There seems to be a lot of people who are famous for no reason, other than some have well know parent(s) or partner-but they are not identified as so-and-so's partner/son/daughter. They became quasi-celebrities on their own for no apparent reason. I'll start the list, but feel free to add to the "Why are they famous" list.
The Kardashians-all of them
Paris Hilton
Nicole Ritchie
Chaz Bono
Anna Nicole Smith
Anyone from "Jersey Shore". Never seen the show. Don't plan on seeing it.
Bristol Palin
(09-29-2011 08:43 PM)NKBurlington Wrote: [ -> ]Bristol Palin
And don't forget the loser boyfriend-Levi Johnston-who tried to get famous doing the TV talk show circuit and any other media who would give him his five minutes of fame.
More that I thought of are:
Jack and Kelly Osborne
Anyone in the Royal family, depending on how you feel about the British monarchy
The super-rich wives on the reality shows: The Real Housewives of Orange County/New York/New Jersey
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. Good lord.
Any and all "reality" TV stars- housewives, surviors, Jerseyians, bachelors/bachelorettes, etc
Parasite Hilton and her former bff Nicole Bitchie
The KarTRASHians
(09-29-2011 10:01 PM)Jo Wrote: [ -> ]Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. Good lord.
I guess I have an advantage in that I never heard of them. Have no idea who they are, and I'll keep it that way-except for Good lord. I have an idea who that is. Does he have a reality show?
The only reason i've heard about those reality "stars" is because I watch The Soup on E!. They make fun of all those numbskulls and make me wonder who the heck watches them.
(09-29-2011 10:38 PM)Dog Holliday Wrote: [ -> ] (09-29-2011 10:01 PM)Jo Wrote: [ -> ]Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. Good lord.
I guess I have an advantage in that I never heard of them. Have no idea who they are, and I'll keep it that way-except for Good lord. I have an idea who that is. Does he have a reality show?
Ditto - never heard of them. Wish I hadn't heard of the others, too...
A really popular trend that so many real Hollywood stars and the 'I'm-famous-for-no-reason' people jump into is coming up with a new line of perfume. Isn't that market pretty much saturated by now? How many more hundreds of brands of perfume are really needed in the market place?
And for stars who haven't jumped on the perfume band wagon, some are coming up with their own brand of clothing or jewelry. Like with perfume, is their really a shortage of designs in clothing or jewelry? I guess for most of the stars-both real and fake wanabees-it's easy money to allow a company to use their name on a product, just like sport stars with Nike. I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for something just because it has a star's name associated to it. I'll buy the cheap knockoff for a fraction of the price. I'm not planning on going to a star studded gala anytime soon. I'm not ashamed to wear clothes I bought in Walmart instead of a super expensive chic clothing store.
I love the "mute" button. I know nothing of any of these people. Some names I don't even recognize. It sounds like a narcissistic personality convention.
(09-30-2011 01:47 PM)Dog Holliday Wrote: [ -> ]I guess for most of the stars-both real and fake wanabees-it's easy money to allow a company to use their name on a product, just like sport stars with Nike.
Exactly. People are doing everything they can to cash in on their image while the public is still paying them attention.
Quote:I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for something just because it has a star's name associated to it. I'll buy the cheap knockoff for a fraction of the price. I'm not planning on going to a star studded gala anytime soon. I'm not ashamed to wear clothes I bought in Walmart instead of a super expensive chic clothing store.
Chances are whatever you buy in Walmart is made in the same sweatshops as the pricier celeb-branded clothes. Out of all the actress/singer/rapper/whatever clothing lines I've seen the only ones that I think would be worth my time are Victoria Beckham's (her dresses are essentially Rolan Mouret knockoffs but they're gorgeous!) and, at a much lower pricepoint, Iman's Queen Latifah's collections for HSN.
