Focusing on the case of a Japanese-born celebrity athlete who resides in the United States and has attained global fame as a highly successful tennis player on the world stage, the theme of this study has both a domestic and a comparative-transnational component. Naomi Osaka was born in Chuo-ku, Osaka in 1997 as the daughter of a (Black) Haitian father and a Japanese mother (Cheng,; Lock,; Natividad,; O'Malley,). At age three, she moved with her family to the United States to live with her father's parents. Her father was inspired by the success of Serena and Venus Williams to guide his two daughters, Naomi and one-year older sister Mari, towards a successful tennis career. In 2006, the family moved to Florida so that the two sisters could have access to better training opportunities. Naomi became a professional player in 2013, and gradually rose in the world rankings. Her breakout year was 2018, when she won the U.S. Open tournament, becoming the first Japanese woman to win a grand slam. While sister Mari retired from tennis in March 2021, Naomi Osaka has continued to gain world-wide fame and recognition as one of the most successful tennis stars and one of the richest women athletes in the world today (Badenhausen,; Fendrich,; Natividad,).
Although the focus of this paper is situated within a distinctly American framework, especially concerning the racial dimensions of criminal justice, the impact of Osaka's criminal justice activism is transnational in scope. To some extent, the wide reach of celebrity activism goes hand in hand with the spread of celebrity culture as a global phenomenon, but in the case of Naomi Osaka it also relates to the tennis player's unique background as a bi-national athlete. Although Osaka has lived most of her life in the United States, in tennis she officially represents Japan, in which country she also holds sole citizenship since 2019 (Lock,). As such, the tennis sensation culturally reflects an intrinsic measure of duality and interconnectedness between American and Japanese society. It is in the United States that Osaka has been most prolific in her activism on matters of criminal justice, but her appeal, as will be shown, extends well beyond the country's borders. While celebrities in Japan and in other Asian nations have generally not been as involved in activism, the differences across cultures are remarkably reflected in the case of Osaka, because, as the biracial daughter of a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, she has attained success and fame in a global context.
Besides its transnational reach, Osaka's activism has also been peculiarly successful, not so much in bringing about effective change, as in being widely discussed and favorably received among the public at large and in the news media that shape popular opinion (Gomez,; Lawrence,; Maine,; O'Malley,). Along with an appreciation of her athletic prowess, Osaka is today widely embraced as one of the key figures in the world of celebrity (and sports) activism, even though her advocacy has started only recently. As part of the recognition of Osaka's activism and standing as a celebrity, several scholarly contributions have already been devoted to the tennis star, particularly concerning her racial identity and advocacy on racial justice, both in the form of short commentaries (Allen & Brown,; Montez de Oca,) and in-depth analyses (Calow,; Deflem,; Razack & Joseph,).
Centered on Osaka's criminal justice activism, I will adopt a constructionist framework to investigate the interplay between the (subjective) motives and objectives and the (inter-subjective) reception of her efforts. This inquiry should demonstrate the criminological value of the study of celebrity as an important element of contemporary culture. The specialty area of cultural criminology has advanced very well in recent decades as a valued field of theorizing and research (Ferrell,; Ilan,). Moreover, celebrity and fame have for some years now become topics of considerable scholarly attention (Ferris,; van Krieken,). However, the relevance of celebrity culture for the study of crime, deviance, and social control has not yet received due attention in the field of criminology. There exists a body of literature on celebrity culture and crime, but it focuses mostly on famous criminals and cops in lore and legend (Penfold-Mounce,; Steenberg,). Similarly, with respect to celebrities in the world of sports, a small but interesting specialty area of sports criminology focuses largely on crime and social control in sports (Atkinson & Young,; Groombridge,) rather than on sports as an arena for activism on matters of crime and criminal justice. This paper seeks to fill the void in the criminology of celebrity culture by examining the activism of Naomi Osaka on matters of police and criminal justice.
I will investigate Osaka's criminal justice activism from the viewpoint of the development and criminological relevance of contemporary celebrity culture during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a first section, I will explain my theoretical perspective to conceive of celebrity as a cultural phenomenon and clarify the data and methodology used in this paper to investigate the case of Osaka. Next, I provide a brief descriptive account of the development of celebrity culture during COVID-19, in which context I will subsequently present a detailed overview of Osaka's activism and its focus on police and criminal justice. Thereafter, I will separately analyze the dynamics of this activism in terms of its motives and objectives, on the one hand, and the impact and public reception thereof, on the other. The relationship between these subjective and inter-subjective dimensions is important to consider given the intrinsically mediated nature of celebrity. Theoretically this study will lead me to substantiate two related arguments. First, grounded in the case of Osaka's criminal justice activism, I will develop a model on the conditions for celebrity activism to be positively embraced. Second, with respect to the implications of celebrity activism, I will argue that the case of Osaka shows that her (and other celebrities') activism has brought about that critical dimensions of criminal justice, specifically police reform and charges of racial inequity, have themselves become subject to a process of celebritization. More broadly, these findings suggest the value of treating celebrity activism on matters of criminal justice as an exponent of a celebrity culture that is intruding in on, rather than emanating from within, ongoing debates in the wider culture of criminal justice.
