Cannes, France — With multiple awards under his belt — Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Emmy, among others — John Legend is without a doubt one of the biggest stars of our day, with so many people looking up to him. In fact, 10.5 million people follow him on Instagram.
Legend’s Instagram feed gives us a look into the workings of his life. In a conversation with Instagram’s Matt Jacobson, the moderator of the discussion on John Legend’s Instagram presence at the Cannes Lions Festival, Legend shares, “Instagram, for me, has always been a lot of positivity, even the interactions with the fans have always been positive. We show a lot of family life – just the fun, personal things we do. I really enjoy that form of interaction with all the people that follow me.”
Legend’s posts on Instagram come from a genuine place of enjoying life. During the talk, a video of Legend doing laps was shown and he goes on to share that he only recently learned how to swim.
The celebrity also uses Instagram to share about his family life. It’s partly because of this that Legend became a part of diaper brand Pampers’ “Love the Change” campaign, where dads are encouraged to be “hands-on” in taking care of their child and 5,000 changing stations are set up in men’s restrooms across the U.S. and Canada.
Aside from sharing sweet family moments, Legend has used Instagram to shine a light on things that matter and on people that need help. One of the topics he’s been outspoken about are the immigration issues in the U.S., particularly the separation of families due to new laws enforced. So to help the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defend the rights of these families, each member of his family donated $72,000 to the organization.
To further support the cause, he joined the “Families Belong Together” rally in 2018 where he debuted his new song and where his wife gave a speech.
Jacobson then asks him, “How do we become more engaged? What can we do?”
“I think everybody should be listening and learning from each other. Open your heart to something, open your mind — you have to listen,” Legend answers. “Once you listen, and if you have any empathy with the people, pain, and suffering, even though you’re not going through it yourself, hopefully you can find a way to get involved. That’s what I’ve done, and hopefully other people can do the same thing.”
