From Johnny Silvestri to Ashley Leechin: The Evolution of Superfans to “Famous Fans”
In this week’s episode, we explore fandom culture from an angle we haven’t looked at before – the fan-to-”famous fan” pipeline (46:56). While “famous fans” are definitely not a new phenomenon, it’s a growing one over the past few years as virality becomes easier to obtain. We look at some recent examples of “famous fans”— like Johnny Silvestri, Ashley Leechin, Adam McIntyre, and Paige Neimann— and what this says about fan culture online, including the traits of fan communities that make it easier for individuals to rise through the ranks and become celebrities/objects of the fan culture themselves.
Timestamps:
06:04 Talk to Me recap with SPOILERS!
08:57 The Summer I Turned Pretty recap
11:05 Gran Turismo recap
20:12 Madeline Argy apologises for joke TikTok about wanting to live in a “sundown town”
27:07 TikTok Singer Rodger Cleye accused of preying on 19-year old aspiring singer Olivia McCraw
43:48 Trisha Paytas apologises to Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio & Dixie D’Amelio for publicly dragging them in years past
46:56 From Johnny Silvestri to Ashley Leechin: The Evolution of Superfans to “Famous Fans”
48:10 What is a "famous fan"?
48:30 Three ways that fans become "famous fans"
53:22 Recap of recent Swoop exposé about Colleen Ballinger superfan-to-"famous fan" Johnny Silvestri
57:40 How someone falls down the superfan-to-"famous fan" pipeline
01:05:30 Reasons people become "famous fans"
01:17:40 The consequences of "famous fans"
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Resources:
https://centennialworld.com/madeline-argy-sundown-town-tiktok-apology/
https://centennialworld.com/rodger-cleye-olivia-mccraw-tiktok-accusations/
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLp3EJRA/
https://www.thecut.com/2013/04/stalker-sarah-17-only-takes-selfies-with-stars.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/magazine/the-hollywood-fast-life-of-stalker-sarah.html