Celebrity and fame can be conceptualized in terms of a relationship that is mediated in various ways between the public and the object(s) of its attention. Fame (being well-known) and celebrity (being known or celebrated for being well-known) are therefore relational terms rather than qualities of a person or persons. These conceptual clarifications are uncontested as the subject matter in the sociology of celebrity (and the interdisciplinary field of celebrity studies), but disagreements exist concerning the nature and role of celebrity (Deflem,, pp. 17-23; Rojek,; Turner,; van Krieken,). Broadly, two competing theoretical perspectives divide the scholarly study of celebrity. One, a political economy approach emphasizes the political and economic functions of celebrity culture in capitalist societies to appease the public and divert attention from market contradictions and potential political conflicts. Rooted in C. Wright Mills' famous study of the power elite, this perspective understands celebrity as being "created from above" in order to provide entertainment as a "shadow of money and power" (Mills,, pp. 71, 83). In this sense, some contemporary scholars argue that celebrity culture serves a mechanism "for mobilizing abstract desire" to serve capitalist goals (Rojek,, p. 189).
Two, a constructionist perspective, within which my work is situated, critiques political-economic theories of celebrity as reductionist and instead focuses on the study of celebrity as culture, comprised of the whole of meaningful beliefs and corresponding practices surrounding the spectacle of fame in society (Deflem,, pp. 19-22). This perspective understands celebrity as a form of cultural esteem or prestige that is constructed between the public, as the onlookers, and a society's celebrities, as the focal points of the public's attention. As such, celebrity relates intimately to the media through which it is established. In today's age, these media have greatly diversified and become ever-present in social life, especially because of the expansion of the internet and the popularity of social media. Operated on held-hand devices, a wide range of media now allow for a multitude of ways to create celebrity, whether by embracing or critiquing the stars of fame and infamy.
Among its sociologically relevant characteristics, celebrity is associated with various forms of privilege (Kurzman et al.,). Celebrities typically enjoy a measure of economic privilege (to garner monetary wealth), legal privilege (to protect their acquired status), interpersonal privilege (to engage, horizontally, with other celebrities, as well as vertically, with the public), and normative privilege (to function as role models). As part of the latter form of privilege, celebrities can rely on their elevated position in the cultural sphere to take on various advocacy causes. The activism of celebrities has an inevitably unique feature in readily relying on special access to the media through which their fame is constituted, which can be used to promote their causes with great visibility towards a large audience. The consequences of celebrity activism on the part of the public, however, cannot be predetermined on the basis of media access or any self-stated motives and objectives, but need to be examined from case to case. In this paper, I will therefore investigate the criminal justice activism of Naomi Osaka in terms of the tennis star's proclaimed motives and objectives, on the one hand, and the impact and reception thereof in the news media and among the public at large, on the other.
A clarification is in order about the methodology adopted in this paper and what this study accordingly can and cannot accomplish. Conceived as a case study, this paper cannot make strong claims to generalize from Osaka's criminal justice activism to cases of advocacy undertaken by other celebrities in sports and elsewhere. Such an inquiry would have to be made on the basis of a systematic study of the whole of celebrity activism or a sample thereof. Suffice it to say that the case of Osaka does not stand alone and that it can be situated within a broader trend towards the adoption of activism among celebrities that developed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. While not claiming Osaka's activism to be representative of the whole of celebrity culture, the adopted case study approach allows for an in-depth analysis of Osaka's activism as illustrative of a peculiarly successful case against which other cases can be measured in further research. Thus, the methodology used in this paper does not seek to test a proposition of specifically interrelated variables but, instead, will develop a well-grounded proposition on the factors that promote the reception of celebrity activism.
In no small part because of her activism, Naomi Osaka is today widely embraced and placed at the center of celebrity culture, both as an accomplished athlete as well as with respect to activist causes, especially on matters of race and criminal justice (Dator,; Lawrence,). To make sense of this success of Osaka's activism, this inquiry relies on an interpretive strategy, communicated in narrative form, which further research can examine more systematically on a large number of cases. This approach does not adopt the hypothesis-testing strategy of the quantitative method of Content Analysis as introduced by Klaus Krippendorff, but instead relies on the theory-generating qualities which a thick description, to use Clifford Geertz' term, can provide. This approach is not merely descriptive, however, as it is theoretically guided and centered on specific questions of research. Guiding this examination of the roots and trajectory of Osaka's criminal justice activism from May 2020 onwards will be the following three questions: 1) (Objective) Actions: Which kinds of activist conduct on which thematic issues has Osaka engaged in?; 2) (Subjective) Motives and Objectives: How has Osaka defined and justified these actions in her own terms and by her own understanding?; and 3) (Inter-Subjective) Response: How has Osaka's advocacy been responded to in the news media and among the public?
