Fans count on celebrities to use their platforms to bring wider attention to important issues. Public figures often leverage their celebrity to support just causes or endorse organizations that seek to bring about meaningful change in society. Authoritarian regimes exploit celebrities, social media influencers, entertainment brands, and professional sports institutions to cultivate a false appearance of progress in mainstream popular culture, spread their political propaganda, and obfuscate international accountability.

Celebrities & Dictators urges celebrities to prioritize morals over money by not putting their prestige at the service of serial human rights abusers. HRF believes it’s hypocritical for celebrities to vocalize support for good causes, such as women’s rights or racial justice, while accepting money, a business partnership, or an invitation to perform from authoritarian regimes. In doing so, they condone and serve the public relations needs of corrupt dictatorial regimes. Celebrities & Dictators seeks to spark a global conversation and popularize the struggle for human rights.