Social media has done an excellent job of bridging the gap between celebrities and their fans, be it through Facebook or Twitter. And when celebrities respond to their fans messages, the elation that a fan feels can be overwhelming.
But what happens when a celebrity tweets to a loving fan a promise they never deliver?
Forty-nine days ago, after watching a tribute video about a young fan who had killed himself, Lady Gaga tweeted she would get in touch with the mother, saying “were [sic] here for you.”
News organizations jumped on the story with headlines such as, “Lady Gaga Reaches Out to Mother of Late Teenage Fan”, “Lady Gaga Reaches out to Mother…”, and “Lady Gaga reaches out to James Bassett’s family.”
But she never did.
The original tribute video features photos of 16-year-old James Bassett, who hung himself on December 14, 2010. In it a friend of James, who goes by @Lil_MonstaJudas on Twitter, pleads with the Internet masses to help her get Lady Gaga to see the video.
@Lil_MonstaJudas, and James Bassett’s mom, want to get a scrap book James made while he was alive into the hands of the pop singer.
She and the family thought they succeeded when they saw Lady Gaga’s tweet. But then nothing happened.
Days turned to weeks but no e-mail came from Lady Gaga; not for Julie Bassett (the mother of James), nor any Bassett family members, including the creator of the original tribute video.
Julie Bassett dutifully continues to tweet at Lady Gaga almost every day, and more James Bassett tribute videos have been uploaded onto YouTube — with one even featuring a dancing teddy bear waving a rainbow flag.
The Daily Dot will continue to track efforts to unite Lady Gaga with Julie Bassett. Lady Gaga’s PR team has yet to respond to our numerous emails and phone calls.