Given the centrality of media in the construction of celebrity, the analysis in this paper will rely on sources available on the internet, specifically news articles and social media posts. These data were retrieved through targeted searches conducted in Google News. This method not only allowed to retrieve a multitude of news sources but also relevant social media posts as the latter are typically discussed and linked into the former. When judged useful in terms of the research objectives, more targeted internet searches were conducted, specifically concerning Osaka's criminal justice activism, its actions, and reactions. This study's reliance on internet sources is all the more appropriate because of conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the limits that were placed on face-to-face gatherings because of social-distancing policies and the resulting increased reliance on virtual means of communications. During the pandemic, indeed, celebrity activism has predominantly taken place, and has been reported on, in the virtual world of the internet. The news sources relied upon in this paper, it should be noted, are primary sources of analysis because it is through these media that the fame between the public and its celebrities is constituted.
Data were analyzed to retrieve the motives and objectives of Osaka's activism in matters of criminal justice as well as the reception thereof. Importantly, the reactions to Osaka's activism are not measured instrumentally in terms of whatever changes it may have brought about in the criminal justice system, but in terms of the effects it has had on public perceptions about criminal justice. As such, the focus will be on the culture of criminal justice as referring to the whole of popular beliefs and associated practices relating to the administration of justice. In view of certain high-profile events in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020, the sentiments and actions of contemporary criminal justice culture have largely revolved around policing and police violence as well as alleged problems of racial (in)justice associated therewith. As explained in the next section, it is in the context of this broader move towards celebrity activism over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic that Naomi Osaka's criminal justice activism can be situated.
In the present era, celebrities are everywhere, and everybody is exposed to the interventions of celebrities via the privileged access they enjoy in the media. Today's celebrities have increasingly been involved in a multitude of activist causes, bringing about the development of celebrity activism as a central component within the broader sphere of celebrity culture (Atkinson & DeWitt,; Katayama,). In recent years, celebrity activism has greatly expanded quantitatively and has also qualitatively broadened in scope to become more diverse in its orientation towards a wide variety of advocacy issues (Deflem,). Whether celebrities are sincere in these efforts or not should not preclude a scholarly examination of their actions and how these are received by the public in more or less favorable ways.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, celebrity activism initially concentrated on relief efforts in the fight against the coronavirus (Billboard,). As the pandemic went on, however, celebrity involvements in activist causes diversified well beyond COVID-19 towards other social and political issues, including matters of racial justice, especially in response to certain high-profile incidents (Deflem,). Most important in this transformation was the video-taped police killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, which led to widespread protests and social unrest. Throughout June 2020, celebrities accordingly shifted their attention from virus-related concerns to discussions on policing and racial justice under the heading of the Black Lives Matter movement (Crawford,). Originally formed as an organization with a specific political intent, Black Lives Matter has since propelled a broad movement with global appeal and representation that focuses on racial justice concerns, especially regarding criminal justice and police violence.
Throughout the pandemic in 2020 and the first half of 2021, celebrity activism continued and further expanded to include an increasing number of justice causes and political issues. Concentrating on the police killing of Breonna Taylor on March 13, 2020, celebrity activism additionally focused on gender inequality, particularly after September 23, 2020 when a grand jury decided not to bring charges against the police officers involved in the shooting of the Black woman (Musumeci,). Celebrity activism eventually turned towards politics in the leadup towards the U.S. Presidential elections in November 2020. However, since the victory of Democratic candidate Joe Biden, which was widely applauded by the largely left-leaning American celebrity elite (Long,), celebrity activism has diminished considerably, as shown from a sharp decline in news reports (retrieved through Google News) about celebrity activism and celebrity reactions to the ongoing pandemic. When media attention focused on incidents of anti-Asian violence across the United States in the spring of 2021, celebrities stayed noticeably silent, some exceptions notwithstanding (Carras,). Following the conviction of Derek Chauvin, one of the police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd, on second-degree murder on April 20, 2021, celebrities took to social media to express their satisfaction with the verdict. Since then, however, celebrities have mostly returned to a 'new normal' that began with the growing availability of the COVID-19 vaccines in the summer of 2021 (Chatterjee,). Although the appearance of later variants of the coronavirus, especially Delta (in the summer and fall of 2021) and Omicron (in the fall and winter of 2021), subsequently extended the pandemic, celebrities did by and large not return to the activism they had engaged in during the first year of the pandemic. Celebrity activism has since then not completely disappeared but has again become one of the routine elements characterizing contemporary celebrity culture.
