What Is A Celebrity?

Who said a celebrity is someone who is famous for being famous?

According to Bing:

The term originates from an analysis of the media-dominated world called The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America (1961), by historian and social theorist Daniel J. Boorstin. In it, he defined the celebrity as "a person who is known for his well-knownness".

Hmmm.

Circa 1976, when most American homes still only had access to three or four channels, and the fuse was still burning on what would be a cable explosion, Dick Cavett mused aloud at the dilution of fame. He had watched a recent version of a delightfully wacky game show called "Celebrity Sweepstakes" that featured six--what else?--celebrities. Cavett stated that he could only identify one or two of the acclaimed celebrities while reminding the audience, "...and I'm in the business."

Then we had cable TV and The Internet and more Internet and YouTube and Twitter and even more social media. The celebrity concept seemed to change with each technological advance. An evolving paradigm, if you will. 

Predictably, the species has grown to Malthusian proportions. The numbers swell with the absence of anything resembling excommunication or retirement. There are no ex-celebrities. In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed over two dozen saints from the canonical roster of holy people. Recently, we have seen monument toppling, renaming of institutions, and even disinterment of fallen soldiers. Cancel culture has not struck celebrityship. Even if you are the third banana in a short run sitcom that ceased production several decades ago, you are still in the club. Once a celebrity, always a celebrity.

With that in mind, let me direct your attention to GLAAD's recent call for censorship.

Let us put the content of the letter on the proverbial back burner and examine the celebrity signatories. Get ready to scroll.

