azurelorochi said:
I agree if it's meant for the professionalism, for the sake of maintaining immersion in portraying a character, and it would obviously be extremely unprofessional if they themselves come out "Oh I used to be XYZ from this agency! Sub to me now!".
That said, there is a time and place, and fans ARE NOT the talents, bound by any professionalism nor contracts. All of these talents KNOW most of their fans know who they used to be, but they also refer to their past lives in metaphors to maintain that immersion. Yes you're still supposed to be courteous and not bring it up right in their face, since that's part of helping them maintain the professional immersion of playing a character, and it's rude to compare if you like their previous persona more or less than their current one, but not being allowed to acknowledge it even in private spaces among fans is ridiculous, especially if you're using such flimsy excuse as "violation of privacy".
Professionalism has nothing to do with this, it is a matter of basic empathy and decency. ALL people, regardless of status or fame, have a right to privacy. And all who want their privacy to be respected are obliged to extend that same respect to others. Privacy for me AND for thee. If, like the majority of humanity, you find the idea of complete strangers digging into your past for no good reason and tracking your movements disturbing, you are obliged to avoid doing that. Now, if you're touched enough in the head to see nothing wrong with being the protagonist of a Truman Show, then I suppose there's nothing that can stop you from treating others likewise. Just don't try to feign offence when the 90% of humanity that thinks otherwise calls you a creep for it.