Stick With What You Know

I'm not typically a fan of celebrities straddling industries- crossing over from singing to dancing, acting to writing, reality starring to designing- for a few reasons. The move tends to stem purely from a craving for more money, even though the guilty parties often already have an obscene amount; more often than not, the celeb is not all that skilled in the area they're breaking into; and they're potentially using their name to crowd out individuals who've devoted their lives to getting good at what they do and are suddenly trampled on by big-money stars who've suddenly decided they want to "get into" something else.

I was reminded of my disdain for this practice over the past few days when singer Wyclef Jean decided he was running in the next Haitian presidential election and it was announced that former-NHLer Georges Laraque is the new Deputy Leader of the federal Green Party. Are you kidding me? While both guys may be capable of holding these positions and certainly have the pocket for them, they haven't yet proven themselves. To begin their political careers in such lofty positions seems absurd. While their celebrity will draw attention, so will their mistakes, ones that seem inevitable given their total lack of experience.