Gilbert Gottfried’s voice can be heard a mile away, and it’s not something that I can envision requesting for recreational purposes, but oh my goodness, does it ever happen. And in turn, Gottfried is getting paid handsomely for it. Those pipes of his have grown enormously popular on the Cameo platform, where actors and other celebrities (like Mark McGrath, for better or worse, relationshipwise) can cash in by recording shout-outs to fans that are delivered through text or email. These generally tend to be gifts (ranging from $5 to $2,500) from one fan to another, although the McGrath breakup message got a little controversial before turning out to be a hoax.
Gottfried, though, hasn’t entered that level of diciness. Instead, his videos are such a hit that he can’t stop the fountain of money. As he recently told Marker, he’s easily reeling in that cash, and he’s wondering what his parents would think of all this gravy:
“I always have this dream that my parents could come back for one day, and my father — who owned a Coney Island hardware store, working with his hands for barely any customers — would ask me what I’m up to. I’d say, ‘Well, I worked about 30 minutes today, talking into a phone, made $4,500, and now I’m exhausted and need to take a nap.'”
So, the $4,500 figure that would be for multiple shoutouts, and perhaps it’s an exaggeration for effect, but it’s still a pretty sweet deal, nonetheless.
As a Chicago-based startup, Cameo is killing it in the popularity department. TechCrunch reveals that Snoop Dogg’s one of the highest earners at $3,000 per message while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can still get it for $500, all to pop out loosely scripted messages with a personal spin. As for Gottfried, he can be seen on Cameo doing everything from delivering dirty jokes, slinging insults, roasting total strangers, and even “a rendition of Baby Shark for a one-year-old.” Man, people really spend too much money on kids’ birthday parties, right? Gottfried doesn’t mind.
(Via Marker)
