Hell Is That Celebrity Cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine”

Oh, to be a safely quarantined millionaire singing about having no possessions. 
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Hell Is That Celebrity Cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine”

Oh, to be a safely quarantined millionaire singing about having no possessions. 

Words: Anya Jaremko-Greenwold

March 19, 2020

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12

The Los Angeles Issue

With 232 pages and an expanded 12″ by 12″ format, our biggest print issue yet celebrates the people, places, music, and art of our hometown, including cover features on David Lynch, Nipsey Hussle, Syd, and Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, plus Brian Wilson, Cuco, Ty Segall, Lord Huron, Remi Wolf, The Doors, the art of RISK, Taz, Estevan Oriol, Kii Arens, and Edward Colver, and so much more. 

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It’s happened: the most embarrassing, tone-deaf public display of the coronavirus pandemic thus far. Actress Gal Gadot (of Wonder Woman fame and beauty) enlisted the help of celebrity pals Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, James Marsden, Sarah Silverman, Kristen Wiig, Amy Adams, Jimmy Fallon, and more to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” with her remotely, then edited the clips together and posted the video to social media, where people have been rightfully ripping it to shreds.

Why are folks so irritated by this innocent gesture of musical solidarity, you might ask? Perhaps because it’s a bunch of millionaires, safely quarantined inside their mansions, imploring the rest of us to “imagine.” They hope some day we’ll “join” them? Sure, I’d love to help myself to some of the wealth you’ve hoarded. Be right over.

Gadot explains that she was inspired by some video of an Italian guy playing trumpet on his balcony for the benefit of his neighbors, all locked inside their homes. What she fails to recognize is that those people were equals—neighbors quarantined side by side in solidarity, scared and trapped and confused. These celebrities, meanwhile, are not our neighbors. They live in ivory towers and atop pedestals and amidst sparkling marble palaces. They are not running out of toilet paper.

The song choice and selection of stars feels both out-of-touch and strangely self-congratulatory during this global freakout, a time when thousands are dying, hospitals are overwhelmed, and many people are stuck inside overcrowded apartments with kids home from school, pre-existing medical conditions, and no access to any COVID-19 tests.

So instead of pandering to us poor folks who’ve been losing our jobs, unsure if we can pay next month’s rent because of this crisis, maybe the celebs should simply donate their money to those in need and keep quiet. Amy Adams, Maya Rudolph, and Sarah Silverman: I am so disappointed in you in particular.

Please find a few of my favorite reactions to the offending video below.

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