We'll always have Paris ... or her clone
It's bad enough that we have to put up with vain and tiresome celebs. But now the Earth is being overrun by a race of their look-alikes. A whole subspecies of Paris Hilton pods has taken root. Natalie Reid was once content to crash parties, posing as the hotel heiress. Now she's cashed in by landing a six-page spread in September's Playboy. Having been unable (so far) to persuade the real Paris to strip, the mag's editors offer her clone in a variety of saucy poses - complete with a living replica of Paris' teacup Chihuahua, Tinkerbell.
Reid says the real Paris "invited me to her house in West Hollywood, and we hung out. She was totally in shock, like staring at me and taking a lot of pictures." Word is Paris and her family are actually less than enthralled with Reid and others who've been trading on her name. Paris-bot Chantelle Houghton was the grand-prize winner on "Celebrity Big Brother". Paris knockoffs have scored free drinks in Saint-Tropez, VIP treatment at Disneyland and a room upgrade at the Four Seasons in Maui.
"It's a form of stalking," says a Hilton pal. "The family has to spend money on lawyers to keep these fakes in their place." Not to mention that Paris has enough of her own scandals without having to get blamed for her imposters' hissy fits.
You can hire the real Paris to come to your party. But considering she charges as much as $250,000 for an appearance, it's no wonder some people go to a celeb look-alike service, where you can get a Paris imitator for as low as $850.
BubbyGram.com owner Adrienne Gusoff offers a complete assortment of the famous. "Everybody wants Joan Rivers during Oscar week," she tells our Debbie Newman - even though some people would like to exterminate the real one. "We have a Mariah Carey who's a dead ringer. But she can't sing a note."
Curiously, many bona fide celebs would have a hard time landing a job as themselves - based on how often they're mistaken for other stars. Fan regularly confuse Jon Voight with Christopher Walken, Renee Zellweger with Jewel, Rachel Griffiths with Juliette Lewis, Matthew McConaughey with Woody Harrelson.
"I've had fans run down the street after me, screaming how much they love my music," Moby tells Webster Hall's Baird Jones. "When I proudly sign my autograph they look up crushed and shout out, 'But you're not Michael Stipe!' Michael Stipe told me that he has had the same experience when fans thought he was me. Us little bald white guys get mistaken all the time for each other." (New York Daily News)
|
