Is there any celeb you feel sorry for?

[Soubriquet]

Watching one of mg favourite films again, (Easy A) and it’s got Amanda Bynes in it.

I still feel so sorry for her. She was so talented and I loved her movies and it’s sad to see how she is now. I genuinely hope she gets all the help she needs

Absolutely, goodness knows what we have missed musically by his death. I'm still very sad for him.

Everyone I listed has been abused by the people who were supposed to be 'on their side' with the exception of Duffy.
Even down to MJ and Whitney Houston.
Abused and taken advantage of by the producers

Also, awful eating disorder that claimed her life. I love her voice, but it feels like she is heartbroken when signing 😭

So, so many but stand out Freddie Mercury and Britney.
I don’t get the feeling sorry for Meghan Markle sentiment though. She would have us believe she is living the dream, having married her Prince Charming (who she didn’t know was a Prince because she didn’t look up who her famous blind date was with 🙄).
If I had a 77 million deal from Netflix (largely brokered around dishing the dirt on my in-laws) on top of everything else that comes with marrying a Prince, and I absolutely hated my privacy being violated, I would bow out gracefully and actually stop courting fame.
Ostracising most of your family on both sides and upsetting most people who work for or with you to the extent they quit and an enquiry is carried out by the late Queen is not an indication of your outstanding personality.
There are so many examples of vulnerable people, and minors, being exploited why plead the case for a woman who ‘has it all’, especially one who thought it cool and appropriate to ‘allegedly’ hand out drugs as party favours at her own first wedding.

The RF board is that a way ⬅️

I'm sick of threads getting hijacked with hate Meghan posts

She's annoying though, and digs at him all the time too Both as bad as each other.

I’m in no way minimising the horror of what PMG went through, but his wife (Elizabeth) and daughter (Ariel) died of AIDS. His son Jake is HIV positive but healthy and helps to run an AIDS foundation which was set up in honour of his mother.

And me arghhh!

I’m glad to hear the boy is ok. That must bring him some comfort.

I agree with you.

A lot of the child stars like Lindsay Lohan, who were likely sexualised and exploited from the moment they were in set.

I posted Terry Hall very early on. Most of the celebs I know are musicians... So...

Nick Cave.

2 sons lost. His 15 year old (?) in the most terrible way.

People think he is dark and depressing.
His lyrics are truly beautiful.

I can't imagine what he has been through. I'm thankful for that.

I was going to say let's go for group therapy, but... I hope we have all recovered from that particularly nasty memory now and have seen the light!

They thrive on it. He's being an idiot and she's trying not to laugh.

I think they're perfect for each other.

Those saying Freddie Mercury, can I ask why?

He lived his life to the full. All those that needed to know, knew he was HIV positive and that it become AIDS.

The music they recorded in those last years/year (?) some of the most amazing.

Days of our Lives being particularly poignant and sad.

Last appearance at the Brit awards. Of course there was speculation, but he didn't owe Joe public an explanation especially in 1991 when stigma and prejudice was so rife.

He knew he was loved, he knew who his loved ones were. He left a true legacy.

Because if he’d only lived a couple of years more he could still be alive now?

No he couldn't have done. He had AIDS.

People with HIV now live a lot longer due to the amazing development in drugs they can take. These drugs allow people to live an almost normal life (apart from the plethora of pills). The viral load now being so reduced that its unlikely to be transmitted via any means.

These drugs certainly weren't available in 1993, two years after Freddie Mercury died.

Because he died in his early 40s (I think) of a disease that now has a much better prognosis. And because of how immensely talented he was.

If the media is correct, he was a lovely man but also sometimes lonely. I think that now, with less prejudice, gay marriage legalised, gay couples being able to adopt, etc, he could have had a happier life.

I realise that he had a better time than some mentioned on here, but I feel a great deal of sympathy for him.

He was 45.

And yes it is too young (even though my Dad died at 45 and we thought he was old!).
Freddie lived life to the full, he didn't hide anything from anyone. I think he tried early days with his parents but they were hardly shocked. Queen only came back to life at Live Aid because there was a lot of drink, drugs and hedonism previously for Freddie.

It might have included some loneliness, who isn't at some point?

It's not that I don't feel sorry for him, it's that I think he really did live life to the full being his true self. So I feel amazed for him, stunned by him, proud of him. Its a shame he had to keep his illness and sexuality quiet, from us, the baying public
But those were the times then. It was awful. Celebs were being 'outed' not for doing anything wrong, just for being gay, or lesbian.

