Why this site exists.

Psychologists have been discovering evidence to prove that celebrity worship in its extreme form is linked to poor mental health.

India has a bad celebrity-worship problem. People need to choose their heroes based on their real-life persona and choices, rather than worshipping their on-screen persona.

I built WhoStoodUp so today's youngsters can choose role models based on who they actually are in real life — not just the character they play on screen.

When Sonam Wangchuk went on an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi — demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over competitive exam paper leaks and student suicides — the response from India's public figures was scattered across news outlets and social media with no single, sourced record of who said what. Wangchuk ended the strike after 26 days; Pradhan resigned the following day.

This site tracks that — publicly, verifiably, with direct quotes and source links. Support and opposition are logged with equal rigour. No advocacy, no spin.

Do you worship someone for their profession other than acting? Would you worship a chef who cooks for you, or a doctor who saves you?

Apply the same standard to the people you hold up as role models.

How it works

Anyone can submit an entry — no technical knowledge needed. A maintainer reviews every submission for accuracy before it goes live. No unsourced claims, no paraphrasing ever enter the dataset.

Want to help?

Submit entries — found a public statement by a celebrity or politician? Tweet it to @WhoStoodUp, tag @whostoodup in an Instagram story, or DM us there — include the name, quote, source link, and date and we'll add it ourselves. Or if you're on GitHub, open a PR directly.

Help moderate — if you'd like to review incoming PRs (no coding required — just checking sources and accuracy), open an issue using the Maintainer Application template.