(09-30-2011 09:55 AM)catsnotkids Wrote: [ -> ] (09-29-2011 10:38 PM)Dog Holliday Wrote: [ -> ] (09-29-2011 10:01 PM)Jo Wrote: [ -> ]Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. Good lord.
I guess I have an advantage in that I never heard of them. Have no idea who they are, and I'll keep it that way-except for Good lord. I have an idea who that is. Does he have a reality show?
Ditto - never heard of them. Wish I hadn't heard of the others, too...
Yea. I don't think I've heard of these two either. Is Heidi Montag the one who's had all the plastic surgery? I may have seen her name on the cover of some magazine.
Lady Gaga
Katy Perry
I know they are famous for singing, but are their songs any good? Or is it just how they dress up and perform?
^^ The latter. On that same token Rihanna is more famous for being a DV survivor and a clotheshorse than for her actual "singing"
(10-04-2011 01:17 PM)noelle Wrote: [ -> ]Lady Gaga
Katy Perry
I know they are famous for singing, but are their songs any good? Or is it just how they dress up and perform?
I think is more a matter of personal taste as apposed to being famous for no reason at tall - such as Real Housewives, or who ever is on TV just for the sake of being on TV.
Oh. now I know why the Kardashians are famous:they know how to 'monetize' themselves:
Guy Raz speaks with Leslie Bruce, senior writer with the Hollywood Reporter, about the money behind reality star Kim Kardashian's wedding to basketball player Kris Humphries. The reportedly multimillion dollar wedding actually earned the Kardashian family money through various deals with entertainment television and magazines. But Kardashian filed for divorce Monday after 72 days of marriage.
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GUY RAZ, host: This past August, the reality star Kim Kardashian married basketball player Kris Humphries. The E! Entertainment Channel broadcast the affair in a two-part special called "Kim's Fairytale Wedding." Eight million viewers tuned in over the course of those two nights to see Kim and Kris testify about their love.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "KIM'S FAIRYTALE WEDDING")
KRIS HUMPHRIES: To me, our love is simple, and I don't want, like, all the distractions and everything crazy going around.
KIM KARDASHIAN: Kris and I are meant to be here. We're meant to be married and be husband and wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: On behalf of Kim and Kris and their respective families, I want to welcome you to the celebration of marriage.
RAZ: The couple is thought to have made almost $18 million selling rights to photos and videos of the wedding, the after-party, even their honeymoon. Well, yesterday, the fairy tale came to an abrupt end. Kim Kardashian filed for divorce. She cites irreconcilable differences. But with all the endorsement deals, Kardashian still earned an estimated $10,000 an hour for her 72-day marriage. Not bad. So could this be a model for other celebrities looking to cash in quickly? Leslie Bruce is a senior writer for the Hollywood Reporter, and she joins us now from Los Angeles. Welcome to the program.
LESLIE BRUCE: Thank you so much.
RAZ: First of all, should we have a moment of silence?
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
BRUCE: I think that would be appropriate, right?
RAZ: Can you explain how this couple earned so many millions of dollars from their wedding?
BRUCE: Well, let's break it down. If you take from the weekly access alone, People magazine reportedly paid about $1.5 million for the photos and exclusive access to the wedding. I believe it was about an 11-page feature in People magazine. They received $100,000 for the bridal shower photos that went to OK! magazine, anywhere between $30,000 and $100,000 for the exclusive honeymoon photos that went to Us Weekly. So there alone, they're making a pretty penny.
RAZ: Up to $18 million, it's thought. How is it that that brand, the Kardashian brand, is now so valuable the family made $65 million in 2010 alone?
BRUCE: I think what's really interesting about the Kardashian family is they're really the pioneers of the reality television, social media, you know, hybrid. I think that Kim Kardashian really came onto the scene right when Twitter was first - when people were first starting to figure out really what Twitter was and really how to monetize it and capitalize on it. Kim Kardashian is nothing, if not a hustler and a hard worker. She really was able to take this fan base that she had, really, you know, create this relationship with them. And people, you know, hate to love, love to hate. They're really invested in her life.
