ZAlebs who adopt "the Beyonce policy"

There’s a reason you rarely ever read about an “exclusive Beyonce interview,” and that is because of the mega star’s infamous “no interview” policy.

No word on why this is but it probably has to do mostly with controlling the image she has worked so hard to build over the years.

What she has done instead is hire a personal archivist who collects content about her life and curates it for distribution via her various online channels.

According to American online platform, Acclaim, “she went radio silent back in 2013 and did her last face-to-face interview in 2014.” 

Even when she featured on Vogue’s 2015, September issue cover, which is often accompanied by a luxurious photo spread and an exclusive interview of the cover star - she said nothing.

Instead, the feature was accompanied by an observational essay written by a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist, Margo Jefferson.  

“She has to be studying how effective her interviews have been so far. She may have decided that they do not contribute as dazzlingly to the portrait of Beyoncé as the other stuff. It’s a perfectly reasonable decision,” observed Jefferson for New York Times.

Despite that, Beyonce continues to dominate global news media in one way or another, as have many of South Africa’s celebs who have recently adopted a less severe version of the same policy.

AKA, Cassper Nyovest, Bonang Matheba, DJ Zinhle and Kwesta are just some of the ZAlebs who have adopted the Beyonce policy. Although, I call it a less severe version because our ZAlebs only speak to publications they hold in high esteem. Publications that will never do anything other than praise them, repeating what has been said about their work ethic since they first achieved any kind of success.

As a result, the media has had to adapt as they have with Beyonce. Opting to rely on a star’s social media to find out what they’re thinking and doing.

The thing about this type of radio silence however, is that the silence can be filled with all the things that are not said. And your life as a celebrity becomes a cycle of denial - either via tweets or press statements.

And unless you’ve got that “personal archivist money,” there’s only so much you can do for your personal image with a limited team who has so many other things to focus on.

A photographer, manager, publicist and photographer can only do so much. And where they fall short, journalists step in.

Perhaps that is why local celebs have such a bitter-sweet relationship with the media. We are the people tasked with documenting their lives, careers and achievements but due to the rotten apples in the bunch, they keep us at a safe, yet manageable distance.

The fact that they keep us at a distance allows us to do what we need (by keeping their fans up to date on everything their faves are up to) but it also gives us the freedom to openly criticize them whenever they fall short.

The only problem is that our ZAlebs have not yet learned how to take criticism. Instead of seeing criticism as helpful, they see it as a personal attack on themselves and their achievements. Choosing to hit back instead of improving and building the relationships necessary for the lives they chose. 

Main image credit: instagram.com/akaworldwide @blaq_smith