The celeb code of conduct: Are the rules different for celebrities?

Keeping a perfect facade can’t be compromised. Just ask Hrithik Roshan, who recently got on the wrong side of Twitter trolls when he recently announced on the micro-blogging website how he had a close shave at the Istanbul attacks, because he chose to ‘fly economy’ the previous day, after his original flight got cancelled.

Meanwhile, international pop star Cher was also slammed for being insensitive, when she added a bomb and an explosion emoji while tweeting about praying for the victims of the Istanbul attack.

Closer home, Celina Jaitly made a not so subtle mention about being honoured by an US-based foundation, even as she sent out prayers for the blast victims in the same breath. “I transited through #istanbul airport last month on my way to #Miami to be honoured by @HMilkFoundation SHOCKED to hear about terrorattack” read her tweet.

Bollywood isn’t the only industry at the receiving end. Only a few days ago, Arvind Kejriwal’s Goa campaign met with a colourful roadblock when his flowery tiara became the butt of jokes. While some of these may be genuine faux pas, others could be statements spewed out without much thought.

Kalki Koechlin, who is a troll favourite, says, “It is true that a lot of the time what you say gets taken out of context and turned into a headline but I also think that the social media is a great tool for celebrities to express themselves without there being the interference of a middleman. There is a pressure to be perfect in the time of Photoshop. Nobody really looks like what they do on magazine covers. But then, if you look at all the great inspirations internationally, like Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin or Meryl Streep — they’re not perfect. It is their personalities rather than how they look, that has made them who they are. You have to live with the idea of trolls. We also get praise and thanks on the social media, so dealing with the negative is part of living in a free society.”

The actress adds, “When I’m trolled nowadays, I simply switch off from the social media for a while. However, I think that it is important not to isolate the incident but to look at the person as a whole.”

Image consultant Sheena Agarwal says, “You and I could be saying the same thing but for celebrities being who they are, trolls thrive on the smallest mistakes they make. The Internet has countless sites which thrive on this kind of news, so there’s hardly anything you can do about it,” she adds.

Etiquette expert Chhaya Momaya says, “No matter what, celebs need to be warm towards the public, unless of course someone is deliberately creating nuisance. And if, someone has been trolled about their dress or their appearance, I think they should pick themselves up and work on it.” However, Chhaya also adds that the best way for celebrities to deal with trolls is to simply ignore them.