Celebrity app ‘Cameo’ settles lawsuit with Pennsylvania, other states

(WTAJ) — A popular app that allows people to get custom videos from celebrities and other figures has settled a lawsuit with 30 states over issues with paid endorsements, Attorney General Michelle Henry announced.

Baron Inc., which owns and operates the celebrity app Cameo, agreed to settle with Pennsylvania and 29 other states that joined a lawsuit over failing to tell consumers that videos promoting products were paid endorsements purchased through their service.

Cameo will develop an “extensive system” to comply with all state consumer protection laws and federal endorsement disclosure requirements as part of the settlement.

“Cameo is a way for Pennsylvanians and businesses to have personalized access to prominent figures, but consumers deserve to know when a video they’re seeing has been paid for,” Henry said. “We take all violations of consumer protection laws seriously, and applaud Cameo for making necessary changes for a more transparent consumer experience.”

Cameo was found to have failed to implement measures to disclose paid endorsements for consumers, which violated FTC regulations and consumer protection laws in numerous states.

Henry said this resulted in people seeing videos from celebrities that looked like positive reviews, not realizing they were paid endorsements.

Cameo is an online service where people can purchase personalized videos from celebrities and other prominent figures. The site also allows businesses to pay celebrities to endorse their products.

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Pennsylvania was joined in the multistate settlement by Attorneys General of Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas (which led the effort), as well as Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawai’i, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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