Its the Social Media generation and really the Internet era as a whole. Used to be if you wanted info about celebrities you had to go out of your way to get it from magazines and the like. There was a whole level of separation from us and them. Now with widespread internet usage nearing nearly 30 years and Social Media going on 20 years, theres a ton of people who have never not had a celebrity literally a click away and far more have had actual contact albeit it online with a celebrity, then what it used to take to talk to someone famous. They grow up feeling closer than ever before and so feelings of friendship or just feeling like you know someone on a more personal level naturally develops. Hell Smart Phones being in their 2nd decade makes it that much worse, because youre even closer faster than ever before and likely connected 24/7