Rizzle Kicks stars Jordan Stephens has said people have a responsibility to not engage in cancel culture.
The musician said there needs to be more understanding that being wealthy and having a large social media following does not equate to happiness and more willingness to forgive and be understanding of each other.
Speaking to Laura Whitmore on her Castaway podcast, he said: “The evolution of celebrity and fame is an intriguing one.
“I want people who are put into that environment to prosper, the Love Island contestants who really come into who they are and they have something to say, I think that’s great you know, but there is a responsibility we have as a nation to not interact with the condemnation and the tearing down of people.
“The emotional world is not related to the material world, you can have a million pounds and two million followers and be utterly miserable, I think that is something that we can only grow from understanding.”
Stephens has been open about his own struggles with anxiety and his dependence on drinking and drugs, and said he thinks it is important to be honest.
He said: “It is the biggest gift and curse, I literally can not stop myself from saying what I think and feel.
“I’m definitely becoming more conscientious of my responsibility to others as I grow older, that some stories aren’t there for me to tell.
“But in terms of my own, I honestly can’t emphasise this enough, I believe when a person is honest, with me as well, it’s like medicine.
“You can tell the difference between someone being honest and someone being guarded, you just can.
“Even if you intellectually believe what they’re saying, I feel intuitively you know when someone’s not being open. And I connect on that level, I love it.”
He said he had already planned to self-isolate for two weeks even before lockdown was imposed and said he was intending to use the time for himself.
He said: “I’m really getting into it. I have occasional moments of feeling suffocated, but hilariously, I actually put the first two weeks of lockdown aside in my diary for two months prior, to isolate!
“I swear, my manager and some close friends are witnesses, I’ve been saying it for a while ‘I’m going to go away for two weeks from March 13th because I really just wanted to get some time for myself’ and then a global pandemic happened, so I hope it’s not my fault!”