Need to break up? Quit your job? Cameo letting stars break the bad news

While most people know about Cameo, the service that lets you pay a celebrity to give a birthday message or other shout-out to your friends and family, the Wall Street Journal reports folks are finding a new use for it: getting stars to do their dirty work. 

Specifically, the article notes, users have increasingly been tapping Cameo personalities to announce a breakup or to apologize to their friends for a faux pas. Or, in the case of a recent task carried out by famed American Idol reject William Hung, to tell graphic designer Christopher Gonzalez‘s colleagues that he’s quitting. 

That went down on a companywide chat, evidently. “Christopher is going to put in the notice to leave the current job for a new job in two weeks. He found a new job,” Hung reportedly said. “He’ll miss all of you but you are all amazing so don’t give up creating the life you want,” he added, before closing with a song.

Sports content creator and Cameo star Robby Berger was paid by a guy to help him ask his wife for a divorce. Evidently it wasn’t a surprise, and she took it well. 

According to company data cited by the Journal, in the past three years, “Cameo received almost 5,000 requests with the word ‘divorce’ in the instructions … 2,000 referenced ‘breakup’ … More than 5,500 requests … included the terms ‘apology’ or ‘I’m sorry’ … and more than 1,000 mentioned quitting a job.”

Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap — potentially: A message can run as cheap as a buck, or into the thousands, depending on the strata of the star.