MANILA, Philippines--Show biz celebrities are supposed to be not just talented and entertaining, but also good role models for the viewing public, especially the impressionable youth. Why so? Why can?t stars just live their lives as they please, and the public be hanged? Because extensive media exposure, which celebrities enjoy, enlarges, exaggerates and distorts everything they do, making it extremely trendy and ?deserving? of imitation.

As we all know, however, the ethical requirement for stars to always be at their best behavior due to the good example they should set is practiced more in the breach than the observance. Of late some stars have shocked the public with their less than exemplary behavior.

The big villain these days is Kanye West, who rained on Taylor Swift?s parade when he ruined her acceptance speech at otherwise glittering awards rites. West expressed his preference for Beyonce Knowles at Swift?s expense, earning the seething ire of many televiewers.

Will West?s gaffe affect his career? The jury is still out on that one, but just a few days ago, Lady Gaga announced that she was canceling her planned concert tour with Kanye.
Gaga over West?
She didn?t come right out and say it, but some show biz observers suspect that Lady Gaga is no longer going gaga over West, because he shafted a sister, even if it was in favor of another sister. If more female stars think Kanye West is the pits, his career could go?East?

The other big celebrity ogre this season is David Letterman. Most of the time, the veteran talk show host delights viewers with his sassily acerbic jokes. Not this month. Letterman shocked his viewers when he revealed that he had become the victim of an extortion attempt?to the hefty tune of $2 million. Wait, there?s more:

It appears that the extortion artist, a producer, threatened to expose the TV host?s affairs with some of his female employees if Letterman didn?t pay him a lot of hush money. Alarmed, the TV host went to the cops for help, they set up a sting operation and the extortionist was caught. Trouble is, Letterman now had to own up to his acts of infidelity at the workplace, thus placing his marriage?and his popularity?in jeopardy.

Some people think that Letterman?s affairs were merely par for the celebrity course, but others feel that Randy Dave had crossed the line, because he took advantage of his ?power? over his female co-workers.

But, is this ethical gaffe bad enough to turn off some fans, or even threaten the continuation of his decades-long talk show? That would be such a pity, especially at this time when his show?s ratings are up, thanks to the poor showing of his new competition, Conan O?Brien.
Other celebrities who?ve been behaving really badly of late include Roman Polanski, who?s finally caught for a crime he committed decades ago, and Jon Gosselin, the erstwhile star of ?Jon and Kate Plus Eight,? who?s been rapped for fooling around and breaking up his huge family. Perhaps he and David Letterman should get together and ruefully compare notes?