*By Michael Teich*
For the right price, users can get a video shout-out from celebrities – actress Bella Thorne and NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, to name a couple – through app Cameo.
"Selfies are the new autograph," Cameo's CEO, Steven Galanis, said Friday in an interview on Cheddar. "We thought the most personalized, authentic thing you can do with someone that's not there is getting them to say something to you."
Through the marketplace app, fans can request a message of their own devising that a celebrity can either consent or decline to read on camera.
The platform ー which launched in April ー has facilitated 52,000 videos and its talent count has grown to over 3,000, Galanis said. The most expensive shout-out on Cameo costs $1,000, but Galanis said the average video is $40.
Influencers are capitalizing on their popularity with ad dollars from brands eager to reach social media. Total ad spend on influencer marketing will jump from $5 billion this year to $10 billion in the next five years, [according to marketing firm Mediakix](http://mediakix.com/2018/03/influencer-marketing-industry-ad-spend-chart/).
But now, actors, athletes, musicians, and social media personalities can get paid directly from their fans. Galanis said his company takes a 25 percent cut, but the talent sets his or her own price.
"We always tell talent to optimize for amount of fans touched versus price," Galanis said.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/cameos-personalized-shout-out).
After serving an in-school suspension over his hairstyle, a Black high school student in Texas immediately received the same punishment when he arrived at school Monday wearing his hair as before in twisted dreadlocks tied on top of his head, his mother said.
Jackie Siegel, best known for her 2012 documentary 'The Queen of Versailles,' joined Cheddar News to reflect on the death of her daughter due to a drug overdose. She also discussed how she's using her platform to advocate for awareness of overdoses and to help with prevention.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy died after he was shot in his patrol car Saturday evening by an unknown assailant, and an investigation is underway that the sheriff said will press all of the department’s resources into action.
Jann Wenner, who co-founded Rolling Stone magazine and also was a co-founder of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has been removed from the hall's board of directors after making comments that were seen as disparaging toward Black and female musicians. He apologized within hours.
Three British news organizations reported Saturday that comedian and social influencer Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse based on allegations from four women who knew him over a seven-year period at the height of his fame.
