The debate around the rise of social media influencers as film stars has been raging for years, and now Robert Downey Jr. has joined the conversation with a sharp take. The Hollywood star recently threw shade at influencer culture, calling it “absolute horses**t” to crown influencers as the “stars of the future.”
Robert Downey Jr. on rise of social media influencers
Recently, Robert Downey Jr. appeared on the Conversations for our Daughters podcast, where he took a subtle dig at social media influencers.
The Iron Man star mentioned that “nowadays people can create celebrity without ever doing much besides rolling a phone on themselves”, adding that he doesn’t look at that as a negative thing but more as a challenge for “individuation 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’… 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 horses**t’,” the Oscar winner continued.
The actor himself enjoys a massive social media presence, with his Instagram account boasting 58.1 million followers: a fanbase largely built during his iconic run as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He also shared that over the years, while promoting films, he has interacted with several influencers and found many of them to be grounded, accomplished, and genuinely cool people.
Despite commanding a huge social media following of his own, Downey Jr. admitted that he avoids going “too deep down the rabbit hole” online, saying he does not want “to be consumed.”
He said, “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’d be manufacturing that aspect for them, so it’s B.S. But I remember Jon Favreau, when we brought the teaser for Iron Man to Comic Con, he was tweeting on stage, and I saw the audience… This is the new hue where the audience is going to feel like they’re on the steering committee of this thing. Ok, so that’s the new landscape.”
What’s next for Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. will soon be back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Avengers: Doomsday. This time, he will be seen in the role of the legendary villain Victor Von Doom instead of the fan-favourite Iron Man. Joe and Anthony Russo are directing the film.
Downey Jr.’s villain role in Avengers: Doomsday as Doctor Doom was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024. While the Infinity Saga revolved around Thanos (essayed by Josh Brolin) as the main villain, Doomsday is expected to revolve around Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom as the new universe-threatening villain. Avengers: Doomsday will be released on December 18, the same day as the third instalment of Warner Bros’ sci-fi series Dune.