Instagram Lookalikes and Celebrity Influencers: Rethinking the Right to Publicity In the Social Media Age

Kim Kardashian-West, in March 2019, launched the sale of her sunglasses collection with an eerie series of photos portraying herself and five lookalike models, all wearing identical makeup and clothes.² A year prior, Kardashian- West’s husband, Kanye West, hired fourteen Kim lookalikes to advertise his clothing line Yeezy.³ The advertisements, shared on the social media website Instagram, featured the lookalikes in Kardashian-West’s stomping grounds, recreating her signature hairstyle and camera poses.⁴ Many of these Kim lookalikes are influencers⁵—individuals with significant social media followings that leverage those followers into endorsements and advertising deals. These Kim lookalikes, and many like them, have spent thousands of dollars to look like a Kardashian-West clone.⁶ And businesses noticed, hiring those lookalikes when they can’t afford an advertising deal with the real Kim Kardashian-West.⁷