Celebrities are wary of endorsing Trump or Biden – too many were caught out four years ago

By the end of the 2016 campaign, we were jaded from hearing celebrities lecture us. This time, most are using their platforms simply to urge citizens to vote, writes Roisin O'Connor

Brad Pitt is one celebrity who has backed a candidate – Joe Biden (Getty)

As the US election looms, The Independent’s Culture section has been busy tracking what leading figures from the arts are saying about each candidate.  

Celebrity endorsements of presidential candidates are nothing new, of course, but this year the mood feels more serious than in 2016, when Donald Trump was running against Hillary Clinton. Trump’s win blindsided many who had backed Clinton, including Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Katy Perry.

Watching this year’s celebrity endorsement videos and reading what they have to say, it appears that stars of film, music, television and comedy have realised that some voters felt hectored in 2016. While a number of celebrities have endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the overarching message is more often simply a call for US citizens to use their vote, rather than an instruction of where to put their cross.