Today’s celebrities feel justified, even obligated, to pass along their every stray thought without considering the impact on the wider world. Because they live largely in bubbles of adoring fans, they are often convinced they can do no wrong. It’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect on steroids.

And needless to say, these celebrities seldom take well to criticism.

This is a real problem and it’s obviously not limited to the issue of vaccine hesitancy. Social media is a breeding ground for conspiracy theories and misinformation that are too often amplified by people who ought to know better. Social media gives modern celebrities unprecedented direct connections with people who already like and trust them. Out of the top 150 Twitter accounts, 109 of them belong to entertainment and sports figures. It’s one thing when your Uncle Jim starts babbling about vaccine conspiracy theories and the “agenda of the CDC.” It’s another thing entirely if your Uncle Jim is Jim Carrey and has 14 million twitter followers.

Some people seem to believe that Joy Reid was wrong for publicly castigating Minaj and that it should have been viewed as a teachable moment. But Nikki Minaj should not need to be “taught.” She’s a world figure with more Twitter followers than Fox News—or Pope Francis—not an errant 14-year-old. The suggestion that someone in her position should be granted a pass for spreading misinformation about something as basic and important as COVID vaccines is both patronizing and dangerous.