| Summary: | Celebrity humanitarianism has become a notable field of research within Communication for Development. Largely built around case studies of individual celebrities engaging in the development and humanitarian fields, mostly postcolonial and neoliberal critique has been put forth regarding the effects of such engagements. These critiques at times go to the extent of suggesting that celebrity humanitarians might be doing more harm than good by for example shifting the focus away from underlying structures. As the field of study often provides more critique than constructive suggestions, this study is built as a deductive case study aiming to test the extent to which current prominent theoretical frameworks are able to understand celebrity humanitarianism when a celebrity humanitarian is studied as a more comprehensive construct. The focus of the case study is the Barbadian singer Rihanna and her cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty. The dominant theories are challenged with including a business aspect of the celebrity’s ‘ecosystem’ and by examining such aspect through a Corporate Social Responsibility lens.
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