Navigate Select ESC Close

‘Celebrities have perfected it’: Cringe instances of ‘performative outrage’ called out

2026-07-17 News & Politics
3.2k
125
43
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia
6.2m subscribers

Unlock all features

FREE: Get instant access to 10 AI summaries, chats, or transcripts per day.

Description

​Sky News host James Macpherson calls out instances of “performative outrage”, the see-through form of “art” the modern celebrity has “perfected”. ​“Back in the old days, if you were angry about something, you’d do something about it; not so much these days, being angry and doing something is seen as the exact same thing,” Mr Macpherson told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “It’s what we call performative outrage. ​“Remember when Islamic crazies abducted 276 Nigerian schoolgirls back in 2014, Michelle Obama posted a photograph of herself pulling a sad face while holding a sign that read ‘bring back our girls’. ​“12 years later, 89 of those girls are still missing, and the last public statement I can find from Michelle Obama on the issue was in 2021, when she gave an interview, but not to advocate on behalf of the girls still missing; rather, she was reminiscing about her selfie back in 2014 became a ‘global moment’. “It’s performative; it’s not meant to make a difference, and it's certainly not meant to be taken seriously, but it does make everyone feel good, for a moment. ​“It’s theatre, it’s art, it’s performative; none of it is real.”

Top Comments (10)

@lukeh321 2026-07-17

Michael's husband was President for two terms and he did nothing about bringing Michael's girls back

27
@leejordan9804 2026-07-18

Performative outrage over performative outrage - very meta sky!

1
@SunnyDaze111 2026-07-17

they need to ask their best buddy Kamala what happened to 300K girls

14
@ShahzadHaider-p1c 2026-07-17

The sincere horror of blockheads and the fake intentions of charlatans

1
@tammymarks 2026-07-17

Performative outrage is the Left's default mode. They don't care about the subjects or taking action — only the superficial virtue-singling.

11
@michaelc2656 2026-07-17

I have stopped paying attention to the left long ago.

14 2 replies
@damo7228 2026-07-19

Danicas Ozempic journey is really showing now. On the way to her Australia version of the Mara Lago look, the Dubbo look.

0
@debbiedove4565 2026-07-19

Sky have been the masters of performative outrage. It’s their brand. Best comedy channel on TV

0
@gone547 2026-07-19

BARF.

0
@Rusty77777 2026-07-19

These celebs are vacuous horrible people. They should be ignored!

0

Unlock the Data Inside
Turn Videos into Knowledge

  • Get FREE 10/day: transcripts, summaries, chats
  • Chat with videos, export text & PDF
  • $1 free API credit for RAG, chatbots & research

Free forever plan • All features unlocked

App screenshot