celebrity-worship syndrome

“What makes autograph hounds tick? What causes so many cameras to flash as fans fall over one another to get a snapshot of their celebrity-hero?[…]” — From a Magazine Article […] Cooter, weeping bitterly, said he had lost his head because until Jimmy Loy got that picture with Merle [Haggard], he, Cooter had been the VIP around town. […] “How could I compete with that picture? Hell, all I had was my Willie Nelson autograph.”

1985 October 11, John Keasler, “Celebrity-worship syndrome ruined ole Cooter Footch”, in The Miami News, final home edition, Miami, Fla.: Cox Enterprises, →OCLC, page 17A, columns 2 and 4

Prosecution witness Rudy Provencio, who was present during the videotaping, said it took many hours to get [Debbie] Rowe’s interview right, and she had to be coaxed to “cry better.” Debbie Rowe was not the only witness to be stricken with celebrity-worship syndrome. Bob Jones, fired by letter in 2004 after having been [Michael] Jackson’s publicist for 16 years, was expected to repeat an episode in his memoir, that he had seen Jackson lick the head of Jordie Chandler. Once on the stand, however, Jones began to equivocate. “I could definitely say that they embraced. . . . I don’t recall anything about head licking,” he said.

2005 July, Maureen Orth, “C.S.I. Neverland”, in Graydon Carter, editor, Vanity Fair, number 539, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2023, page 136, column 1

IN 2003, NEW SCIENTIST magazine reported that one-third of Americans were suffering from something it called "celebrity-worship syndrome", which it abbreviated as "CWS". […] James Houran, clinical psychologist and joint creator of the Celebrity Worship Scale, explains: "A reporter saw the acronym and decided it should stand for celebrity-worship syndrome. So a new psychological disorder was invented, and credited to me and my team".

2006 February, Erica Harrison, “Divine trash: the psychology of celebrity obsession”, in Cosmos, number 7, Sydney, N.S.W.: Luna Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2006

Harrison (2006) describes how around one-third of Americans are suffering from ‘celebrity-worship syndrome’; therefore, visits to the homes of celebrities or tours of their favourite places might be included.

2009, Melanie K. Smith, “The growth of creative tourism”, in Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies, 2nd edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 162

Psychologists at the University of Leicester found that 36% of a sample of 600 adults were afflicted to some degree by what was termed “celebrity-worship syndrome”. The most extreme sufferers believed that the object of their ardour knew them, and declared themselves ready to die for their hero.

2015, David Cox, “Celebrity Culture Is Natural and Can Be Beneficial”, in Noah Berlatsky, editor, Celebrity Culture (Opposing Viewpoints Series), Farmington Hills, Mich.: Greenhaven Press, →ISBN, chapter 1 (Is Celebrity Culture Harmful?), page 21