Former Republican lawmaker George Santos has rapidly discovered a means to earn more money than he earned as a politician.
Since his expulsion from Congress earlier this month, the embattled ex-member of the House has turned to Cameo, an app the place celebrities and even disgraced public figures can cost lots of and even hundreds of {dollars} to report quick, personalised video messages.
Santos, whose profile on the app calls himself a “Former congressional ‘Icon’!” together with a painted fingernail emoji and describes himself as “The expelled member of Congress from New York City,” is at the moment charging $400 per video.
Santos has raised his fee since he first appeared on the platform Monday, Cameo founder and CEO Steven Galanis advised CBS MoneyWatch. “When he first came, on he’d priced himself at $75 because he didn’t have anyone assisting him. He limited his available quantity to 150 and sold out right away,” he mentioned.
Santos nonetheless faces almost two dozen federal prices for conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated id theft and bank card fraud.
On Cameo, which was based six years in the past, greater than 50,000 performers set their very own charges. Fans should buy movies to ship to mates as items for any event. By comparability, actor Jim Belushi prices $100 per video, whereas actor and SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher prices $999.
Santos regularly upped his worth, which is now set at $400 for a video that may take as little as one minute to report.
According to Galanis, Santos has booked sufficient Cameo movies to earn six figures, topping the $174,000 wage he earned as a member of Congress.
“Assuming he can get through the videos, he will exceed what he made in Congress last year. He’s been booked to that extent — he still needs to do the work,” Galanis mentioned. “The response has been amazing, and he’s getting even more popular as the days go on.”
Galanis attributes Santos’ success not solely to the avalanche of current media protection, albeit unfavourable, but in addition to the standard of his movies. “He’s so in the news right now, and the people who have done best in Cameo history have been in the zeitgeist at the moment,” Galanis mentioned.
Cameo
Fans who had sprung for a video from Santos appeared happy, writing feedback corresponding to, “This is gold!! Hope you’re enjoying your new gig,” and “Fantastic job – quick turnaround and great quality that exceeded my expectations” on Santos’ profile.
Sen. John Fetterman is amongst Santos’ clients. Campaign officers for the Pennsylvania Democrat paid Santos to report a Cameo video trolling Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. In the video, Santos tells “Bobby” to not get “bogged down by all the haters out there.”
Fetterman has been calling on Menendez, whom the Justice Department has accused of conspiring to behave as a overseas agent for Egypt, to resign. Menendez has refused to take action.
Unemployed actors turned to the platform for quick money throughout the SAG-AFTRA strike. Signups on the app rose 137% in July, Galanis advised CBS MoneyWatch on the time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cameo-george-santos-celebrity-video-app/
