Have you noticed how often headlines that accompany paparazzi photos of famous people focus on the fact that they are smoking?
Typical of the genre is 'Simon Cowell, 61, smokes a cigarette on a jet ski as he hits the beach with Lauren Silverman, 43, in Barbados' (Mail Online).
You could argue that it takes a special talent to smoke a cigarette whilst riding a jet ski but if I had a pound for every headline about a celebrity smoking I’d be rich.
Here's the latest example, published by The Sun yesterday:
'Queen bassist John Deacon, 69, puffs on a cigarette while out on a stroll in London'
Deacon is a famously reclusive former rock star who retired almost 30 years ago and is allegedly worth over £110 million.
Leaving aside the obvious invasion of his privacy (why can’t they just leave him alone?), it strikes me there are other headlines The Sun could have chosen.
Instead they highlighted the fact that he was smoking.
To be fair, neither the headline nor the story were in any way judgemental – it was simply a statement of fact – but the subs obviously thought it worth mentioning.
There are two ways of looking at this.
On one hand some in the media may be driven by a subconscious (or occasionally conscious) desire to shame 'celebrity' smokers for their habit.
One the other, what strikes me whenever I see these 'stories' is just how normal smoking still is. I'm only surprised tobacco control hasn't outlawed such reports.
After all, if there's one thing that confirms the normality of smoking – even in 2021 – it's the sight of an elderly but wealthy man puffing on a cigarette on the streets of suburbia.
It could be worse:
Holy smokes! Tiffany Trump is seen holding a VERY suspicious looking cigarette and a neon lighter on Miami balcony (Mail Online)