Robert Downey Jr criticizes influencer culture in blunt statement

Robert Downey Jr took aim at social media influencers, rejecting the idea that content creators can become “stars of the future."

During an appearance on the latest episode of the Conversations for our Daughters podcast, the  Avengers star criticized influencer culture.

“In the late ’70s, early ’80s, dangerous though it was, there was this sense that the competition wasn’t so stiff that you shouldn’t even bother trying,” Robert said. “Whereas nowadays, people can create celebrity without ever doing much besides rolling a phone on themselves.”

The 61-year-old actor further 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," continued Robert.

“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," added the Oscar winner actor, who has 58.1 million followers on Instagram.