To be creeped out by people who make a huge deal out of celebrity deaths?

“Saw her every day on money & stamps” - that’s hilarious 🤣

I think at the time many people felt awkward about not being 'in step' with what seemed to be the public mood @EmotionallyWeird and so didn't want to speak out and potentially appear insensitive.

My side of the family aren't particularly pro-Royal, but DP's side are, but neither side were 'hysterical' over it and found the intensity a bit odd - obviously they weren't totally indifferent.

I remember being in a town (possibly Godalming) about two weeks after Diana's death when a grave woman with a very sad expression approached me holding a bunch of flowers and rather earnestly and breathlessly asked me where the memorial was. I said I had no idea and she went off looking disgusted. I was with my best friend at the time and we asked each other whether the World had gone a bit bonkers.

I've only ever felt really moved by two - John Smith and Gary Moore. Both people I admired in different ways, but I don't know why I reacted to them more than other people who meant about the same to me when they were alive. I found the hysteria over Diana difficult to deal with because it felt like there was some pressure to fake feeling something. Nowadays there are lots of people saying they weren't much affected, but I don't know where they all were at the time.

How is that insensitive? I think that's lovely that they thought so much of your Grandad .

I expect they were trying to be kind @maw1681 and were probably genuinely upset - not on a par with your family obviously, but I doubt they said or implied that.

My grandad was a popular local 'character' and people said similar to us - I took it on face value.

Not creepy more weird and a bit pathetic in my opinion. I always think they can’t have lost anyone they loved in real life.
My grandad was fairly well known in our local area (think along the lines of ex local councillor) and the number of people who told us, his actual family who really knew and loved him, how upset they were! It was really insensitive - so I always think these celebrities have families and friends who are really grieving for them and must find the public attention upsetting at times

I still cry now sometimes when l listen to George Michael. 😪

I cried when Elizabeth II died. My parents who were born in ‘48 (a month older than Charles) and ‘50 (DM was born 5 days before Princess Anne) have zero memory of George VI.

It felt weird on the first time the Royal Family went on the Palace balcony and Queen Elizabeth wasn’t there. Before that, every single time there was a BP balcony scene, she was always there

I would never ever post about it on social media, but I have secretly cried over celebrity deaths before now. I don’t think I was being shallow (as someone upthread suggested). Sometimes they are shockingly young, or you’re thinking about the family they’ve left behind, or even just the fact that they’re not going to put anymore work out.

I have felt sadness when certain famous people died, not enough to post more than maybe a remark or two on somewhere like Mumsnet (I'm not really on other social media spaces.)

With one exception.
And that is Terry Pratchett.
Reading his remarkable books over the years opened up a a world of characters and scenarios that we came to know well, and to love. They also told us a great deal about his character and views.
The wise, sometimes warm, sometimes irascible, authorial voice was like that of an old friend.
And I do grieve the loss.

(Additionally, I met him frequently over the years at conventions, so maybe not completely unknown to me - he may even have vaguely remembered me)

I cried when she died too, and I’m not even from the UK. To me, it represented the death of that generation that were adults during WWII and valued duty and sacrifice. That, and because no matter what chaos was going on in the world, she always came across as so calm and made me feel like there was at least one “adult in the room.”

Does it matter though? Ignore them if you don't want to answer maybe? I've often not known who the person is but get the gist from the thread if I've joined it later on.

Sometimes the 'Who are they?' question elicits some really poignant responses from some posters about what that person was famous for and what they meant to them.

I lot of these people are attention seekers, revelling in grief by proxy, over people they didn’t know. And then throwing themselves in front of media cameras. 🙄

I think milestone celebrity deaths are coming around so frequently they’re becoming meaningless.
Where were you when Kennedy/John Lennon/Diana died? The Twin Towers were hit?
Most people can answer.
It would need to be someone very important for us all to stop in our tracks today.

And mournful tributes about people dying of old age just show the stagnation of show business IMO. Gene Hackman’s death (and his wife and his dog) was sad but no need for a film festival!

I’ve had a long-standing obsession with Jeremy Irons but he too will shuffle off this mortal coil with maybe a wistful smile from me when I hear the news.

I can honestly say the most saddened I’ve been recently was by the vandalism at Sycamore Gap.

That is batshit. Even moreso given he was a paedophile.

One thing when some celebrity dies, always get someone who replies ‘who?’ If they never heard of them.

keep your ignorance from those posts please

Chester Bennington hit my DC badly too. And Chris Cornell from Soundgarden. And Amy Winehouse, Liam Payne, Paul Cattermole (from S Club,) and several other celebs around their age/who they grew up with. (They were born 1990s.) My DC burst out crying when Cory Monteith and Naya Rivera (from Glee) died too, and both were shocked when Peaches Geldof died .

It depends who it is. If it's just a random celeb that you're not arsed about and you're going on about it for attention then yes I agree. However I have a thing for an actor and I absolutely adore him and have had a crush on him for years. If he died I'd find it hard to come to terms with and I know for a fact I'd be extremely upset. I'm sensible and realise it doesn't compare to how I'd feel about family members. But I'd still be valid in feeling sad.

... and marmite to line the route of the coffin when Jade Goody died because, she was like marmite, love or hate it/her. So stupid and wasteful.

Some people just have no brakes when it comes to being attention-seeking.

I was upset when Chester Bennington died. His music was a massive part of my teenage years and definitely influenced me so I don't feel weird or ashamed that it upset me when the news first broke even though I was late 20s when he died. I was sad when Alan Rickman and David Bowie died, George Michael too. Admittedly I do find being upset to the point of calling off work etc a bit odd but I don't judge as celebrities put so much of themselves out there, and some people may get attached to the person they think the celebrity is.

You are a spring chicken then @jbf19 ❤

Some people did go rather OTT. It makes scared that I am 7 years older than her now when she died.

I am kind of glad that her death wasn't at a time when SM was about.

I was very upset when George Michael died. One, because I was a huge fan and he died young and thats sad- but also, because I grew up listening to him with my mum, we would watch his videos together, went to see him in concert together etc. My mum and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but he was a link between us. He was also nearer her age than mine- and him dying just really made me think about my relationship with my mum as well as her mortality. Sometimes it's about more than 'just' the person dying.

I think it depends. I had a little cry when George Michael died, and I was pretty devastated when Luke Perry and Shannon Doherty died. I never posted anything on socials, though. I think grief, however connected or unconnected to the person you are, should be private and has no place on social media.