I don't think Freddie was ever a wallflower. It's clear he was truly loved and supported by his bandmates,

And again, of course its a shame, but I do believe he did live his life to the full.

Maybe Brian May will pop on and tell us different.

The lyrics to It Couldn't Happen Here by the Pet Shop Boys are truly heartbreaking.

It almost reads like Covid spreading across the world. New York gay scene, men getting ill...
Advertised as a gay virus. Frightening adverts on TV and on pages in Smash Hits with the grim reaper...

"I may be wrong, but I thought we said - It couldn't happen here"

I think that Freddy lived the life he wanted, though a great shame it wasn't just a few years later that he became poorly with AIDS defining illnesses. Fabulous music.
The first properly effective HIV meds became available in 1996. Nowadays we live pretty much the same lifespan as the general population with no risk to our partners. Some people diagnosed early on might be on a plethora of pills but generally it's between 1 and 3 a day - I only take one, with friends on various meds for other health conditions taking more.
Many people are still diagnosed late today, often with AIDS defining illnesses and pretty much no immune function. Thankfully effective meds can help them recover though this can take longer and with residual health issues.
Stigma still exists unfortunately.

Thank you for your post. I didn't know about the medication - as in not so many pills.
I certainly trying to stigmatise anyone, but Freddie did have AIDS. Not just - 'just' (🙄) HIV and dying in 91, he was a good few years away from any treatment.
I guess we could say the same about any medical breakthrough.
I did an HIV test (straight woman) a few months back as nothing was showing as to why I constantly knackered, mine system non existent, so easy to do now. Order online. It was negative but it did make me think of so and so I had a few ons with - maybe 10 years ago now!
Well, I'm due in for more tests on my womb instead. Not looking marvellous I'll just be glad after hysterectomy! Then see.
Sorry that all went off topic.

There'll always be stigma I suspect because people are afraid of the unknkwn (I've just managed to write that twice with no vowels. It's staying).
Can I ask you a question?
Well I'm going to.
Even though I was factually incorrect with my 'plethora' etc did you feel stigmatised by me?
I'd hate to think so, but I'm not in your shoes. I try not to be ignorant and there'd be no stigma in RL, it's just the way that the posts were going...
Then finished with PSB!
Who are, my lifetime icons.
Spare ticket to Warwick Castle if you fancy - as a carer 🤣 Austism.

I'm really grateful to see a factual post.

That told us! 😉

Oh bollocks, forgot I was bleating about hysterectomy!

And post
...

No I didn’t feel stigmatised at all, just didn’t want anyone thinking that if diagnosed with HIV nowadays we have to shove handfuls of pills down our throats which some people had to do in the 80s and early 90s. Feeling very fortunate not to have contracted it in the early days though have friends who did and are living happily today. We also now have injectables with potential for implants in the future.

A couple of fun facts - in 2023 the biggest increase in HIV diagnoses was seen in heterosexual women in the U.K. and we are less likely to be offered or agree to an HIV test. As you say, postal tests are easily available (and free), though so many women - and straight men - don’t feel the need to test and almost half of people diagnosed in these groups are diagnosed late.

Also agree that people are afraid of the unknown and might have certain ideas of what people living with HIV might look or act like. We’re pretty normal - special but normal ☺️.

Sorry to hear about the womb issues. I’ve had a few over the past few years with scans and hysteroscopy - pesky fibroids and bleeding 😕 though sorted now. I hope the hysterectomy goes well and you don’t have to wait too long.

Thank you @HIVpos it can't get out soon enough for me!

I was aware that heterosexual women had seen the biggest increase. I did wonder though whether that was due to coil insertions. Mine way back did smear, chlamydia and HIV. Women are getting it from somewhere so I assume heterosexual men are invited to test even less.

Anyway, any thought of that malarkey is not welcome here!

Freddie also died an awfully painful death! Band members were shocked at the ulcers and bits of him basically rotting. I'd feel sorry for anyone in that situation.

Yes, he'd have needed to have been alive a lot later for the immune meds to have been available, as he had already developed AIDS. He died young. I'm a similar age and I've so much more to live for and I'm not an ultra talented individual unlike him.
Stigma of HIV and being gay would also have been avoided had he just been born a few decades later. Of course we still get it now (I was spat at in the street in the early 2000s) but nowhere near as bad.