With the arrival of the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill came a lot of backlash from politicians, citizens, and celebrities. Late Night talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel has been actively speaking about the GOP’s attempts to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act since May when he made the emotional announcement that his own son was born with a severe heart issue. As time went on, he interwove his personal experience dealing with his son’s health into a widespread effort to improve healthcare policy as a whole. Over the last week, his criticism of Senator Bill Cassidy has gone viral, and he’s received some backlash of his own from those who feel that because he is a comedian, he isn’t qualified to speak on a serious topic such as healthcare. Celebrities being criticized for getting involved in politics and societal issues is nothing new. But why shouldn’t they get involved, and why shouldn’t it be normal for them to speak out instead of controversial?

For years, actors, singers, comedians, and athletes have been criticized for speaking their opinion when it concerns politics. Due to the current political climate, many celebrities have become more outspoken than ever before about big issues facing the world and the country today. It’s a famous, popular demand that celebrities “stay in their lane”, “shut up and sing”, and steer clear of politics. But celebrities have the huge advantage of a platform that can reach millions of people, including younger kids and teenagers. Although some critics state that kids will blindly follow the opinions of their favorite celebrities, the reality is that if younger kids see their idols discuss serious issues, they’ll feel more inspired to do their own research and form their own opinions. Consequently, knowledge and awareness of politics will spread; ultimately allowing for change to ignite.

There are also those who feel celebrities shouldn’t get involved because they have no knowledge of the issues at hand, and they should leave politics to the politicians and important matters to the experts. Putting aside the blatant irony of this since the current President is a reality star turned politician, most celebrities don’t claim absolute knowledge of the complex issues they discuss; instead they reference the experts. In the case of Kimmel for instance, he stated explicitly in his speech that he’s not a healthcare expert, and in his monologue he cited information from the actual experts themselves: organizations including the American Medical Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Kaiser Permanente. Celebrities take information gathered from experts and put it onto a platform that has the ability to reach and influence more people. At the end of the day, celebrities get involved because they’re people who are affected by the decisions made in government just like all of us. No clearer is this than through looking at Kimmel. Though the public knows him as a comedian, he’s also a father with a struggling son who feels the heaviness of the health care matter just as much as anyone else.

It’s mostly conservatives and Republicans that express frustration at celebrities getting involved in politics, most likely due to the fact that Hollywood has a tendency to be more liberal. However the right’s case for celebrities staying out of politics because they have no qualifications is becoming more and more nonexistent since their party elected a man whose “ job qualification was … he fired Meat Loaf on television,” in the words of Kimmel. With tools such as Twitter that makes it immensely easy to voice one’s opinion, celebrities have become influencers in more than just entertainment, and that’s a good thing. A world where singers only release records and comedians only crack jokes isn’t helping anyone. The only way to instigate real change is through knowledge and awareness, and with their stages and microphones, celebrities have an opportunity that most of us don’t have: an opportunity to bring light to conversations that matter.