ahh i appreciate the kind words; i'm glad to hear you enjoyed the read! 🥹

it's interesting that you mentioned reaching a point of success because i think it's the converse ;v; the nature of investment is that it compounds over time, so to me, the only way people would stop caring or feeling like they have a stake in a celebrity's personal life is if they are no longer incentivised to invest: i.e. the star has fallen to a point of lesser success in their careers. and by "lesser success", i don't mean that their brand as a star is necessarily failing or has flopped! more like they're just no longer in what people consider Their Prime™, or their share of the spotlight has become smaller than it used to be.

i know no two industries are the same, but drawing from examples in kpop, a common thread in traditional fan comments is sentiments along the lines of "[star] is already in their 30s, just leave them alone and let them date" or "they've already been so successful for 10 years, they're not rising stars anymore". the underlying perception here is that age makes someone less desirable as public property, and that rising through the ranks as a more senior act means that they now share the spotlight with younger, hungrier, and shinier new stars that people turn their attention to.

so imo it's not that a star has to completely retire or fade into complete obscurity for them to be able to live their lives more freely; it's just that they have to reach a point where people are no longer AS invested, if that makes sense?

going off on a small tanget, re: the life of a celebrity being carefully lived, and the question of "at what point does a celebrity feel like they could be so big they become untouchable" — i really recommend this read from potteresque-ire on tumblr, which i have bookmarked to this day! it explores andy lau's career, how it unfolded under the eyes of the chinese state, and how, even for a star of his stature at the very height of his career in hk, he could never actually publicly reveal he was married. (the news broke because he was spotted at his father-in-law's funeral...)

i'm not sure if you're from the yz fandom, but if you are, then this piece is double the treat because it also discusses yz through the lens of this particular legacy!! but even if you aren't, i think the piece is great to read on its own because it explores the extra layers to this issue that cn/hk/tw stars have to deal with, by virtue of the countries they live and work in.