RAZ: Leslie, what do you mean when you say monetize Twitter? How do you do that?
BRUCE: Well, I mean, people can pay for spots on her Twitter page. You know, if you were - and it's also now written into her contract agreements. You know, say, she's got a deal with a Las Vegas nightclub, you know, to have her birthday party at Tao, Las Vegas, it's written into her contracts, you know, that she will tweet at Tao, Las Vegas, in order to have her followers, you know, click on their page, go to their websites, follow that Twitter feed as well. It's direct-action marketing. It goes right to your consumer.
RAZ: Leslie, let me ask you about the business model here because it seems to me like it's an easy revenue stream for celebrities. You know, you sell the rights to your wedding or the pictures of your babies. Clearly, there are outlets willing to pay, so - and we've seen it in the past with Brad and Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They sold photos of their twins. Do you think that this is now a paradigm, it is a model for what celebrities will start to do?
BRUCE: I do. I think, you know, they really created that new celebrity model for moneymaking. There have been people before, too, you know, sell rights to their baby photos, weddings, et cetera. I think that the Kardashians are the pioneers, though. I think that they really created a new mold for reality stars and really almost shown them, too, as moneymakers. You know, in a time where, you know, the economy has turned on its ear, the Kardashians are finding a way to make a lot of money.
RAZ: That's Hollywood Reporter senior writer Leslie Bruce on the business of being a Kardashian. Leslie, thanks so much.
BRUCE: Thanks so much for having me.
Copyright © 2011 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials
Anti-Kardashian Petition:
What do Change.org and Occupy Wall Street have in common with some Kardashian haters? They all are organized groups of people trying to get something done — in the Kardashian case, they want the reality clan off of television for good!
"In a grass roots effort, we have collected [thousands of] signatures for a petition asking E! Entertainment to remove the Kardashian suite of shows from their programming," petition organizer Cyndy Snider said in a statement. "We feel that these shows are mostly staged and place an emphasis on vanity, greed, promiscuity, vulgarity and over-the-top conspicuous consumption."
The petition — available at GoPetition.com — is just one of the organized efforts to get the Kardashian/Jenner clan off television screens, clothes, and perfume and nail polish bottles everywhere. Websites and Facebook pages are also calling for their ouster.
"While some may have begun watching the spectacle as mindless entertainment or as a sort of 'reality satire,' it is a sad truth that many young people are looking up to this family and are modeling their appearance and behavior after them," Snider continued. "I'll remind you here that the Kardashian family fame largely started with a 'leaked' sex tape."
There's even a petition to get Kim Kardashian's role scrapped in the upcoming Tyler Perry film "Marriage Counselor." Comments on the Talk section of his website range from mild to pure outrage over her casting.
"I really am disappointed in your decision to keep Kim K. in your movie. She is a disgrace to herself and her family. She is a role model and she has disappointed her fans. Let her go. I guarantee she will bring your ratings down. Dump her," Marcell Troupe wrote.
Another fan gave a foolproof way to get in his movie.
"ATTENTION PEOPLE!!! Stop asking for handouts or to be in his next movie!! Don't you know Just make a SEX TAPE and he will cast you in his next movie no matter what his fans think!!!!!!! Kim K did so can you!
" Jeromy wrote.
Yowza. Kardashian is reportedly working with renowned acting coach Susan Batson to improve her skills for her role as a woman actually working on her failing marriage — something she knows nothing about.
"Kim had been confident about the movie, but with recent events she has been worried that the stress of her real life would show through," an insider told Life & Style magazine. "So that's what Susan was there for."
Will it work? We'll see. In the mean time, the petition will still circulate.
"There is no particular religious or political platform behind our disgust; we are just finally fed up," Snider added.
Plenty of people are with you there, Cyndy!
Why would anyone in their right minds want to watch the Kardashians in the first place?
Beats the shit out of me.