The activism Naomi Osaka engaged in over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic generally fits the turn towards the adoption of advocacy causes among celebrities at large. Remarkable about Osaka's activism is that it has already gone through various stages despite the relative short time since both the tennis star's athletic career and her celebrity status have been unfolding. In the following pages, I will provide an overview of this development, before examining its dynamics in the subsequent section. In line with the criminological focus of this paper, attention particularly goes to Osaka's activism in matters concerning policing, police violence, and other aspects of criminal justice, issues that have indeed been at the forefront of tennis star's activities and reception as an activist.
Naomi Osaka's athletic career began blossoming from 2016 onwards when she entered the ranks of the world's best women's tennis players (Cheng,; Maine,; O'Malley,). After a relatively stagnant period in 2017, Osaka steadily improved her game over the course of 2018, leading to her first grand-slam victory at the U.S. Open. In the months that followed, she continued to be successful on the court. By the summer of 2020, Osaka had won an additional grand slam (the Australian Open) among other tournaments, was for some time ranked No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association, and had become the highest-paid woman athlete of all time (Badenhausen,). Having garnered a large fan base in a sport where fans tend to have relatively high levels of income and in which women players, unlike many other sports, are closer to being as popular as their men counterparts, Osaka was particularly attractive for brand sponsorship. Most all of the $37 million earnings she had amassed in the 12-month period before May 2020 came from endorsement deals (Badenhausen,).
It was very soon after Osaka had attained financial success and her newfound status as a global tennis star that she also began to engage in activism. Osaka's earliest forms of activism included using social media concerning matters of police violence and, especially, its impact on people of color in the United States. On May 29, 2020, Osaka first posted a tweet reacting to the George Floyd killing, albeit indirectly, stating "Just because it isn't happening to you doesn't mean it isn't happening at all" (Osaka,). She thereafter continued to use social media to express her concerns, posting images on Instagram showing her in Minneapolis participating at protests related to the killing of George Floyd (Carayol,).
With respect to the motives of her advocacy, Osaka spoke to media outlets and on her social media platforms why she felt that it was important for her to engage in criminal justice activism and, more generally, why it would be appropriate for athletes to engage in advocacy. Osaka said she believed that her voice could reach and persuade many people who might otherwise not hear or care about events like George Floyd's murder and, ultimately, she hoped to bring about change (Tarrant,). She further stated that she found it telling that people who are successful in other careers, such as music, literature, and the arts, are more readily accepted, even expected, to speak out, while she and other athletes "are often met with criticism for expressing our opinions" (Osaka,).
Osaka's earliest expressions of activism generally met with a positive reception, but there was some resistance against her actions as well. When a fan commented negatively on Osaka's Instagram post, claiming "Martin Luther King would be disappointed in you people," Osaka reacted by calling out the racially insensitive tone of the comment, remarking "You people? Who is you people? Just for clarification" (Carayol,). She responded to other criticisms in a similar rebuking fashion (Tarrant,). Although her statements calling out racism in Japan, in particular, met with some resistance from the Japanese public, reactions in the country of her birth were generally nonetheless mostly favorable as well (The Japan Times,).
In the period leading up to and during the U.S. Open in the fall of 2020, Osaka more resolutely took on her newly acquired role as a criminal justice activist, extending her efforts to more media outlets and bringing them to the tennis court as well. She chose to be explicit and publicly communicate about what she was advocating and why. In an op-ed published in Esquire Magazine on July 1, 2020, Osaka explained that she decided to speak publicly after seeing the video of police killing George Floyd. "When I saw the horrific video of George Floyd's murder and torture at the hands of a cop and his three colleagues," she wrote, "my heart ached. I felt a call to action. Enough was finally enough. I flew to Minneapolis with my boyfriend days after the murder to pay our respects and have our voices heard on the streets. When I came back to Los Angeles, I signed petitions, I protested, and I donated, like many of us. But I kept asking myself what can I do to make this world a better place for my children? I decided it was time to speak up" (Osaka,). Osaka framed her actions explicitly in terms of her identity as a multi-ethnic woman, who answered the question if she is "Japanese," "American," "Haitian," "Black," or "Asian" by stating she considers herself "all of these things together at the same time" (Osaka,). In relation to criminal justice, Osaka therefore drew attention to alleged Black victimization by police and voiced support for the idea to defund the police. "By that, I don't necessarily mean to eradicate them altogether," she explained, adding instead that "Some of their funding :like payment plans to cops who have been convicted of crimes: should be re-allocated to social measures within the community: Education, housing and youth programs, which are so often neglected" (Osaka,).