Almost a year of quarantine has forced a lot of us to get super creative when it comes to connecting with our friends, family, and colleagues. A beer within arm’s length can turn a Zoom chat into a virtual happy hour. Loved ones can arrange a drive-by caravan in lieu of a potentially dangerous birthday party. Even Cameo has found its groove in all of this mess as more users flock to the app to commission random celebrities for star-studded messages that they can gift to others. Sure, we’re barely holding it together as we descend further and further into the dystopia we’ve only read about in YA novels, but getting a video from Fran Drescher congratulating us on making a few deadlines might lift our spirits just a little a bit.
Cameo is also a pretty nifty tool for breaking connections, which The New York Times explored in a recent deep dive into the burgeoning culture. Nobody knows that more than Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath, who went viral in 2019 for a very measured, damn-near uplifting video of a breakup message he was hired to deliver to a presumably fictional sap named “Brayden.” (As NYT explains, the request was ultimately part of a far-reaching prank that had public figures like Anthony Scaramucci and Home Improvement’s Richard Karn making videos for similarly phony solicitations.) The two-and-a-half-minute message became one of Cameo’s most viral sensations and led to a flood of requests for McGrath from people searching for easy exits from their own relationships.
But while he may not be averse to delivering the occasionally tough word (like firing you from your job, for instance), McGrath wants little to do with dumping your unsuspecting significant other or initiating a divorce, and he certainly doesn’t want to become the enduring face of breakup Cameo. The reason’s pretty simple: It’s just not a good time, y’all. “In a million years, I would not accept that role,” McGrath told NYT. “I’m doing these Cameos for fun! I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.” It’s both admirable and a shame, considering that he’s just so damn good delivering shitty news. Not many can render heartbreak with such tact and empathy, both of which were on full display in the popular clip. We get it, though. Becoming a professional breakup proxy seems like emotionally draining work. Congratulating a couple on becoming new parents for a modest $95 fee (or $600, if you’re Fran Drescher)?Now that sounds like way more fun.
When it’s over, that’s the time to buck up and break things off yourself or hire Matthew Perry, who seems way more keen on helping out in that department. Either way, leave McGrath out of it.
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23 Comments
I thought the photo was Ray Liotta for a minute
At the risk of insulting the Dame, I thought it was Judi Dench.
How much to just have him react to someone calling him Sugar Gay? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSU9oL5nLMA
If I’m hiring Cameo celeb to do my break-ups, firings, legal emancipations from parents, etc; it’s gonna be Gilbert Gottfried.
Oh, for me, Gilbert Gottfried is reserved for reading James Joyce-esque dirty love letters.
Not sure if you’ve seen this gem from Mr. Gottfried.
I have indeed. If you haven’t heard it, you should look up a clip from his podcast where he’s singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Tom Scharpling.
Full disclosure: I got myself a couple cameos of actors I liked in the last year. Never again. I didn’t realize the company shared my full name with the actor and this one guy kept saying my full name over and over in the video, like some weird chant/promise “I’m going to stalk the shit out of you.”Newp. Newp.
Whoever came up with Cameo is a genius. All the washed up celebs who would be playing county fairs or signing autographs at comic con can now just stay home in their PJs and record five minute bullshit videos for people and get paid. It was big before the pandemic but I bet it was huge this last year
Plenty of non-washed up stars on there grabbing at the cash too.
His excessive plastic surgery sure lends his face to breakup Cameo.
Word Up!A very small part of my childhood got sullied by that picture. He could’ve gone Ethan Hawk, but he chose Mickey Rourke instead for his role model of graceful aging.
Sugar Ray’s music still gets played pretty regularly so I’m sure Mark McGrath is doing fine (or did he not write those songs? I honestly don’t know and don’t care enough to research it), but if he has a chance to make some cash doing this, he ought to take it.
what happened to his face?!
It broke up with itself?
Not gonna lie, I scrolled right past the story to see if anyone else was pulled into clicking on this to see what the fuck is up with his nose? Has it always looked like it does in that top image?
Looks like he’s preparing for the next remake of The Mask
He looks like if you crossed The Joker with an excited Ethan Hawke.
Looks like he’s preparing for the next remake of The Mask
I clicked because I thought it was about people wanting Mark McGrath to push for antitrust action against Cameo. I may need more coffee.
(It’s the nostrils. I don’t get why plastic surgeons hate nostrils so much.)
Cameo will never break up!!!
I think if I wanted to break up with someone via Cameo, I’d want to hire Jimmy Ray, not Sugar Ray. McGrath has enough to worry about in his endless pursuit for flight and keeping statues from crumbling. Whereas Jimmy’s standoffish attitude in regards to identifying himself seems perfect for a breakup. Then again, he made it clear that he ain’t no in-betweener, so…
Straight up, I would suck off a 357 Magnum if I got a break up video from Sugar RayPlease just ghost me