California gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner costs $2,500; actor Chuck Norris, $450. Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin goes for $199.
But one of the biggest bargains is former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, now a Fox News contributor and author of the new book “They Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste.”
He’s $45. You can barely feed a family at Five Guys for that.
Meet the conservatives of Cameo, the company that allows fans to connect with their favorite celebrity, commentator or athlete, for a fee. Started in 2017, the company says its mission is to “enable the most personalized and authentic fan connections on earth.”
On the Cameo website, fans can search for their favorite celebrities and then pay to get a personalized video of the star saying whatever they ask them to say. Some personalities also offer the option of sending a message of up to 250 words for a smaller fee, although a response is not guaranteed. Chicago Bears cornerback and former Ute Jaylon Johnson, for example, offers a video for $50 and a direct message for $7.99.
The product has been likened to a singing telegram for the digital age (and yes, Chaffetz will sing for you, or for your mom). But the founders say the platform is more important than that for the famous and their followings. Co-founder Steven Galanis has said that as people get more famous, they have fewer opportunities to interact with fans. “The bigger you get, you kind of lose that connection with people. So that’s what we’re trying to solve,” Galanis told writer Alex Hickey of Morning Brew.
Cynics might say that some of the 30,000-plus people on Cameo might be there just to make money. The service has been derided as a source of income for out-of-work, “D-list” actors whose talents are no longer needed in Hollywood. But Galanis has said that he doesn’t rank entertainers, telling writer Patrick Sauer, “One person’s D-List is somebody else’s favorite person in the world.”
And some celebrities, including singer Jon Bon Jovi ($5,000) and journalist Gretchen Carlson ($75), donate all their profits to charity.
Here’s a look at some of the conservatives who are showing up on Cameo, as well as some other names you might recognize. Mother’s Day, after all, is just a few days away.
Best wishes and smart alecks
Chaffetz, who represented Utah’s 3rd Congressional District from 2009 to 2017, is a newcomer to Cameo, having joined the service a month ago. He said he became interested after seeing fellow Fox personalities Tomi Lahren ($90) and Judge Jeanine Pirro ($249) on the site.
Most of the requests have been for birthdays, anniversaries and the occasional best wishes for someone recovering from illness. He’s had to turn down a few people who asked for product endorsements. And, “There have been a couple of smart alecks in there who tried to get me to say something stupid, and one tried to get me to say something offensive, and I just said no and rejected it.”
Cameo allows its personalities to set their own rates, of which the company takes 25%, and they can turn down requests at their discretion.
“It’s fun, and I’ve donated several hundred dollars to a charity,” said Chaffetz, who said he gets one or two requests a day.
While there is no category for former politicians, Chaffetz falls under the Cameo category of “commentators,” which also turns up Sean Spicer ($199), the former press secretary and communications director for President Donald Trump, and Corey Lewandowski ($70), a campaign adviser to Trump.
There appears to be no member of the immediate Trump family on Cameo, although there are several Trump impersonators, as well as impersonators of Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Misuse and trolls
While much of the content generated by Cameo creators is light and upbeat — such as Chaffetz singing birthday wishes and talking up the importance of family and the greatness of the U.S. — some use of the service seems to cross ethical lines.
The Orange County Register reported last year that Lahren and Lewandowski had recorded Cameo videos for California GOP congressional candidate Greg Raths that were shared on social media and were interpreted by some people as official statements of support. (Lahren later said through a Fox spokesperson that she had not authorized the use of the video that way, the newspaper reported.) Raths, who lost in November to Democratic incumbent Rep. Katie Porter, ultimately took the videos down after the newspaper’s reporting.
Some people have bought Cameo videos in order to troll the personality. One person who purchased a video from Lahren later posted a five-star review in which they also included a sentence insulting Trump. (Lahren is a Trump supporter.) And last year, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie filmed a Cameo video in which he encouraged a person called Greg to return home to New Jersey.
Greg, as it turned out, was Greg Gianforte, a Republican running to be governor of Montana, The New York Times reported. The campaign of his opponent had requested the video, which they posted on Twitter. Christie, whose going rate on Cameo is $200, is currently listed as “temporarily unavailable” on the site.
Peter Loge, director of The Project on Ethics in Political Communication at The George Washington University, said that purchasing Cameo videos in order to use them in a campaign is “sad, but not necessarily unethical.”
“If I were a campaign manager and someone came to me and said ‘Let’s get Larry Wilcox of CHiPs fame to endorse us for $50,’ I would suggest the staffer consider finding a different line of work,” Loge said. To knowingly sell an endorsement is ‘politically daft,’” he added.
While there may be some swamp-like elements to Cameo, for the most part, it’s been received as a unique way to connect with a celebrity you admire, or to get a unique greeting for a family member or friend.
Know someone who loved the “Twilight” movie, the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” or the TV show “Little House on the Prairie”? Ashley Greene who played “Alice” in Twilight is $65; Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in “Superstar” is $139; and Melissa Gilbert, Laura Ingalls of “Little House,” is $150.
There’s a full array of athletes, including former and current members of the Utah Jazz.
And Cameo does not discriminate against species. One of the most popular offerings in the “animals” category is Esther the Wonder Pig, the star of multiple books. She’s just $45, too. But for the money, Chaffetz sings better.