What a plot twist to an already twisted life. George Santos has found himself, finally. He never found himself as a drag queen or customer service rep, which are jobs he actually held. He certainly never found himself in politics, that didn’t last long enough. But by golly gee, he has found himself as a “whale” on Cameo. In just the short time he’s been on the platform he has upped his price from $75 for a video to $400 and he’s made more money in the past few weeks than he made as a congressman, pulling down $174,000 a year. Good. That will help him pay his lawyers. Semafor:
Santos’s move to Cameo is a true meeting of a man and a moment.
At its best, Cameo offers mid-tier celebrities a way to capitalize on attention that’s typically the property of media companies and sports teams. It’s given a decent living to influencers and athletes most people have never heard of, and Santos currently sits second on the site’s leaderboard behind the former British teen star James Buckley. The CEO, who was forced to cut the company’s costs after it came down from pandemic highs, took Santos out to lunch at the Upper East Side’s Beach Cafe.
And I hesitate to draw the grand lessons about the decline of American politics and society that opinion writers are taking from the former congressman’s lies. He’s a familiar kind of American figure, not a new one, and one who might have happily thrived in Congress with a fake biography and questionable campaign finances in a pre-internet era.
He does seem to have finally found, as The New York Times noted, a way to make an “honest buck.” As Galanis, the Cameo CEO, told me, “This platform was built for him and he was built for it.”
Now, like all stories which seem to be too good to be true, DeSantis may flop at this at well. It turns out that Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, also a Republican congressman from New York, has introduced the “No Fortune for Fame Act” and the “No Fame for Fraud” resolution. That happened last March and would effectively strip members of their pensions if they’ve been indicted for violating federal campaign laws and prohibit them from profiting from their story.
One congressional staffer also argued against supporting Santos’ new hustle.
“Controversial opinion but I feel like giving George Santos money and attention is actually unnecessary and bad,” Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. posted on X Monday.
But until they shut him down, or the novelty wears off, which is frankly what I suspect, Santos is crowing about how he’s overcome his detractors and his disgrace.
“Obviously there’s a monetary benefit — I’m not here doing it for charity — but the other aspect is to remind these assholes who think they’re holier-than-thou that they will be forgotten in history and I will live forever, period,” he said.
Fame. Santos is going to live forever. He’s going to learn how to fly. Maybe that could be his theme song.
Santos has hired an agent, Evan Silverberg of Entertainment 360, because he felt that his next stop was reality TV. Now Santos is framing it as if he’s being recruited to reality TV. Perhaps he is, perhaps he isn’t. Remember, like all pathological liars, he’s so good at the lie because he believes it. Santos says, “there’s this big disconnect that the entertainment industry is trying to cross me over to become a reality star, but they are forgetting one thing — I am the most conservative member of the New York delegation.”
Not sure how his alleged conservatism has anything to do with reality TV, but then I’m not sure about any of this. Being a “whale” on Cameo is just one more episode in a life which has been a freak show, by all reasonable standards. But one thing I will say, at least now Santos is in the right venue. He’s in entertainment. That’s where he belongs. He emphatically does not belong in politics, and as long as he stays away from that, hey, I wish him all the best. And good luck with the indictments and prison, should it come to that. Can you do Cameo from prison? I thought they didn’t allow cell phones. Maybe not.
Someone needs to sit the boy down and explain the concept of entropy and how it always increases. No, georgie, you will not live forever. In fact, any and all of your cameo pieces of crap will likely not last the decade.
Removing him from the House did not do a thing to increase his intelligence.
I hope people aren’t giving him their credit card numbers . . .
I just checked (and the site’s FAQs concerning payment is pretty bare bones when it comes to details) but it seems like any credit card information is controlled by the company, not the celebrity. Basically, it seems like you go to Cameo (either the website or the app) and it acts as an agent–you give it the money and the information you want your celeb of choice to produce and then they send that to the celeb and then deposit the celeb’s cut of the pay into their account.
Dateline Islip NY June 32, 2024 — Convicted fraudster and congenital liar George Santos was hauled away to begin his 22 month prison term for fraud. The former congressman faces additional charges and potential prison time for other alleged crimes too numerous to list in this brief snippet.
Ahhh…to live inside a verifiable delusional ‘reality’. America: what we worship…money, power, violence & fame. What we don’t…character, truth, science, and sacrifice for others. It’s a wonder our government isn’t full of grifting, lying criminals. Oh wait…it is. WE GET THE GOVERNMENT WE DESERVE.
Maybe he could have his own spin-off: “Waking up as a Kardashian”