Jan
18
Why Celebrities Fake-Date, Explanations from a Publicist
I feel like a buzzkill when I have to explain to friends and family how the cute celebrity couple on the cover of US Magazine they adore is, in fact, not a couple at all. Rarely do they believe me, until the news trickles out weeks, months, or years later that the couple were never together or one half of the couple is not even straight. Many of these relationships are fake. Why would these celebrities even agree to being part of a fake relationship?
1. It Keeps Them Relevant
There is a statistic out there that says that only about 7 percent of the Screen Actor’s Guild members are working actors. There is an insane amount of competition in their industry and nearly every actor fears their last movie or sitcom was their last job. In order to remind casting and movie directors to keep them on their short list they know they need to be in all those tabloids you hate to admit you read every week. These actors know that if you are talking about what they are wearing and who they are dating that it helps their chances landing an audition.
2. It Boosts Their Paycheck
Major movie studios and television networks spend an outrageous amount of marketing dollars to ensure you know about their movie or television show. When the actors in their films or television programs are also on the cover of US, People, Star Magazine, etc. they are obtaining “free media”. For example, when Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn were dating their relationship was covered by all the major celebrity media outlets. This coincided with the release of their movie ‘The Break Up.” Although the studios spent millions of dollars on marketing the film, they earned just as much free media surrounding the relationship between its stars. So if you are a celebrity who lands themselves in these sort of articles you are able to use it as a bargaining chip for your next paycheck. If I get you (the movie studio) all this free publicity, I have to be reciprocated. Anyone who is dating Jennifer Aniston is guaranteed to be on the cover of all the tabloid magazines that week (i.e. Bradley Cooper).
3. It Helps Maintain Their Brand
Celebrities want to control their image. Many celebrities mask their sexuality to ensure they continue getting specific kinds of roles. (There are only a handful of actors who are able to float easily from drama to comedy). Once you are boxed into certain kind of roles it is difficult to be casted for anything else. (Can you imagine Hugh Grant in anything but romantic comedies? Can you imagine Jason Stratham in anything but thrillers? These actors are straight – just giving an example). So these actors will pretend to be in a relationship to maintain their image as a sex symbol. Movie studios fear women will not buy tickets to a romantic comedy starring a gay man in the leading role. Actresses may agree to “beard” these actors because this allows them to stay relevant (see #1), boost their paycheck (see #2), or help maintain their brand as a sex symbol.
I also want to point out that a slew of celebrities call paparazzi and arrange photo opportunities. Next time you read about a celebrity complaining about the paps (i.e. Jessica Biel in this month’s Vogue) remember they are tipping them off to ensure they get their picture taken.
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lol so about Robsten
Very interesting, thanks for writing/sharing. I was aware of some of it, but wasn’t aware of all of it! I’m wondering, does this apply to Athletes too? Does it help them to date famous actresses in order to boost their image, which I’d imagine strongly affects the kind/number of sponsors they’ll get, or if they’re in certain team sports, boost the brand of the franchise? (I’m thinking NHL, NFL, Baseball etc.)
ABSOLUTELY. Mark Sanchez is Exhibit A. Reggie Bush? Hello!
hmm this makes me think of the lead couple on glee that has begun dating after 3 years of working together and once the shows ratings dropped they started ‘dating’ and got a bunch of pap photos when in reality they aren’t that famous or interesting to be photographed a lot. and when the paparazzi and big crowds of fans aren’t around they don’t interact or aren’t intimate. which says a lot. and now every article will link them to each other and mention glee. it’d be believable maybe if they weren’t so predictable with every little thing they do and say. what do you guys think?
Oh, she is a nightmare.
Gossip girl was full of set-ups.
Good article. My goodness, these people are shady as fuck.
Katy Perry and Russell Brand’s relationship struck me as fake. I’ve heard faint whispers that his lothario image is a cover for his gayness but don’t know how true that is.
He is definitely straight. But his image has somewhat diminished post-divorce. So he might try to play the fame game.
Current fake relationship: Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper.
Is Zoe & Bradley fake because one or both are gay?
Or because of the reasons in your article?
