7 - Exploiting a News Story

 The Media's Exploitation of Amanda Bynes

Photo from The Hollywood Reporter. 

Amanda Bynes rose to fame as one of the most popular child stars in the early 2000s. With roles on some of Nickelodeon's biggest shows, including All That and The Amanda Show, as well as movie roles such as She's the Man and Hairspray, Bynes was loved for her sense of humor and charisma. However, in the early 2010s, Amanda's career had started to stall and her personal struggles began being capitalized on by the media. Amanda Bynes' story highlights the disappointing nature of how the media exploits celebrities' mental health issues for profit and entertainment. 

A skit from The Amanda Show. 

Beginning in the early 2010s, Bynes' erratic behavior began flooding the tabloids, reminiscent of Britney Spears in the late 2000s. Incidents such as her arrest for a DUI, reports of substance abuse, and concerning tweets were sensationalized by celebrity media outlets such as TMZ, Perez Hilton, and the Daily Mail. Photos of her going through a mental health crisis were plastered across the web and magazines, turning her issues into a spectacle. Rather than handling the sensitive case with care, many stories were framed as punchlines, stripping away her integrity in favor of clickbait. Some of the insensitive stories that were written about Bynes during this time period are linked below:

• Happy 27th Birthday, Amanda Bynes! Actress Displays "Bizarre" Behavior, Acts Like "Bag Lady" in NYC (E! News)
• Amanda Bynes Stripped Off Pants to Chase Gas-Soaked Dog During Fire (The Oregonian)
• Amanda Bynes Has a New Look... And It's Scary (Forward)
• Amanda Bynes' Fall from Grace in 5 Clicks (People)

A video of paparazzi harassing Bynes from Splash News. 

The coverage of Amanda Bynes' mental health crises reflect a deeper ethical issue in celebrity entertainment journalism. The media has long struggled with crossing the line between public interest and exploitation and, in Bynes' case, it is clear that the latter took place. Instead of news outlets having serious discussions about her declining mental health, they instead mocked her and dismissed her as "crazy." Many female celebrities face similar struggles with being misrepresented in the media, such as Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus.  

Eventually, Bynes was placed under a conservatorship in 2013, where she stayed under the control of her parents until 2022. Even while she was under the conservatorship and out of the public eye, the media still scrutinized her every chance that they could. With the #FreeBritney movement, though, many people are starting to better understand conservatorships and feel more sympathy for celebrities' mental health issues (NPR). 

A video that goes a bit more in depth on Bynes' conservatorship. 

Recently, Amanda Bynes has been brought back into the light because of a documentary called Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that was released in 2024. In this documentary, many of Bynes' costars, such as Drake Bell, Leon Frierson, and Bryan Hearne, spoke out against the sexual and emotional abuse that they faced on Nickelodeon sets. Hordes of viewers flocked to social media to speculate on what happened to Bynes during these years, with some even asking her in her TikTok comments. I believe that it is insensitive, especially considering her mental health issues, to bring these moments that were possibly traumatic to her back into her life. 

A trailer of the documentary. 

The media's treatment of Amanda Bynes represents a failure to prioritize compassion with mental health over profit. Celebrities should not have their personal struggles plastered across the headlines all in the name of entertainment, especially when the severity of their issues are unknown. Amanda's experience should serve as a reminder that the line between news and exploitation needs to be drawn more clearly.