Jimmy Barnes is now one of the latest musicians to distance himself from an Australian app that purports to let fans speak to their celebrity heroes over the phone for a minimum of $500.
The app is called Sociabl and recently launched after a swarm of media buzz, with reports claiming the app is worth $5 million after its latest funding round.
The app’s marketing claims its developers have access to “a long list of luminaries” including billionaires, sports legends, and rock stars, if you’re willing to pay from $500 up to $100,000.
As News Corp reports, Barnes’ son, David Campbell was one of the first celebrities to point out they knew nothing about the app during an excruciating interview on Channel Nine’s Today.
“My name came up on the app, and I was like – I’ve never heard of this app,” Campbell told 21-year-old Sociabl founder Brandon Reynolds. “I called my Dad up and guess what – he hadn’t either.”
“You’ve used a couple there as advertising, very public advertising, who didn’t really know anything about it.” Barnes Snr has since released his own statement calling out Sociabl.
“These people have completely lied about my involvement,” Barnes said. “I think they’re just using my name to try to fool people into buying a dodgy product.”
“I think they’re just using my name to try to fool people into buying a dodgy product.”“It’s wrong and I have nothing to do with it. If the people behind this don’t stop putting these stories out there then I’ll have to make them stop.”
According to Today‘s report, other celebrities touted by the app, including will.i.am, Reece Mastin, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Richard Branson, have also denied any involvement.
The Adelaide-based founders of the app claim half the money from each fee goes to a charity of the celebrity’s choice, but one charity has already refuted any knowledge of the app.
Comedy manager Andrew Taylor told News.com.au that he met with Reynolds in November to negotiate the involvement of comedians Jim Jefferies, Alex Williamson, Frenchy, and others.
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However, Taylor claimed “it wouldn’t work for my clients” and ended negotiations. “We then noticed recently that he had cited Frenchy and Alex on his launch promotion as being involved,” he said.
“I told him then to remove them, for which I got no reply, having checked again yesterday I saw he’d left them on his website, so we have informed him that he must now remove them or face legal action.”
“At best Brandon is naive and unprofessional, at worst he is unscrupulous, using anyone’s personal IP for commercial gain is totally unacceptable. No More Comedy clients will be involved with this project.”
Sociabl publicist Max Markson has defended the app, saying the mixup is a result of contacting Barnes, Mastin, and Campbell’s social media managers and not their artist management.
