Robert Downey Jr. isn’t buying into the age of influencers.
The Oscar-winning actor, 61, said that the idea of influencers having the same fame and star power as traditional creative celebrities is “absolute horses--t.”
“Nowadays, people can create celebrity without ever doing much besides rolling a phone on themselves,” the Iron Man star said in an appearance on the Conversations for Our Daughters podcast. “And I don’t look at that as a negative thing. I just look at it as more like the challenge for individuation is being upped,” he told host Bran Ferren.
“When I hear people talk about, ‘Oh, the stars of the future are going to be influencers,’ I go, ‘I don’t know what world you’re living into, but I think that that is absolute horses--t,’” Downey Jr. said, doubling down.
Downey Jr. said he hopes that young people and future generations place emphasis on learning and creating rather than seeking attention online.
“Hopefully, the grosser part of the youth of—let’s just call it America for locality’s sake—you know, is gonna say, ‘Yeah, but that’s not my thing. I want to go do something, I’m going to make something, I want to build something, I want to educate myself, and I want to have more inputs, so whatever my output is, it isn’t just a self-aggrandizing kind of influencer-type thing.’”
The Oppenheimer actor posited that “influencers today are almost like the evangelical hucksters of the information age.”
“My now 13-year-old son, he kind of got caught up in this whole influencer thing,” Downey Jr. continued, “And next thing you know it’s like, ‘Hey, if you like the way I’m playing this video game, do you want to send me a donation?’ And really it becomes a religion.”
He stipulated that he’s gotten to know some influencers while promoting new films, and that many of them are “grounded, interesting, accomplished, cool people.”
Having a vast following on social media himself, Downey Jr. shared what he thinks holding digital influence means. The actor has 58.1 million followers on Instagram and over 16 million on X.
“I know like people say, ‘Robert they just love it when you’re just kind of like seeming off-the-cuff and they’re getting a glimpse into your life,’ and I go, ‘But yeah, but I be manufacturing that aspect for them,’” he said. “So it’s BS.”
