Last Friday night, famous Youtube star and "The Voice's" Christina Grimmie was shot dead at her concert. It was a tragic night for her, her parents, her brother, her friends and her fans. There were millions around that area who must have been traumatized seeing this.
The latest buzz is that she was killed by a deranged fan. The killer, named Kevin James Loibl, lived in St. Petersburg, Florida and he apparently travelled all the way to Orlando with one purpose: to kill her.
There have been a lot of cases similar to this, where fans go crazy to an extent that they would hurt their favorite star. Mark David Chapman was extremely obsessed by The Beatles. In 1980, he traveled all the way to New York to kill John Lennon after Lennon stated that "The Beatles were more popular than Jesus." A few months later, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, as the culmination of an effort to impress Jodie Foster. Latina singer Selena was shot dead in 1995 by the founder of her fan club.
Actress Rebecca Schaeffer was killed in Los Angeles by an obsessive fan in 1989. David Letterman was stalked by a woman who eventually spent 34 months in jail. Famous tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back during a match in 1993, by a fan of her opponent Steffi Graf. Madonna's stalker scaled the walls of her house. Sandra Bullock's stalker actually made it all the way to her house. She even had to hide in her closet. Even Christina's mentor in "The Voice" Adam Levine was accosted by a fan during a concert last year. Rapper Plies was thrown off a stage by a fan who felt disrespected. Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Gwyneth Paltrow and others have to deal with stalkers. All of these made me wonder what is with these fans who go on to hurt the people they idolize? Are they even fans?
Celebrities are a part of life. People adore them to an extent that they start feeling like they are a part of our lives. They start feeling as if they know them personally. Some even fall in love with their favorite celebrities, by making plans to marry them. Nowadays, fans can connect with their favorite celebrity thanks to email and social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But if they don't reply to messages, then these fans start feeling disrespected. They start feeling that their favorite celebrity hates them, when that is not the case. Then these "fans" become crazy and obsessive and do extreme measures to get attention, to an extent of even thinking of killing them.
People need to understand that celebrities have lives of their own. They have their own privacy. Just because they don't reply to fans, that doesn't mean they hate their fans. It's just that they have a lot going on in their life. It is not easy to be a celebrity, when they have to be followed and mobbed by media or fans. They have to also work hard to build their personality and talent to show it to the world. They work really hard to be accepted and liked. With crazy fans trying to hurt them, it would be even more hard for them.
And as for these deranged fans. Well, you guys aren't even worth of calling fans. I think you guys are haters. The definition of a fan is "a person who is enthusiastically devoted to something or somebody, such as a band, a sports team, a genre, a book, a movie or an entertainer." If you guys are really fans then you wouldn't think of hurting the people you adore. They don't reply to your messages, or say something you don't agree, so you think of hurting them. But you don't get that hurting and killing them will make you into a worse person. You have lost someone whom you adore a lot. At the same time, you would get into even more trouble, such as going to prison, and being all alone. Do you really want that?
So please, be a fan. Support your favorite celebrity. Appreciate what they do. Appreciate their life. Appreciate their hard work. Appreciate that they are really busy and they can't be always there for you. Appreciate the special thing they have in them. If they don't reply to your messages, think that they are doing it for you guys! Think that they are doing it so that you guys could like them more. If they reject your proposal, or if they are married, think that the world is full of people and you would get someone eventually. But please stop violence and hate. It is not going to solve anything. All celebrities need is love, please give them that.
After Christina was shot, her brother tackled Loibl and then he shot himself. Loibl apparently planned to go back home after shooting her. Along with that, the police also found a note on the door of Loibl's home saying "Deepest Sorrow for lost to the family, friends and fans of the very talented, loving Christina Grimmie. No other comments." I have so much anger toward Loibl. Not only was he successful in his motives, but he also lost himself by shooting himself. It wasn't worth it. Now the world will only remember him as a "bastard" who shot Christina Grimmie. He has not only hurt Christina, but also her loved ones, and the millions of people who had to witness this. He has hurt himself. Please don't do what he did.
Christina, I have been following you when you were a YouTube star. Then you came in "The Voice" and you had flourished yourself even more, which made me appreciate you more. You could have been much more, but unfortunately life is short and unexpected. Now I hope you can show your talent in heaven while we hope and try to make this world a better place.
RIP, Christina Grimmie.
