The Huffington Post Thinks Eckhart Tolle Is a Celebrity

This week on the Huffington Post, Natalie Pace wrote a recap of an event held by The Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE), an organization founded by John Raatz. The group aims to bring spirituality into entertainment and the media. But here’s my favorite line:

Only here, where the ambitious GATE founder — John Raatz — and two of his celebrity friends, Eckhart Tolle and Jim Carrey, decided to “plant a new seed to yield a new crop.”

Jim Carrey, while his stock has gone down quite a bit in recent years, is definitely a celebrity. But Eckhart Tolle? I don’t know. Tolle’s books, such as The Power of Now and  A New Earth, are bestsellers. Tolle has been a guest on Oprah. But when does someone go from being a public figure to being a celebrity? I’d say that it’s when someone is recognizable on the street. Take Anna Wintour for example: she became a public figure because of her high-profile job, but The Devil Wears Prada and The September Issue made her an official celebrity. Once paparazzos follow you around and take photos of you, you’re a celebrity. And unless I’m mistaken, paps don’t try to take pictures of Eckhart Tolle.