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Animpersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another.[1] There are many reasons for impersonating someone:
Celebrity impersonators look similar tocelebrities and dress in such a way as to imitate them. Impersonators are known as sound-alikes, look-alikes, impressionists, imitators and tribute artists.
Some interest in celebrity impersonators, may arise from the consumer desire to see a celebrity who has died. The dead celebrity market was estimated to generate $2.25 billion globally, with celebrity impersonators used in live entertainment shows andadvertising.[7]
One of the most prominent examples of this phenomenon is the case ofElvis Presley.Edward Moss has appeared in movies and sitcoms, impersonatingMichael Jackson.[8][9]
There are other motivations for celebrity impersonation,Tom Jones has attracted his share ofimpersonators from different places around the world. From the United States, to South East Asia, to the UK, there are performers who either sound like him or imitate his act.[10][11][12][13]
A 2010 research study explored howcelebrity impersonation performance acts are understood byaudiences, within an interactional frame, where theperformer and audience collaborate by recognising the 'game' of pretending to be a celebrity. It proposed that this type of impersonation goes beyond imitation and is in fact a complex interaction, where the real and artificial coexist comfortably.[14]
A person who impersonates a designated officer in theUnited Kingdom faces a prison term not to exceed 51 weeks inEngland, one year inScotland, or 6 months inNorthern Ireland.[15]
In the United States, it is an offence to impersonate a federal officer.[16] In 2025, there were a number ofarrests, due to civilians impersonatingimmigration officials,[17] whilst theFBI began to probe an effort to access the personal phone ofSusie Wiles, theWhite House chief of staff, that had involved impersonation.[18]
In aColorado case, an immigrant was charged with "criminal impersonation" for using another person'sSocial Security number when signing up for a job,[19] some courts have ruled that supplying this wrong information may not be criminal.[20] The ruling hinges on whether there was harm to the other person.[21]
Often, criminal impersonation involves someone impersonating a victim for financial gain. InAustralia, a woman in Melbourne used three victims identities to file tenfraudulent business activity statements and registered as a tax agent, in order to commit criminal offences.[22] InCanada, theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police, traced an individual who was subsequently charged, after being accused of impersonating banking clients, to commit fraud.[23]
The internet has resulted in new forms of impersonators emerging online. This can involve acts such as the impersonation of someone else's identity, across a variety of platforms, such associal media.[24]
Withinonline dating, the phenomenon ofcatfishing has arisen, where individuals impersonate the identity of someone else, whilst forming romantic relationships. Motivations for this can include to check on partnerfidelity, for monetary gain or simply out of curiosity.[25]
Online impersonation can be used as acyberbullying tactic, that in some instances creates a permanent and accessible record that anyone can view. This can have a significant impact, such as hindering employment prospects.[26]
Online impersonation has led to debates around whether identity verification should be a requirement on some online platforms.[27] Some jurisdictions are attempting to introduce new laws to help combat this problem, for example inNepal.[28]
Audio deepfakes have been used as part ofsocial engineering scams, fooling people into thinking they are receiving instructions from a trusted individual.[29]
In 2019, a UK based energy firm's CEO was scammed over the phone when he was ordered to transfer €220,000 into a Hungarian bank account by an individual who used audio deepfake technology to impersonate the voice of the firm's parent company's chief executive.[30]
As of 2023, the combination advances in deepfake technology, which could clone an individual's voice from a recording of a few seconds to a minute, and newtext generation tools, enabled automated impersonation scams, targeting victims using a convincing digital clone of a friend or relative.[31]
Celebrity impersonation has been conducted usingdeepfake technology, for different purposes. For entertainment purposes, deepfake celebrity impersonation has been used.[32] A number of cases were reported that involvedscam victims believing they were communicating with celebrities.[33][34][35]
He is a Ralph Waldo Emerson reenactor. This man gets paid to dress like, act like, and speak like Ralph Waldo Emerson. He's 63 years old and wears a black frock coat...'I use the term 'historic interpreter' or 'living historian.' But when people say 'impersonator,' that doesn't bother me.'
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