Good Reads: Celebrity Twitter Impostors

Did Danny DeVito really need to do this sans shirt? (Photo courtesy TwitPic)
So it turns out some of the best celebrity Tweeters are impostors. As someone who spends a criminal amount of time poring over celeb Twitter feeds, I can tell you the lifestyles of the inane and famous all start blending together into one massive miasma of self-absorption. Which is why, when one comes across something that doesn't quite fit the mold, it stands out.
For instance, I had high hopes when I stumbled across a feed purporting to be the brain droppings of Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld. But the white-haired, black-suited designer didn't exactly strike me as a Twitter kind of guy. Finding him on Twitter would be akin to discovering him eating in a mall food court. And, as suspected, the account turned out to be bogus.
A sampling:
Believe it or not, I love rap. 10:46 AM Jan 19th from webFlorals are for middle-aged women with weight problems. 12:15 AM Jan 27th from web
Nothing scares me more than people with some doll collection. As a child, I never played with anything like toys. I wanted to be a grown-up. 7:14 AM Feb 10th from web
My dream? Transparent fur. The hair on plastic and not on leather. We’ve tried, but nobody has found it yet. 10:34 PM Feb 18th from web
I only wear the latest thing. It's my job. 6:49 PM Mar 28th from web
I think I'm going to have a dinner party where no one speaks. I'll give all my guests pens and pads instead of the usual dinner conversation 9:47 AM Apr 24th from web
There is somewhat of a silver lining -- according to Lagerfeld's PR rep, the words are actually the designer's -- culled from other sources and compiled (for our reading pleasure) on Twitter by some generous soul.
Lagerfeld, though, isn't the only celeb who has been victimized by an opportunistic impersonator. In June, the proliferation of fake accounts forced Twitter into offering a "verified" account badge (like this) to help us separate the stars from their (sometimes way more interesting) doppelgangers. Other past notable victims of impostors include the Dalai Lama, Lisa Marie Presley, Shaquille O'Neal and Christopher Walken, whose fake account was a source of daily joy ("I claim to be frightened of horses but do so only to get out of attending parades. It's peculiar but has served me well. The horses get it.") until taken down by the service.
How to determine the veracity of a celeb's account? Look for the verified badge. Failing that, said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone to Mark Glaser of MediaShift, "...it's a good idea to check the celebrity's official Web site to see if it links to the Twitter account."
Or, look for pictorial proof -- celebs like Danny DeVito and Nick Hogan have posted pics of themselves holding signs scrawled with their true Twitter handles.
For more fun with celebrity Twitter feeds, watch Twits -- our new video series in which celeb Tweets -- including Lindsay Lohan, Diddy and Courtney Love -- get the dramatic treatment.
By
Liz Kelly
| September 16, 2009; 11:42 AM ET
Categories:
Celebrities
Save & Share:
Previous: Kanye West Apology Tour Rolls On; FCC Re-Opens Investigation into Janet Jackson's Wardrobe Malfunction
Next: Serious Film Fandom at the Toronto Film Festival
Posted by: wadejg | September 16, 2009 12:34 PM | Report abuse
Those pix of celebs (although I still don't know who Nick Hogan is) are like Twitter proof-of-life. Because really, if you could win a Shirtless Danny DeVito Look-Alike Contest, would you honestly want to put the photographic proof in the public sphere?
Posted by: northgs | September 16, 2009 1:32 PM | Report abuse
There's also a good article in today's post about the fake Twitter accounts for some of the Capitals players. People pretending to be them and tweeting that they just finished practice, etc.
Posted by: suzannepdc | September 16, 2009 2:30 PM | Report abuse
"I only wear the latest thing. It's my job." If Karl Lagerfeld said this, he has missed the fact that he always seems to wear the same creepy outfit everytime he is photographed.
Posted by: JLRGG | September 16, 2009 8:58 PM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
What's up with Danny Devito popping up all over in front of me lately?!?
We just went with friends to Buca de Beppo & they dragged us through the kitchen past what I assumed to be a life-sized standee of Danny pimping his Limoncello, now he's up there on Celebritology, SHIRTLESS NO LESS!!
I need an old priest & a young priest....