The Sleezy Business of Celebrity Apps
A bizarre case of Jeremy Renner’s smartphone-based fan club
Facts:
Jeremy Renner Official debuted back in March 2017 as a way for fans everywhere to “interact directly” with the Marvel star.
The app was developed by EscapeX, a company which advertises its platforms as “private Instagrams for uberfans” and offers celebrities the ability to generate revenue through ads, subscriptions, and in-app purchases.
Over time, the app crossed the line from monetizing Renner’s fan base to swindling them, and catered to a host of online harassment.
A Cautionary Tale
When Jeremy Renner Official first launched in 2017, it sounded like a pretty good deal. Fans were promised that they would be able to interact directly with the man himself. How? Well, in theory, Renner would be able to see user comments and reply to them. Fans could also use the “FanFeed” option to post their favorite Renner pics, fanfiction, and art pieces — in addition to chatting with one another about the latest Renner news. As for Renner, he would occasionally login and post photos of himself to let users know what he was up to.
But what began as a meeting place for superfans — to connect and interact —eventually evolved into a toxic community of wannabe Renners sowing chaos.
In one instance, a female Renner fan posted a selfie on the platform with the caption:
Wishing everyone a good day, yeah I know I need to dye my hair.
Within seconds, her post began receiving death threats from an anonymous user named “dippy fresh.”
You make my prenis tingle, another person commented.
Hang tight and we will sort this out for you, posted a community moderator, who went by the username “JRHasTonedArmsButANormalBody.”
Meanwhile, throughout this bizarre exchange, Jeremy Renner was nowhere to be found.
The Larger Scheme At Play
The celeb app economy really took off back in 2014, when Kim Kardashian launched Hollywood: a mobile game that enabled users to pretend they had Kim’s life. Fans could pick daily looks, interact with other (virtual) celebrities, and go on glamorous adventures with Kim in L.A.
67 million downloads later, the app was deemed “an instant success” and Kim was dubbed a “mobile mogul”.
But what made the app such a hit was that it gave fans something they desperately wanted: closer access to their favorite star and a chance to experience (via avatar) Kim’s exclusive world. And it made companies like EscapeX sit up and take notice.
By creating “personally owned platforms” (or POPs) for more than 500 celebrities and influencers, EscapeX has marketed its product as a way for these public figures to better connect with their fan bases — and make money in the process.
“When a fan goes onto an influencer’s Instagram, they want to be noticed. The problem is that there’s too many people,” says Sephi Shapira, founder and CEO of EscapeX. “If you’re a celebrity and you want to spend five to ten minutes a day engaging with your audience, how do you identify the fans who have earned your attention?”
Source: Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash
But while Renner aficionados may have assumed that his official app was custom built specially for them to connect with their idol, Jeremy Renner Official was simply a reskinned version of the same platform that EscapeX sells to all of its customers. According to Shapira, all they needed to do was change the name.
In other words, Renner had nothing to do with the app’s creation. He just logged in from time-to-time for a quick post, and then pocketed his cut of the revenue.
How It Works
The company’s pitch goes something like this: Say 10 million people follow a celebrity on Instagram. This costs nothing because Instagram’s platform is free. But what happens if you convert a small percentage of those followers into paying subscribers? One dollar per month, for example, could easily generate tens of thousands in revenue.
While this may sound a bit sleezy, the business model itself isn’t new. In fact, back in the 1980s, people could call a 900 number and pay by the minute for exclusive content — and it made its adapters millions. By the time government regulators stepped in, the Internet had begun its ascent: Free websites replaced expensive phone calls. Sports fan lines became fan sites. Dating lines became dating sites (and eventually, dating apps).
In other words, the pay-per-call industry didn’t so much die as move online. And now it’s graduated from websites to celebrity apps.
Most of these apps are free to download, thus enticing fans to get onboard. But starry-eyed users end up becoming quickly disillusioned when they discover the pay-to-play model of engagement within these apps.
In the case of Jeremy Renner, users had to use EscapeX’s virtual currency — known as the “star system” — if they wanted to boost their comments and increase the likelihood of Renner seeing them. Some users paid up to $99.99 a month for these credits, and could gift them to other users or spend them on entries to win a lunch with the celebrity. But at the end of the day, the whole thing was just a lottery operating under the illusion that throwing more money at the app would eventually win Renner’s attention.
In-app purchases and subscriptions for celebrity apps can range from $2.99 all the way up to $149.99, and can be an unpleasant surprise for users who are slapped with the bill at the end of each month.
These charges — combined with false promises of celebrity interaction and platforms teeming with online bullies — tend to leave fans feeling swindled and frustrated.
And rightfully so.
Take Steps to Protect Yourself
Due to the nature of this business model, there isn’t much advice other than to steer clear of celebrity apps. More often than not, they don’t deliver on their claims and promises — it’s just a way for the apps’ owners to add an extra five figures to their bottom line each month.
As for current users of these platforms, take note: While inappropriate posts and users can be blocked or reported, the developers behind these apps rely heavily on a handful of overworked community moderators and useless artificial intelligence software to safeguard against online abuse. Therefore, it can take some time to address these problems, if they get addressed at all.
Final Notes and Updates
Whether or not these apps are a scam is up for debate, but what can’t be denied is the fact that celebrities appear to be taking advantage, at scale, of pay-for-access platforms — without delivering much of anything in return.
What’s even worse is that these apps have become a magnet for online trolls and con men who have found ways to impersonate app owners and manipulate the platform itself. To incite further chaos, these bad actors have been known to spew all kinds of racial slurs, threats, and sexist remarks at other users. And those responsible for the app don’t seem to notice.
In the case of Jeremy Renner Official, the backlash from allegations of abuse and harassment resulted in the app being abruptly shut down, along with the following apology:
Source: Mashable
It looks like he’ll be sticking to traditional forms of social media for the foreseeable future.
Useful Resources
To read more about the rise and fall of 900 numbers:
https://priceonomics.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-1-900-number
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