Science for celebrities

In January 2007, exasperated by the tide of influential and misleading claims made by celebrities in the public sphere, we worked with scientists to produce Making Sense of Science for Celebrities.

Each year since, Sense About Science has reviewed the odd science claims people in the public eye have made - about diets, cancer, magnets, radiation and more - sent in to us by scientists and members of the public. Many of these claims promote theories, therapies and campaigns that make no scientific sense. We ask scientists to respond, to help the celebrities realise where they are going wrong and to help the public to make sense of celebrity claims.

“Celebrities and Science 2011 is the sixth review. We’re seeing changes – people are contacting us, medical charities are briefing their celebrities more and working with us to follow up dangerous advice, and we now have over 5000 scientists and hundreds of organisations signed up to offer help. So there really is no excuse for celebrities promulgating misleading claims. While it gives us a good reason to talk about sound science on subjects like oceans and diets, sadly our publications don’t go nearly so far so fast as a comment by an A-list actress.” 

Tracey Brown, Managing Director, Sense About Science

Celebrities and Science