Offshoring & leaking: Cristiano Ronaldo’s tax evasion, and celebrity in neoliberal times

Abstract

This article examines how the news media framed the allegations made in 2016 against Cristiano Ronaldo for evading taxes through offshores, and how audiences discussed this online, in Portugal, where he is originally from, and Spain, where he played football at the time. These countries were amidst an 'austerity culture' justifying welfare cuts, promoting entrepreneurialism as 'success', and presenting neoliberal policies as 'common sense'. Our analysis reveals Ronaldo portrayed as a member of the economic elite criticized for the high earnings of football players and celebrity tax privileges; as an ungrateful immigrant who does not contribute enough to society; and as 'one like us' manoeuvring to evade taxes. The comparative analysis shows audiences had double standards based on their feelings towards the celebrity, and they interpreted this case positively or negatively in relation to the inefficiency of the fiscal and justice systems in Southern Europe.

Sex work and gendered tax imaginaries

“…Ana Jorge, Mercè Oliva and Luis Aguiar mention tax imaginaries in relation to how the media in Portugal and Spain construct the taxes paid by high-earning celebrities, that is, as a way of ‘“giving back” the support they receive from audiences and fans …. In this imagined model , celebrity and taxes are conceptualized as “tied together”’ (2021, 188, emphasis added). Both studies highlight the role of the media in animating meanings and aspirations about paying tax and in defining the tax-paying identities of particular groups of individuals.…”

‘When you realise your dad is Cristiano Ronaldo’: celebrity sharenting and children’s digital identities

“…He is known for being a very disciplined and overly competitive football player; for engaging in conspicuous consumption but also supportive of his family, and involved in charity (Jorge, 2015). All these aspects resonate with the contexts where his celebrity is enacted and received-audiences read his narrative in different ways depending on their cultural proximity or distance (Wagg, 2010;Jorge, 2015), as well as on football identification or rivalry (Jorge et al, 2021b).…”

Our Hero and That Kind of Woman: Imaginaries of Sexuality, Masculinity and Femininity in the Discussion of the Rape Allegation against Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal

“…Informed by research about media's coverage of #MeToo (e.g., De Benedictis et al 2019) and #MeToo's potential for social change (e.g., Boyle 2019; Fileborn and Loney-Howes 2019; Mendes et al 2018;Tranchese 2023), it is a contribution to research about #MeToo which focuses on one of the high-profile international celebrities who was accused of rape in the context of the initiative. Drawing on the critical study of celebrities (e.g., Jorge et al 2021;Littler 2004Littler , 2008 and football in enacting social imaginaries of success, morality, (national) belonging and consumption (e.g., Billig 1995; Coelho 2001Coelho , 2004Whannel 2002), this study contributes to research about the role of football in shaping subjectivities about the entanglements between sexuality, entitlement, masculinity and violence.…”

“…Ronaldo's sexual conquests and wealth, being mediated as fruits of his accomplishments as a most talented football player, are part of a narrative whereby he epitomizes a story of success in the neoliberal age. Informed by research about the role of celebrities in legitimizing the values of capitalism and socio-economic inequality (e.g., Dyer 1979;Littler 2004;Cross and Littler 2010), Jorge et al (2021) argue that Ronaldo's public image as someone who, against all odds, achieved privilege thanks to his hard work and talent paradigmatically embodies Western individualism and the capitalist myth of upward social mobility through meritocracy. Indeed, in a country marked by deep socioeconomic inequalities and processes of social reproduction (Bourdieu 1979)-which were aggravated in the period of 2010-14 by the Euro-crisis and the austerity measures imposed by the 2011 Troika 10 intervention-, Ronaldo personifies the possibility of success and upward social mobility which in turn empowers him to have access to the commodities associated with powerful men: beautiful women, expensive cars, luxury villas; it also grants him the possibility of fulfilling a key role of hegemonic masculinity, namely, the exercise of protective masculinity as the provider for his large family (children, mother, siblings and other relatives) (VIP 2019b) and as a generous charity donor (RTP 2015).…”