George Santos is living his best life. The disgraced New York congressman, who recently made history by becoming the first member of Congress to be expelled by his colleagues without being convicted, says he has found a new and better source of income. The idea is to create personalized videos with Cameo for $500 each. “I'm going to make more money in seven days than I make in a year in Congress,” Santos recently told CBS New York.
Santos' boast is drawing new attention to Cameo, a website and app that allows users to request personalized videos from celebrities. The roster of past and present stars includes professional athletes like Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre and actors like Chuck Norris. And ice T, reality show star real housewives and Survivor, Social media influencers, comedians, and even Santa Claus. The site, which exploded during the coronavirus pandemic, has struggled to stay in the zeitgeist in recent years, but Santos may have given it a much-needed lifeline.
Steven Galanis, co-founder and CEO of Cameo, said: luck. “His first cameo was with Bon Jovi and Sarah Jessica Parker.”
Santos, 35, was indicted on December 1 following the federal indictment and an unfavorable report from the House Ethics Committee that found “substantial evidence” that he was willfully and repeatedly violating the law. He was expelled from the Capitol on the same day. Mr. Santos, who is known for his avoidance of noise, had obtained his Cameo account by December 4th.
Since joining the platform, Santos has increased his fees from $75 to $500 per video, typically between 30 seconds and a minute in length, and has already earned more than $174,000 from cameos. He told Semaphore that his compensation was far below the dollar amount of his parliamentary compensation.
The former politician is probably better known now than when he was on Capitol Hill. His cameo appearances went viral on his TikTok and his Instagram, and also led to further promotional opportunities, like his recent Hot Seat style interview with comedian and author Ziwe Fumudoh. Santos helped bring Cameo back into the spotlight, and Cameo catapulted Santos into his Gen Z icon.
From NFL veterans to real actors
Cameo was founded in 2017 by Galanis, Martin Blencowe, and Devon Spinnler Townsend. The idea came after Blencoe, then an NFL agent, had Cassius Marsh of the Seattle Seahawks appear in a video in which one of Blencoe's friends, who was a Seahawks fan, celebrated his fatherhood.
After witnessing the heartwarming moment, Galanis realized something was missing. It's money.
“I saw the video and thought, 'I should sell this,'” Galanis said. luck.
The founders, all former college athletes, knew that approximately 2 out of 3 professional athletes go bankrupt after retirement, so Cameo was originally created to encourage retired athletes to be “paid to become more famous and more loved.'' It was devised as a way to “earn,” Galanis said. It quickly expanded beyond the athletic set, and as of this summer, anyone could become a cameo “talent” and send greetings for a fee. Previously, there were three main ways to join the platform: submitting an application, being referred by an existing Cameo talent, or receiving an invitation from Cameo staff.
Galanis said Cameo operates on a revenue-sharing business model that takes a 25% to 30% cut of the talent's income, and the talent chooses their own fees, which inadvertently puts celebrities at risk. He said it was a deliberate decision to avoid causing harm. The average cost per video is $71, but prices vary widely.
shark tank Star Kevin O'Leary's greeting card will sell for $1,500. inheritanceBrian Cox, who plays Logan Roy, charges $689. A video of Kate Flannery, known for her role as Meredith. office, It's $190.Ernie Sabella, the voice of Pumbaa The Lion King, For $27, you can sing “Hakuna Matata” or celebrate your birthday. The most expensive talent for a cameo was Floyd Mayweather, who charged $10,000, but the boxing champion subsequently suspended his account.
Cameos exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered many businesses and made meaningful human connections obsolete. In 2020, the company was ranked on venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz's Marketplace 100 list. This list features the largest and fastest-growing consumer marketplace startups. In March 2021, Cameo raised a $100 million funding round at a $1 billion valuation, entering the “unicorn” startup club. The following month, Galanis announced plans to take the company public within the next few years, CNBC reported. report. (However, an initial public offering is not currently in the cards for the near future, Galanis said.) luck.)
Then the pandemic ended, and Cameo fell on hard times. “As the second vaccine arrived and people started spending money on concerts, travel and games, our core business plummeted,” Galanis said.
After two rounds of layoffs, one last year and one this year, Cameo's workforce has dropped from “approximately 400” to 32. The CEO says the company is currently on good footing. Cameo's team has shrunk and we manage a larger talent base than ever before. Bookings for December were up 42% compared to the same month last year. And today his business revenue in 2023 is 400% higher than in 2019.
Not to mention the wave of publicity Santos is bringing to the platform, Galanis said, “Every Cameo is a commercial for the next Cameo.”
Santos added that he registered voluntarily. “We didn't reach out to him,” Galanis said.
At this rate, Galanis added, Santos is on track to hit six figures by the end of this month, “the Carole Baskin number of the pandemic.” Although the specific number of cameo appearances was not disclosed, Baskin, the villain of the documentary film that was a huge hit on Netflix in 2020, tiger king, According to reports, the company was selling 30 Cameos per day for $299 each. washington post.
“Carole Baskin's numbers during the coronavirus pandemic”
The former congressman is another example of a self-registered cameo talent going viral, ranking No. 1 on the Today's Top 10 list for cameos alongside actor and musician James Buckley and Santa. ing. Even Sen. John Fetterman and late night host Jimmy Kimmel are shelling out for his coveted cameo.
In a segment titled “Will Santos Say?” Kimmel revealed that he sent Santos the outrageous inside story to determine if there were any lines that lawmakers shouldn't cross. (So far, Kimmel hasn't found a spot in the lineup.) But once Santos discovered Kimmel was making a cameo appearance, he demanded $20,000 for broadcast rights.
“Can you imagine if I got sued by George Santos for fraud?” Kimmel joked. “I mean, how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true.”
Fraud is one of the crimes Santos is accused of, with the former politician facing 23 federal charges of money laundering, wire fraud, identity theft and other crimes.
But aside from his dispute with Kimmel, Santos remains largely unfazed by the trolling. “Haters are going to suck. Haters are going to hate,” Santos said in a cameo given to Nebraska Sen. Megan Hunt. “Look, they can kick me out of Congress, but they can't take away my humor, my larger-than-life personality, my integrity, and my absolute pride in everything I've done.”
This article originally appeared on Fortune.com
