History Main / CelebrityLie

Not to be confused with CelebrityIsOverrated. For cases where a character wrongly ''thinks'' this is the case because the claimant is "uncool" or "not respectable", see LoserFriendPuzzlesOutsiders.

* In ''Film/BigNight'', celebrity chef Gusteau claims to know Louis Prima and offers to send him to a party evening to boost Primo and Secondo's publicity. Whether he really knows Prima is unknown; [[spoiler: either way, he doesn't show.]]

* ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'' did a variation on this. A local offers to secure the services of his distant cousin, a musician named Reginald Dwight (the real name of Elton John), for a town event. The vicar assumes this Reginald Dwight to actually be Elton John, only to discover at the last moment that he is simply an accordion player with the same name. In this case, it is not so much a celebrity lie as a celebrity mistake, as the person making the claim did not actually know.
** The above portrayal may have been inspired by a similar [[http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/clapton.asp urban legend]] reputing that Music/EricClapton had offered to play guitar for a local church, only to be declined by an unknowing vicar who advised him to practice more first.
* ''Series/FullHouse'' had a subplot where the band [=REM=] is booked for a bar, but it turns out it's three old ladies -- Rebecca, Esther, and Martha.

* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Wink," Kramer, in order to get back a priceless birthday card he accidentally sold, promises a young sick boy that Yankees player Paul O'Neill will hit two home runs for him.
** Also, George saying that he is "very good friends with Keith Hernandez" as part of a scam.
** Although Jerry had spent the past two episodes as Keith's friend, and George's scheme only failed because Jerry and Keith had an argument.

* Series/{{Frasier}} and Lilith tried to impress the headmaster of their son's fancy school by pretending that Lilith had been given earrings by Golda Meir. In another one, Frasier tried to impress another psychologist by claiming he was friends with opera tenor Jose Carreras. Turns out that Carreras was the other guy's godfather.
** The latter scenario led to what might be the best line this trope ever inspired. When the other doctor says, "I'll call Carreras tonight; he'll be delighted to hear I'm working with you!", Frasier laughs nervously and says, "I'll be interested to see if he remembers the game we used to play, where we'd pretend not to remember one another."

* Played with on ''Series/TheSteveHarveyShow'': Steve meets Michael Jordan (who doesn't appear in the episode) after a fender-bender and convinces him to speak at the school's entrepreneur day event. Regina does not believe Steve at first but a call to the school from the insurance company convinces her and she is thrilled. Later, Michael Jordan cancels his appearance, leaving Steve to tell Regina the bad news. He couldn't bring himself to disappoint her so he hires an MJ look-alike to come to the school. HilarityEnsues when the agency sends ''Music/MichaelJackson'' instead.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Subverted in the episode "Major Topper". In a bragging and name-dropping contest, Charles Winchester claims to have had dinner with Creator/AudreyHepburn, despite never having seen any of her movies. Hawkeye and B.J. refuse to believe him, until Charles produces a photograph (which is never shown to the viewers) to prove the veracity of his tale.

** After Rose has an argument with Blanche, she begins [[LampshadeHanging calling Blanche out]] on the outrageous sexual encounters that she constantly claims to have engaged in, [[RunningGag which often involve celebrities]]. One of them stories she contradicts is what she claims to have done with Buzz (supposedly Aldrin) in the Lunar Module.

** Another episode of this has Gary Coleman pretend to be talking to the President of the United States on a telephone that isn't plugged in -- while there's no one to his knowledge actually around, meaning that he's essentially performing a CelebrityLie on himself.
*** The Gary Coleman example was more of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} or IRejectYourReality situation. He'd previously been having an imaginary argument with the employee of a Chinese restaurant through said unplugged phone, again with no knowledge that anyone was there.

* The ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' episode "Banana Fontana" has Samosa being asked if he knows any celebrities to replace one that can't make it to attend a store's grand opening. Samosa claims to know a popstar named Banana Fontana... whom he not only does not know, but made up on the spot, meaning he has to spend the remainder of the episode alternating between being himself and being DisguuisedInDrag as his InventedIndividual.

* When Music/FrankSinatra comes to town,and the girls stress out about how they will obtain tickets to his show, Sophia doesn't worry and offers to get tickets for everyone through her connections to the singer. No one believes her and all parties go to great lengths to buy tickets on their own. Sophia ultimately comes through in the end, resulting in an enormous surplus of tickets, which the girls are arrested for trying to scalp.

-->'''Blanche:''' I would [[BlatantLies never lie]] about the US Space Program!

** This one backfires big-time on her in ''WebComic/ScarletLady'', because the titular holder of the Ladybug Miraculous isn't Marinette but instead is Chloe Bourgeois, who has gotten a ''[[AdaptationalVillainy major]]'' escalation in AlphaBitch rage, and not only Adrien instantly figures out that Lila is lying about being S.L.'s friend when she tries to get closer to him with it (Scarlet Lady just [[HeroWithAnFInGood doesn't gives a damn about saving Paris]] and Adrien has had to [[HypercompetentSidekick pull all of the weight]]) but Chloe gets pissed about it [[DisproportionateRetribution and assaults Lila in revenge.]]

* {{Subverted}} in a strip from the British girls' comic ''Bunty''. A group of girls are unpleasant to a classmate whom they perceive as delusional because she makes wild, exaggerated claims about her life such as being the sister of a famous pop star. It turns out she really ''is'' his sister and the moral of the story was not to make cruel judgements about people.

