Paul McCartney ‘doesn’t get’ why influencers are famous and swerves selfies

Influencers are on the run from Paul McCartney who says he doesn’t get why they are famous and don’t go asking him for selfies either

Influencers on the run – Paul McCartney (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Ste)

Paul McCartney is no fan of influencers on social media and he doesn’t understand why they’re so famous.

The Beatles legend has been one of the most famous faces on the planet for over 60 years, but he’s struggling to comprehend the current celebrity culture that makes its name online. McCartney said: “I think a lot of this influencer stuff – I just don’t really get it, because I’m not that generation. But you can’t help seeing it.

“My wife will be looking at Instagram and showing me something, and then one of those will come on. I think it’s funny – and I suppose it always happened – but people who don’t seem to be particularly talented are incredibly famous. Billions of hits and views.

No more selfies for Macca(Image: Getty Images)

“You’ve got to be careful about saying that, because it makes you sound very old-fashioned. Which I am.”

As a result Macca, who returns with new album The Boys Of Dungeon Lane this month, also swerves doing selfies with fans. He told Richard Osman on the Rest Is Entertainment podcast: “As time’s gone by, things have changed. Now – phones. So if I meet someone, they’re reaching for their phone, and I say: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t do pictures.’

“And that is radical these days. I told that to Oprah – I’m name-dropping now – and she said: ‘You don’t do pictures?’ I said: ‘No.’ She said: ‘Why?’ I said: ‘I don’t want to.’ It’s as simple as that.

“I have a long explanation – I say I don’t like to do it because something important to me, something related to your question about innocence and staying normal, would be lost. The minute I start thinking I’m something above myself, I won’t like me. It’s very important for me to just be me.

The Beatles arguably kick started celebrity culture in the Sixties(Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images)

“So I say to people: I don’t want to do photos. And they say: ‘Why?’ And I say: ‘I’ll tell you what…’ – and I go into this long explanation about how, down on the south coast of France in Saint-Tropez, there’s a man on the beachfront who has a monkey, and you pay to have your photo taken with the monkey. I really do not want to feel like that monkey.

“And when I take a picture with someone, I do feel like him. I’m not me anymore – I’m suddenly something else.”

Nevertheless he understands celebrity culture and the need to be famous, after all he is a Beatle.

He said: “I think the big difference is in yourself. When you’re first famous, you love it – because it’s what you were trying to achieve. So something goes well, people in the street recognise you, and you love it. There was none of this ‘oh, people are bothering me’ – that’s a modern affliction. We loved it. And you learn to deal with it.”

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