Celebrity friendships: real or fake?

The celebrity circuit is a small community. All things considered, we shouldn’t be surprised to see celebs pictured together more than once, but us mere mortals seem to believe rumours of true friendship just a little too easily. It’s kind of fun to speculate about some of the world’s biggest stars hanging out together, but the reality can’t be that simple – or can it?

Take Cara Delevigne, for example. The supermodel has been snapped with Kendall Jenner a lot of late, but how many BFFs has Cara gone through in the last two years? I mean, who remembers her Rita Ora phase? Oh, and Selena Gomez, Michelle Rodriguez, Georgia May Jagger, and, well, the list goes on.

To be honest, I’d see Cara’s ‘friendships’ as semi-fickle, fleeting social mobility rather than anything too deep and meaningful. These people are socialites. In an era where social media is king – their relationships are currency – let’s all remind ourselves of that.

That’s not to say that no two people in the public eye can be friendly, of course. Did you know that Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg went to school together? Oh, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire? Also teenage acquaintances. Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox have remained firm friends since Friends wrapped ten years ago – that’s pretty nice to hear, right?

On the other side of the coin, Nicole Richie and Kim Kardashian were friends growing up. Kim was even an assistant to Paris Hilton at one stage – and that relationship seems to have taken a nosedive as Kim’s fame skyrocketed. Katy Perry and Rihanna were bosom buddies until Perry publicly blasted RiRi for giving Chris Brown another chance. Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss seem pretty close these days – apparently, Kloss even has her own room in Taylor’s NYC apartment – but what happened to Taylor’s friendship with Lorde?

It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s for show these days, but one thing is for certain. In celeb-land, where back-stabbing is rife and air miles are frequent, I think it’s fair to say that family trumps all.

The Kardashians are a tight bunch and happy with their lot. ‘Momager’ Kris Jenner definitely knows the value of keeping things in the family! Equally, the Solange lift debacle demonstrated how Beyoncé knows to keep things locked down – it’s very much a family affair chez Carter-Knowles.

Is there such thing as a platonic fauxmance for the purpose of photo ops? I definitely think so – we could all do with being a little more cynical!

Deirdre Foley is a history grad, sceptic, wearer of red lipstick and self-confessed 'beauty maniac'. She is also the co-founder of fabulous Irish beauty blog, Viva Adonis.