Clare Sidoti
Staff Writer
Do you want to know how some of your favourite celebs really feel about bullying? Then look no further than The New F Word Campaign for Friend Movement.
Being launched today (4 June), stars such as singer and actress LeAnn Rimes, Glee’s Darren Criss, Adam Lambert and actress Rumer Willis (Sorority Row) are all joining forces with Friend Movement, “Giving Bullying the Bird”. The campaign features the celebs in front of a red background, all proudly showing off their [blurred] middle finger in an FU to bullying.
The organisation was created by a filmmaker and an activist out of California in order to “help show positive anti-bully images through art and media.” Aiming to inspire and to provoke conversation, they use “images of people of all ages, race, gender, sexuality and spirituality.”
On the eve of the new campaign’s launch, Vice President of Brand Development for Friend Movement, Marco Gonzalez, spoke to E! News about Rimes’ involvement in the campaign:
“LeAnn’s a great friend of mine and I’ve seen over the years how she’s been bullied in the press, so I asked her right away to be a part of Friend Movement’s anti-bullying campaign.”
The message behind the campaign is obviously close to Rimes heart as though she was ill during the shoot, she soldiered on including having to have photographer Ryan Forbes tape her fingers down so she could keep the middle one up. Speaking of the shoot, Gonzalez admitted that they “had a good laugh about it” and that even with her so ill, “her photo is definitely one of the most powerful images!” The viewer feels that her strength and determination coming through the image and he hopes that the photo and the message “will resonate with many around the world who have been bullied.”
Campaign co-creator Elliot London also spoke to E! News describing the thinking behind the images: “The New F Word campaign is about creating an inner monologue with yourself. When you’re bullied, we want you to think to yourself, ‘F U, I’m fabulous the way I am.’ We know it’s a provocative campaign, but it’s all about self-empowerment.”
Friend Movement also has a number of other projects in association with the campaign. A benefit concert is being held at the El Rey Theatre in LA on 1 July at which Rimes is headlining along with The Voice’s Dia Frampton, Broadway star and Grammy nominee from The Voice Frenchie Davis, The Glee Project’s Abraham Lim and Austin Brown. Ticket information can be found here. They are also producing a documentary film.
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