exchanging insults with Raz-B (formerly of B2K) and Soulja Boy, often using language inappropriate for much of his fanbase. Soulja Boy has had his own issues with Twitter, engaging in a war of words with Fabolous that had to be mediated by DJ Clue. LeBron James proved that Twitter beef is not exclusive to singers and rappers, as he decided to tweet his response to claims Boobie Gibson allegedly made on the mic at his birthday party in Cleveland. It would seem that Bron Bron should have more on his mind than what someone is saying thousands of miles away in a city he left as hopeless as Lionel Ritchie left The Commordores.

It seems silly that these multi-millionaires clash over such pettiness, but it seems like once their fight or flight response kicks in, fight wins out. Whether it’s machismo in the case of the men or protecting your ground as women, many of these celebrities are engaging in Twitter beefs with folks that are bordering on or already irrelevant or being goaded into these battles as self-promotion. Either way it’s sad, but as usual, their lives is our entertainment.