Although celebrities have become a regular fixture in modern social mo
vements, there is little explicit theory on why, or on how they may af
fect the movements in which they participate. We begin by discussing t
he resources celebrities can bring to bear on social protest movements
, as well as the risks that celebrity participation entails both for t
he movement and for the celebrity. We suggest a notion of political st
anding, which sets limits on the sorts of causes in which celebrities
will generally participate. In constructing their legitimacy to speak
for a movement, celebrities frequently alter the claims of that moveme
nt to more consensual kinds of politics. We examine the entry, action,
and influence of celebrities in particular movements by looking at tw
o recent controversies in which celebrities are deeply involved: The o
ngoing efforts to preserve the woods around Walden Pond, and the recen
t passage, and subsequent political fallout, of an antigay referendum
in Colorado. In the first case, celebrity participation led to a redef
ining of movement claims into a non-conflictual inclusive politics tha
t skirted important questions. In the second case, the larger claims o
f gay rights and liberation were eclipsed by the entry of celebrities
into the conflict who universalized the opposition to discrimination.
We conclude by discussing the systematic biases that movement use of c
elebrities may create, and the need to consider the impact of celebrit
ies' peculiar relationships to audiences as they affect political move
ments and public life.