Abby Wambach
Adam Eli
Aitch Alberto
AJ Shively
Alan Cumming
Alejandra Caraballo
Alejandra Ghersi
Alex Clark
Alexandra Gutierrez
Alisa Ramirez
Allie Leonard
Allison Goldfrapp
ALOK Vaid-Menon
Alyssa May Gold
Alyssa Milano
Amber Ruffin
Amber Tamblyn
Amy Schumer
Amy Landecker
Andrew Polk
Angelica Ross
Annaleigh Ashford
Antoni Porowski
Aparna Brielle
Arden Myrin
Arewa Basit
Ariana DeBose
Ariana Grande
Arisce Wanzer
Avan Jogia
Barbie Ferreira
Bebe Rexha
Bella Ramsey
Ben Barnes
Benito Skinner
Benj Pasek
Bethany Cosentino
Bethany Leavel
Billy Eichner
Billy Porter
Bob the Drag Queen
Bobby Berk
Bonnie Milligan
Brad Oscar
Bradley Whitford
Brandi Carlile
Brandon Matthews
Brendan Hines
Bretman Rock
Brian Smith
Brigette Lundy-Paine
Brittany Tomlinson
Busy Philipps
Caesar Samoya
Camila Cabello
Camille A Brown
Cara Delevingne
Chani Nicholas
Chella Man
Chelsea Handler
Cheyenne Jackson
Chris Perfetti
Christa Miller
Cleo Wade
Colton Haynes
Corey Jantzen
Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia McWilliams
Cynthia Nixon
Cyrus Veyssi
D’Arcy Carden
Dakota Fanning
Dan Levy
Darren Criss
David Shatraw
David Oulton
Debra Messing
Deepica Mutyala
Demi Lovato
Des McAnuff
Devery Jacobs
Diana Maria Riva
Diane Guerrero
Diipa Buller-Khosla
Dylan Mulvaney
Ed Droste
Eddie Ndopu
EJ Marcus
Elegance Bratton
Eliot Rahal
Elle Fanning
Elliot Page
Emily Hampshire
Emily V. Gordon
Emma Hunton
Erin Reed
Estefania Pessoa
FLETCHER
Freddy Thomas
Gabrielle Union-Wade
Gigi Gorgeous
Glennon Doyle
Gottmik
Grace Kuhlenschmidt
Griffin Dunne
Haley Baldwin Bieber
Hannah Gadsby
Harry Lambert
Hayley Kiyoko
Hilary Montez
Ilana Glazer
Indya Moore
Isaac Mizrahi
Jackie Bazan
Jacob Tierney
Jai Rodriguez
Jameela Jamil
James Blake
James Scully
Jaymes Vaughan
Jamie Lee Curtis
Janaya Khan
Janelle Monáe
Janet Hubert
Jazz Jennings
Jeannie Mae-Jeninks
Jenna Lyons
Jennifer Kerr
Jeremy Fall
Jessica Betts
Jillian Mercado
Jinkx Monsoon
Joe DiPietro
Jonathan Van Ness
Jonathan Bennett
Jonny Pierce
Jordan Stenmark
Jordan Firstman
Jordan Roth
JP Saxe
Judd Apatow
Justin Baldoni
Justin Tranter
Kal Penn
Kamar de los Reyes
Karamo Brown
Kate Reinders
Katherine LaNasa
Kathryn Grody
Kellie Overbey
Kelly Devine
Kendrick Sampson
Kevin Harrington
Kevin Cahoon
Ki Griffin
Kimber Elayne Sprawl
Kimberly Drew
Kristin Chenoweth
Lachlan Watson
Laith De La Cruz
Laura Terruso
Lauren Jauregui
Laverne Cox
Lena Dunham
Lena Waithe
Lena Hall
Lilly Singh
Lily Rabe
Liv Hewson
Liza Koshy
Lola Tung
Lorin Latarro
Lovell Adams-Gray
Lucky Bromhead
Mae Martin
Mae Whitman
Maggie Boccella
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Mandy Patinkin
Marc Jacobs
Marc Kudisch
Marieme Diop
Martha Plimpton
Matt Bernstein
Matt McGorry
Matt Walton
Medalion Rahimi
Meena Harris
Megan Crabbe
Michael D. Cohen
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Michelle Buteau
Midori Francis
Miriam Silverman
Moj Mahdara
Molly Bernard
Mona Chalabi
Montego Glover
Munroe Bergdorf
Nate Wonder
Nats Getty
Neila Karassik
Nicholas Ferroni
Nico Carney
Nico Santos
Nico Tortorella
Nicole Maines
Niecy Nash-Betts
Nik Dodani
Ocean Vuong
Olly Alexander
Our Lady J
Padma Lakshmi
Patrick Stewart
Patti LuPone
Peppermint
Phillip Picardi
Phoebe Robinson
Poorna Jagannathan
Rachel Cargle
Rafael Silva
Ramy Youssef
Randy Shulman
Raquel Willis
Richa Moorjani
Rob Holysz
Robert Horn
Rory Dahl
Rosario Dawson
Rupi Kaur
Sam Smith
Sander Jennings
Sandy Rustin
Sara Bareilles
Sara Ramirez
Sarah Ramos
Sasha Velour
Scott Turner Schofield
Shawn Mendes
Shea Couleé
Shea Diamond
Sherri Saum
Sinead Burke
Solomon Hughes
Stephen Kunken
Susie Park
T. Oliver Reid
Taika Waititi
Tan France
Tatiana Maslany
Tess Holliday
Tiffany Namtu
Tommy Dorfman
Tracee Ellis Ross
Travis Alabanza
Tunde Adebimpe
Vivek Shraya
Wanda Sykes
Warren Carlyle
Wayne Cilento
Wilson Cruz
Yves Mathieu East
Zoë Chao
Zooey Deschanel

Without consulting IMDB, how many of these names do you recognize?

I could identify 6 of these by name and the name produces a picture in my mind. 

I could list a show or movie associated with 5 of the listed. 

There are about a dozen names that are familiar but do not bring trigger any mental  association.

I am not trying to be intentionally daft and granted, I do not consume pop culture as ravenously as I did years (decades actually) ago. Still, I could identify more YouTubers or Civil War generals or past winners of the Indianapolis 500 than I can name from this list. 

How many can you identify?