Robert Downey Jr. has strongly dismissed the idea that social media influencers are the “stars of the future,” bluntly rejecting the claim in a candid remark.
While conversing on Conversations for our Daughters podcast, the Iron Man star criticized the idea of social media influencers being the stars calling it “absolute horseshit” and noting that online fame can be built without traditional effort or performance.
Robert said, “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.”
“Hopefully the [larger] part of the youth of – let’s just call it America for locality’s sake – 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 Oscar winner continued.
He added, “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 in, but I think that that is absolute horseshit.”
The Sherlock Holmes star reflected on influencer culture, noting how some online creators can blur entertainment and monetization in ways that feel “religion-like,” while also acknowledging that many are grounded and professional.
He said he avoids getting too absorbed in social media, noting that appearing “off the cuff” would still be a manufactured image, while acknowledging how audiences now expect to feel directly involved in shaping entertainment.
Notably, Robert Downey Jr. has a strong social media following of 58.1 million on Instagram, largely driven by his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is set to return to the franchise as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, releasing December 18.