* Done oddly on an episode of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', in which the girls are working to put together a variety show to raise money for charity. Their scheduled emcee cancels, and Rose offers to get Creator/BobHope to fill in. She doesn't claim to actually know him, however; she claims to believe he's her biological father, and admits that they've never even met. Through a bizarre coincidence (Hope was Sophia's new boyfriend's old vaudeville partner), Bob Hope really ''does'' show up to host the event for them, although no indication is given that he's been made remotely aware of Rose's conviction.
** Another episode has Sophia claim that she has a date with Julio Iglesias. The other women think she's lying and just doesn't want to admit that she doesn't want to admit that she, like the others, doesn't have a date scheduled for Valentine's Day. After Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose leave for their dates (their dates just cancelled to surprise them later), Iglesias does show up and goes out with Sophia.

* ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' had a recurring skit where they would have a person walk across the set, stating that this person was some lesser-known public figure (usually a scientist or politician). Conan would then ask bandleader Max Weinberg if he was familiar with this person, and Max would respond by usually either saying that he has been following their work for years, or that they go way back and were childhood friends. Conan would then reveal that the person who just appeared on the set was actually an actor that they cast in order to fool Max, and an "ASS" stamp would be graphically super-imposed over his face.

* Done oddly on an episode of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', in which the girls are working to put together a variety show to raise money for charity. Their scheduled emcee cancels, and Rose offers to get Bob Hope to fill in. She doesn't claim to actually know him, however; she claims to believe he's her biological father, and admits that they've never even met. Through a bizarre coincidence (Hope was Sophia's new boyfriend's old vaudeville partner), Bob Hope really ''does'' show up to host the event for them, although no indication is given that he's been made remotely aware of Rose's conviction.

* In ''Hustle and Flow'', [[spoiler:[=DJay's=] plan to get famous hinges entirely on his connection with old high school buddy Skinny Black, a local boy who made good and became a famous rapper. As it turns out, [=DJay=] is lying to his all his friends and had never crossed circles with Skinny Black ever.]]
* In Film/BigNight celebrity chef Gusteau claims to know Louis Prima and offers to send him to a party evening to boost Primo and Secondo's publicity. Whether he really knows Prima is unknown- [[spoiler: either way, he doesn't show.]]

* The 1965 beach movie ''The Girls on the Beach'' has a bunch of guys trying to impress sorority sisters by promising to get [[Music/TheBeatles the Fab Four]] to perform at their fundraising concert (apparently, Music/TheBeachBoys and Lesley Gore, who perform in the film, weren't good enough). When the girls uncover the lie just before the concert, they dress up and go on stage as "The Beatles", which surprisingly goes over well with the audience.

* Given a twist in ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}''. Granny Weatherwax claims to be Lady Esmerelda Weatherwax, noted patron of the arts, who doesn't exist. However, she really has met the famous opera singer Senor Basilica, albeit in a context entirely unrelated to opera, and learned a few things in that brief acquaintance that he doesn't want known. As such when she claims to have met him many times in opera houses she can't remember the name of, he agrees that he too has met her many times, in opera houses the names of which have also unaccountably slipped his mind, confirming her identity.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' had Hercules claiming to know the master bard Orpheus and could get him to play at their dance to impress the amazon princess he had a crush on. Parodied in that Hades claimed the same thing to get Lastrigon, the Titan, to join his forces.

* Subverted in a strip from the British girls' comic ''Bunty''. A group of girls are unpleasant to a classmate whom they perceive as delusional because she makes wild, exaggerated claims about her life such as being the sister of a famous pop star. It turns out she really ''is'' his sister and the moral of the story was not to make cruel judgement about people.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'': Max can't go to Roxanne's viewing party for pop star Powerline's concert because his father is taking him on a fishing trip. Naturally, Max tells her he can't come because they're going to be ''at'' the concert because Powerline and Goofy are friends from way back. At the end, Goofy and Max do break into the concert and appear on TV, but Max still feels the need to confess to Roxanne. She forgives him. (What do you expect? It's a Disney movie.)

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzin%27_for_Blue_Jean Jazzin' for Blue Jean]]'': Music/DavidBowie plays a man who tries to impress a woman by claiming (falsely) to be friends with a rock star she seems interested in, who is also played by David Bowie. [[spoiler: Turns out that she and the rock star knew each other -- ''as lovers'' -- all along.]]

* ''Western/AGoofyMovie'': Max can't go to Roxanne's viewing party for pop star Powerline's concert because his father is taking him on a fishing trip. Naturally, Max tells her he can't come because they're going to be ''at'' the concert because Powerline and Goofy are friends from way back. At the end, Goofy and Max do break into the concert and appear on TV, but Max still feels the need to confess to Roxanne. She forgives him. (What do you expect? It's a Disney movie.)

This device is often employed when the writers feel the need to enact ''AnAesop'' about honesty, [[BrokenAesop without actually requiring the characters to be honest]].

Not to be confused with CelebrityIsOverrated.

* Jetta from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is a small-time BritishRocker who lies about her celebrity status in America. She eventually becomes an actual celebrity by joining The Misfits but she constantly tells her bandmates about how she's friends with the queen and is wealthy. It isn't until several episodes later that her lie is exposed, after she almost weasels Pizzazz out of a million dollars. As an extra joke, Jetta's Cockney accent betrays her lies however her friends are too ignorant to notice and think all British accents are posh-sounding.

[[folder:Anime]]

* Jetta from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is an English woman who lies about her celebrity status in America. She eventually becomes an actual celebrity by joining The Misfits but she constantly tells her bandmates how she's friends with the queen and is wealthy. It isn't until several episodes later that her lie is exposed, after she almost weasels Pizzazz out of a million dollars.

* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Woody has an extra role on ''SpenserForHire'' and claims to have become good friends with its star Robert Urich. Nobody believes him, but it's true as shown in TheStinger of the episode.

-->'''Al''': Like remember when I told you I knew Creator/PaulieShore (Paulie Shore)//