Famous for being famous, in popular culture terminology, refers to someone who attains celebrity status for no particular identifiable reason, or who achieves fame through association with a celebrity. The term is a pejorative, suggesting that the individual has no particular talents or abilities. Even when their fame arises from a particular talent or action on their part, the term will sometimes still apply if their fame is disproportionate to what they earned through their own talent or work.

Historian and social theorist Daniel J. Boorstin defined the celebrity as "a person who is known for his well-knownness" in his 1961 book The Image. Neal Gabler more recently refined the definition of celebrity to distinguish those who who have gained recognition for having done virtually nothing of significance — a phenomenon he dubbed the “Zsa Zsa Factor” in honor of Zsa Zsa Gabor, who parlayed her marriage to actor George Sanders into a brief movie career and the movie career into a much more enduring celebrity.

Amy Argetsinger, who dubbed the term "famesque", identified Hollywood Squares stars Zsa Zsa Gabor, Joyce Brothers, and Charles Nelson Reilly as early "dawn of TV creations". Argetslinger has also applied the term to athletes like Anna Kournikova and Matt Leinart who have received significant media attention while having achieved little to no success in their professional athletic careers.

The term has been applied in other ways, for example to tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower. Examples include places which have lost their basis for fame, such as the Empire State Building.

Examples of people to whom the term has been notably applied

Person	Description
Angelyne	Billboard model and one-time candidate for California governor (though at least one source suggests she is not famous enough for this characterization).
Kevin Federline	Former husband and back-up-dancer of Britney Spears and father of her children.
Peaches Geldof	Primarily famous for being the daughter of Bob Geldof.
Paris Hilton	Heiress to the Hilton dynasty, who is primarily famous for making many media appearances, and for a sex video.
Kato Kaelin	Friend of O.J. Simpson who provided testimony during the O.J. Simpson trial.
Kim Kardashian	Famous for being in a sex video and subsequently for her television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians
John F. Kennedy, Jr.	Primarily famous for being the son of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, he utilized his name to create the magazine George.
Nicole Richie	Mainly famous as Paris Hilton's show-business partner and as the adopted daughter of Lionel Richie.

See also

• Celebrity
• Celebutante
• Socialite

References

1. Look for her pink car in Sacramento -- San Diego Union-Tribune
2. Sizing Up the Candidates -- San Francisco Chronicle
3. CNN.com - Transcripts
4. [1]
5. CBS Sportsline article
6. Famous for being famous - Salon.com