Do celebrities get special treatment?

Celebrities are people too, so where's the punishment?

Most celebrities get special treatment; a select few don't. Where is the line drawn separating the two?

There have been quite a few stories in the news lately about celebrities getting into trouble for a number of different reasons -- smoking marijuana, abusing a girlfriend, and taking steroids are a few examples.

So why don't they get in more trouble, or better yet, why do some get in more trouble than others?

Chris Brown recently beat up his girlfriend, Rihanna, bad enough for him to get arrested and taken to jail. In the same night, he was also able to pay his own bail and go home.

Michael Phelps was caught smoking marijuana out of a bong and was put on three months suspension; he also lost his Kellogg's sponsorship.

The only difference between these two men is that one is an Olympic athlete and the other is a famous singer. So why did one get in more trouble than the other?

Do famous celebrities get treated "better" when they run into trouble, simply because they act or sing? Are athletes more "important" because they are participating in something representing the United States? Does that mean they should be punished when they do something wrong or illegal? What really divides the line between these two different groups of people?

Maybe in the eyes of America, celebrities are the type of people we expect to mess up and get let off the hook for things like drugs or drunk driving, whereas famous athletes or Olympians are seen more as role models and respected people in our culture; that could be what inevitably draws the line.

Overall, I feel that people like Michael Phelps and A-Rod are a little better known within families, and the type of people who are seen as role models for young children.

In the other case, people like Chris Brown and Rihanna are just a classic example of a stupid thing celebrities are expected to do. This could be the main reason why they are treated a little more harshly than famous actors or singers.

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