Celebrity Voting Selfies, Ranked

November 7, 2018 Off By Eve Peyser

2018 has been the year of so many different things, but more than anything, 2018 is the year the celebs voted. And not only did they vote, they wanted you to know about it. Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio were among many A-listers who made oily, earnest PSAs encouraging people to exercise their franchise. A single Instagram post from Taylor Swift, breaking her long-time political silence, may have spurred tens of thousands of young people to register to vote. This wasn't the first time celebs got involved in politics, but they seemed particularly desperate about it this time around.

And who knows, maybe people will listen to them. On Tuesday, it seemed like midterm turnout was high, maybe because the celebs willed it to be. I suppose I appreciate that the celebs are encouraging people to vote, as teeth-grindingly corny as it can be—civic engagement is undoubtedly good for the society we're stuck in. However, the downside of the celebs hyping voting is that their enthusiasm can be kind of embarrassing, like watching your mom use her iPhone. I don't regret voting by any means, but seeing that Elon Musk and Kourtney Kardashian and Lin-Manuel Miranda also voted affirms my deep fear that I am in fact basic. Alas.

The only thing the celebs love more than voting is having an excuse to post content, and content they posted! Behold, celeb voting posts, ranked from least cool to most cool:

10. Ivanka Trump

In this stilted video, the daughter and advisor of the president who the celebs hate so much cosplays as her former peers, encouraging people to participate in "one of the great privileges of being an American." Ivanka is acting like she's a regular fancy celeb making a fun video for her fans. But since Ivanka is not a regular celeb—and the party she's aligned with is probably hoping for a lower turnout—the video is painful. Which is what she deserves.

9. Elon Musk

Elon Musk has been too annoying on social media over the past year, and too in trouble with federal agencies because of it, to get away with trying to be cute about voting on Twitter. But he is a celeb, and he voted, the law says he has to post about it.

8. Lin-Manuel Miranda

King of earnestness Lin-Manuel Miranda, who did a very popular rap musical about the presidents, posted a message about how "happy" he was to wait in line in the pouring rain and vote. As a fellow New Yorker who was forced to do the same, I disagree with Lin—I resent that our voting system is so disrespectful of my time.

7. Jimmy Fallon

A sad byproduct of the Trump era is that society has mandated that the most pure apolitical force in entertainment get political. First everyone gets mad about a little hair tousle, now Jimmy Fallon has to learn that the elections between the presidential ones are called the "midterms," and we're all allowed to vote in them. If you don't watch out, Jimmy might even form an opinion on the whole thing. No one wants that.

6. Jeff Goldblum

Jeff Goldblum is a well-established zaddy, and I will always love him. At the same time, the hat he is wearing should be a crime.

5. Mandy Moore

I respect Mandy Moore's voting selfie because it doubles as a reminder you should never, ever post.

4. Katie Couric

Katie Couric took a picture of herself inside her polling station, which is against the law in New York. And what's more cool than doing a crime?

3. Ariana Grande

Screenshot via Ariana Grande's Instagram story

Ariana Grande encouraged her followers to vote in her Instagram story, posting "thank u, vote" (a play on the title of her new banger "thank u, next") and a picture of her grandmother with an "I Voted" sticker. But she stayed mum on whether she voted herself, instead posting a video of her manager Scooter Braun saying, "I voted today, so did Ariana." I'm gonna need to see your sticker in order to verify that claim, Ariana, but playing it coy is certainly cool.

2. Diddy

Diddy brought back his iconic early 2000s "Vote or Die" campaign—even though he called the democratic process "a scam" in 2015. "We started Vote or Die, and the whole process was all full of shit," he said three years ago. “At the end of the day I’m not telling you not to vote, but I’m saying be a realist and know that they motherfucking kicking some bullshit up there.” While the caption on Diddy's photo today suggests he's had a change of heart, the other possibility is that we should die instead.

Death is pretty cool, in my opinion.