I used to think the lead couple on glee was genuine but something seems off. The confirmations of their relationship around big glee things and the disgusting amount of unprofessional PDA in New York. Is it PR? If so, what can we expect and when will it end?
I don’t think they are legit. Lea Michelle would do anything for fame. Have you ever seen her pose on a red carpet? Painful.
This totally backfires for me especially when someone is covering up their sexuality. I mean how are gay people supposed to be more comfortable with who they are when the people that our society looks up to go to great lengths to cover it up. Current couple that has caught my attention and made me realize that all of his relationships lake any kind of intimacy and all look staged is John Mayer and Katy Perry. I used to not care but now that I have a child I care who young people look up to. If someone isn’t comfortable being themselves and would cover it up for money and fame, that is not someone that I would want to associate with or have my child look up to. I am not saying that being openly gay is an easy thing or way to live but it will never be if people continue to live like this.
Great article! I also read somewhere in a tweet that celebrities get paid to tweet, that some celebrity’s twitter or facebook accounts have fake/paid followers so to portray the celebrity with more fans than s/he really has… what do you think?
They absolutely get paid to tweet! Kim Kardashian is the worst.
Lol at Monchele
FAKE
Now that they’ve confirmed the validity of their relationship do you still think Lea Michele and cory Monteith are PR? Personally I think they are papped more often than Brangelina and quite frankly aren’t THAT famous outside the glee fandom but I wanted an experts take on it since now they’re so out with their relationship.
Yes, probably.
I’ve been lurking on your facebook and you never mention Monchele (Cory Monteith and Lea Michele) which leads me to believe that all the photos taken and articles written no one cares about outside of the glee fandom.
Can you tell us if you know anything about them? Are they PR? anything you’ve heard. They are “surprised” by paps everywhere and I just don’t think they are that famous or that real couple.
No one cares about them outside Glee fans. Those are set up photo pops. For sure!
But is Monchele real or PR?
I think they are dating, but trying to glean every press opportunity they can. They both love PR.
about monchele r u sure cause they always said they’re like brother and sister and she called love scenes with him disgusting and awkward, they waited literally until the ratings went down the drain and are only together and make big overly publicized trips revolving around glee episodes and everything every article about them mentions glee when paparazzi arent around along with a group of fans there are pictures of them with and they dont look happy and dont touch or interact until a camera is there and then its a big act. we even got confirmation that they didnt share hotel rooms and were barely together on their european adventure during the summer because he’d be with family and shed be off shopping and doing her own thing. and then theyd meet up for paparazzi photos like when they were on bikes and fans saw lea alone and then cory came and then left again. i just dont know how anyone can buy it as real with how obviously fake and pr it is. the past two weekends they spent apart and lea had business for a couple of days in nyc and he tagged along and they got 5 sets of candids one video and numerous articles written about it and we can and did literally know everything that would happen this weekend because of how obvious and planned out they are. now knowing this info do u really believe theyre dating?
You make a very convincing case!
Since we’re on Glee… There’s a bit of buzz around Chris Colfer and Darren Criss suggesting they could be an item and after saying he was straight a few years back Darren now dodges questions about his sexuality. Both these guys are supposedly in relationships with other people (Darren with a girl of course). These relationships are unconfirmed but strongly hinted at through comments and pics floating around social media. Do publicists really “leak” suggestive pics onto social media? Do they pay people to be untruthful on say… twitter? Just curious…
Do you think Chris would be Darren’s type?
Well… I don’t really know what Darren’s type would be, they appear quite compatible personality-wise but as for what type he’s attracted to – who knows? There is that tricky question of Darren’s sexuality – is he actually straight or was he identifying as straight only to discover something else? In this case I’m probably more curious about the aspect of hinting at a relationship through social media (leaking pics through friends etc.), i.e. the publicists p.o.v on something whether relationships are just promoted (btw, some people think this blind item might be referring to those two boys http://blindgossip.com/?p=49886)
http://blindgossip.com/?p=49886
Since we are talking about Glee people, I wonder if this is what’s going on with Naya Rivera and Big Sean?
Adam levine and anne v. Discuss. Beard?
I don’t think she was a beard.