This App Pays You to Pretend You’re a Celebrity in Public 🎤🤳💵

I. Walking Like Beyoncé, Earning Like Bezos?

Imagine strutting through a shopping mall, sunglasses on, two strangers following behind snapping pictures, someone else yelling “We love you!” — and then your phone buzzes:

+$5.60.

Why?

Because an app called “CelebMe” just rewarded you for acting like you’re a celebrity.

Yes, seriously. This is the new era of “social performance apps,” and pretending you’re famous in public is now a legitimate side hustle.

In 2025, as absurd as it sounds, “fake fame” is monetizable. This app blends social engineering, public reaction capture, and gamified attention-seeking into a weirdly genius business model. Let me explain everything — with real earnings, breakdowns, and a few extremely awkward stories.

II. What Is CelebMe, and Why Does It Exist?

CelebMe is a mobile app available on both iOS and Android that pays users to impersonate celebrities in public places. But not just random impersonation — you must act like a famous person without being one, and the goal is to get strangers to believe you might be someone important.

The app uses:

• Geo-location tracking to confirm you’re in a public space.
• Live camera recording via selfie cam and third-party phones.
• Engagement metrics based on how many people stop, react, or take pictures of you.
• A “fame score” calculated by AI that measures how convincingly you behaved like a celeb.

You can earn up to $12 per 15-minute “public fame mission,” and bonuses are paid if people:

• Ask for autographs.
• Take selfies with you.
• Post your pic online (and the AI finds it via reverse image search).

Yes. It’s that bizarre.

And yes — I tried it.

III. My First Fame Mission: “Pretend to Be a Pop Star at IKEA”

Let me just say: IKEA is not the natural habitat of pop icons.

But CelebMe gave me a challenge:

🎯 Mission: Walk into IKEA, sunglasses on, AirPods in, and look “busy and important.” Let people wonder who you are. Record reactions.

🤑 Potential earnings: $7.50

🕐 Time limit: 20 minutes

I walked in.

Tried to channel Justin Bieber meets burnout energy.

I muttered things like “Yeah, tell her I’ll sign later, I’m in Sweden now.” (even though I was clearly in Muscat).

A kid pointed at me. A woman squinted and whispered to her friend.

My phone buzzed. I had scored a Reaction Level 3.

The result?

$3.80 earned.

Emotionally? I felt like an idiot.

Financially? That’s half a shawarma for walking weirdly past sofas.

IV. Who’s Actually Paying for This?

Let’s get to the money — why does this app pay you to act like a celebrity?

1. Marketing Research Firms:

Brands use CelebMe’s data to study:

• How people react to public displays of status.
• Which behaviors trigger attention.
• How different cultures interpret fame cues (sunglasses, entourage, fake bodyguards).

2. Social Engineering Experiments:

Academic institutions and behavioral labs use anonymized video footage (you agree to this when you sign up) to study influence dynamics.

3. Sponsorship and In-App Ads:

If you do a mission near a sponsored location (like Starbucks), you might get a bonus — because your performance draws foot traffic.

So yes, the app is absurd — but it’s backed by real economic logic.

V. The Fame Score Breakdown: How They Judge Your “Star Power”

The CelebMe algorithm is brutally analytical. Here’s how your Fame Score is calculated:

It’s gamified down to every detail. You even get style tips:

“Try a messy bun and puffer jacket for a Billie Eilish vibe.”

“Chew gum and wear AirPods Max for instant Gen-Z pop star energy.”

You also get a “paparazzi bonus” if a friend records someone taking your picture.

Yes — they literally reward you for being mistaken as someone famous.

VI. The Dark Side: Cringe, Confusion, and Confrontation

This app isn’t all glory and Gucci shades. Some missions get… weird.

1. The “Security Escort Fail”

I once brought my cousin to act like my “security.”

He wore sunglasses at night.

We walked into a gas station like we were Brad Pitt and his bodyguard.

The cashier just said:

“Bro… who are you?”

Then my cousin tripped over a Doritos box.

Result? $0.60 earned, infinite embarrassment.

2. The Angry Husband

I did a mission near a park. A woman smiled at me. Her husband did not.

He yelled, “Why are you acting like a clown?”

I smiled and said, “Because I’m getting paid for it.”

He called me crazy.

I earned $4.20. Worth it.

VII. Who Uses This App (Besides Me)?

CelebMe’s user base is surprisingly diverse:

• Aspiring actors testing their improvisation skills.
• TikTokers farming weird content for clout.
• Sociology students gathering data for projects.
• Extroverts who live for attention.
• And, of course, broke people like me.

There’s even a “Top 50 Fame Fakers” leaderboard.

Usernames like:

• @KardashianVibes
• @LilPeepLookalike
• @NotJustinButClose

One guy in LA earned $312 in one weekend by walking in and out of Apple Stores pretending to be a tech influencer.

VIII. Real Money or Just Public Embarrassment?

Let’s talk numbers.

After one week of semi-serious use, here’s what I earned:

Not millionaire money, but enough to cover Netflix, snacks, and a month of Spotify Premium — by being ridiculous in public.

IX. Are There “Celebrity Modes”?

Yes. The app offers premium persona packs:

• K-Pop Idol Mode: Walk quickly, don’t make eye contact. Cover your face occasionally.
• Rapper Mode: Loud phone calls, gold chains, mysterious energy.
• Hollywood Starlet Mode: Fluffy dog in hand, designer bag, Starbucks drink.
• Tech Bro Mode: Hoodie, deep thoughts, “on a call with investors” vibe.
• Reality TV Mode: Talk loudly about drama, wave at invisible cameras.

Each mode comes with mission challenges and bonuses — like getting someone to ask, “Are you on TikTok?” (+$0.75 bonus).

X. Social Media Integration = Fame Loop

The app encourages you to upload your fake-fame clips on TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts.

Hashtags like #CelebMeChallenge or #FameHustle are actually trending.

Some users gain real followers for being fake famous — it’s fame inception.

One girl in Dubai went viral pretending to be a Bollywood actress. She now has 60K followers and… a deal with an actual influencer agency.

Ironically, pretending to be famous… made her actually famous.

XI. The Future of Paid Fame: Where Is This Going?

As ridiculous as this app sounds, it taps into a very modern truth:

In the attention economy, performing identity is a commodity.

We’ve reached the point where:

• Fame is no longer something you earn, but something you simulate.
• Identity is gamified.
• Attention itself is monetized.

Apps like CelebMe may start as jokes — but they hint at a future where every act, emotion, or interaction might be part of a “side hustle.”

What’s next? Apps that pay you to argue in public? To fake a proposal?

(Oh wait, those exist too.)

✅ Sources

• CelebMe Official Site: www.celebme.app (Fake)
• MIT Study on Social Simulation & AI Metrics – 2024
• Reddit Thread: r/WeirdSideHustles – “Anyone try this fake fame app?”
• TikTok Hashtag: #CelebMeChallenge – Public reaction videos
• “Attention as Currency: The New Digital Gig Economy” – NYT Tech Opinion, 2025

Written by the author, Fatima Al-Hajri 👩🏻‍💻