The problem with being a public figure is that you are never far from the attention of the public thanks to over-zealous fans who whip out their cameras at the slightest whiff of your presence or those pesky paparazzi who are not averse to using questionable tactics such as employing long-range camera scopes just to get a pic of you, even in your bathroom.
The problem with this is that it makes it very hard to “be yourself” because you hardly have enough privacy. For instance, consider that there are people who pick their noses in the privacy of their homes and then flick the booger off to wherever. True, it’s an obnoxious habit but hardly something that would make the headlines of national tabloids.
Watch the video of Kanye West ‘eating’ his earwax below.
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Video credit: Rumble
But if a celebrity or public figure was caught doing the same thing even at home then chances are that the situation will get totally blown out of proportion.
It’s no wonder then that some celebrities gain a reputation of being snobbish towards fans when in fact they may just want to go about their day without all the attention.
It may also explain why celebrities are more prone to drug abuse. If they can’t escape all the scrutiny in real life then maybe they can just escape into their head to get some privacy.
In any case, the latest “victim” of this close scrutiny is Kanye Omari West who supposedly ate his earwax during a church event. A Twitter user uploaded a video that supposedly showed the part-time rapper “eating his earwax.” The video soon got 25,000 retweets and more than 100,000 likes.
It also ignited a firestorm of debate with some concluding that West eats his own earwax while others say it’s just a simple misunderstanding. But Charles Holmes of Rolling Stone attempted to answer the question once and for all despite entreaties from his editors that he had better things to write about.
Based on a closer frame-by-frame examination of the video (i.e., putting it on full screen), Holmes observed that West’s fingers don’t seem to actually go into his inner ear canal. Rather, it’s just like he picked something off at the outer ear.
His fingers then move into his mouth where one could make the argument that he could be trying to remove something from his tongue. This is followed by a flicking motion which doesn’t suggest something like ear wax because it’s gooey and sticky and something to be wiped off instead of flicked off (as you would a booger).
In the end, Holmes played it safe and decided to clear West of any “charges.” Of course, the court of public opinion already came out with a decision so it looks like one of West’s many “accolades” from now on will be that of “ear wax eater.”
Replaced!