Representative Lauren Boebert’s latest venture may not be as profitable as she hopes.
Boebert, a Colorado Republican, has become the first member of Congress to join Cameo, a platform where celebrities sell personalized videos to their fans. Earlier Monday morning, supporters were able to purchase $250 videos of Boebert delivering a birthday message or a pep talk, answering their questions or giving advance. By the afternoon, however, the option to purchase a video from Boebert was removed from the webpage.
Instead, visitors are met with a message that reads, “Lauren Boebert isn’t available right now.” Cameo confirmed the authenticity of the account when reached by Newsweek on Monday.
The creation of Boebert’s Cameo account comes just days after former Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, joined the platform after resigning from Congress and withdrawing his bid to become President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.
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Republican politicians have made hundreds of thousands of dollars on the platform. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin disclosed during her 2022 Congressional bid that she sold more than $200,000 worth of videos, while former Representative George Santos told CNN he sold 1,200 videos for $350 each, totaling more than $400,000, after he was expelled from Congress.
Gaetz, meanwhile, is charging a minimum of $500 per video.
Boebert, however, will likely be limited in how much she can make on the platform due to strict House rules about how much money sitting members of Congress can make in outside income.
Currently, House members can only make $31,815 in outside income, meaning Boebert can’t make the same income that politicians not currently holding office have been able to make. This would be the equivalent of about 127 Cameo videos at $250 each.
Newsweek reached out to Boebert’s office for comment via email.
As the first sitting member of Congress to join Cameo, Boebert is in uncharted territory.
The House Ethics Committee hasn’t made any public statement about whether members of Congress are allowed to have a Cameo account. There are stringent rules about how House members are allowed to make outside income, including a ban on honoraria related to their Congressional membership.
This prohibits members of Congress from accepting “payment of money or thing of value for an appearance, speech, or article.” It’s unclear whether this applies to Cameo videos.
There are, however, exceptions related to qualified individuals speaking at religious ceremonies or paid engagements related to entertainment.
Boebert’s Cameo page lists her as a politician but makes no mention of her official title.
It lists November 23 as the day she joined the platform. In an introduction video posted to the webpage, Boebert said she is “so excited to be joining another platform” where she can directly connect with “supporters from all over the world.”
