Celebrity led competition ‘The Activist’ receives backlash from netizens
The reality show, “The Activist”, co-hosted by Usher, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Julianne Hough, receives backlash. “Charity and helping others is not a competition”, responded netizens.
Usher, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Julianne Hough are all set to co-host a new CBS series "the Activist". The competitive show is expected to bring impactful changes around the world.
According to the Deadline, the five-week-long CBS competition series from Global Citizen "The Activist" features six inspiring activists paired up with three high profile public figures to work in collaboration for bringing an impactful change to one of the three significant world causes: health, education, and environment.
Six activates will have head-to-head challenges for promoting their world cause and their success will be measured via social media metrics, online engagement, and host's input. The central motto of the activists is to bring meaningful change.
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However, the arrival of the show faced stern criticism from the netizens, one of the commenters wrote "Charity and helping others is not a competition"
Yuen Chan, a journalist and lecturer from south London penned on her Twitter, "As activists are jailed, maimed and killed around the world, this is grotesque". She worries about what happens to real-life activists.
The show is also facing backlash for spending a huge amount of money to hire celebrity hosts.
"Shut it down. Give that money to people actually doing the work and pat yourself on the back for the tax write-off. "Awareness" doesn't feed people, it doesn't employ people, it doesn't heal people.", wrote another commenter on the CBS post about the series.
The final episode of the series will announce the winners and give them the opportunity to advance their cause to the G-20 summit in Rome, Italy where they will have the opportunity to raise funding for their cause.
Global Citizen, the international education and advocacy organization working to accelerate movements for eliminating extreme poverty, is producing the series.
After receiving stern criticism, a spokesperson from Global Citizen responds to 'Deadline' that, "The Activist" does not want to trivialize activism, rather it aims to highlight the activist individual who is working to change the world for the better.
The reality show is expected to debut on October 22.
