Line #89 Main/CelebrityLie


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11	Usually takes the form "Of course I know [famous person]. We grew up/went to school/served in the military/[[BreadEggsMilkSquick shared a cell in a Turkish prison]] together. I can certainly get tickets/backstage passes/an interview/other difficult or impossible favor for you, no problem."
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13	Of course, the person making the claim has no such connection to the celebrity in question, and sometimes may not even have a clue of ''who'' the celebrity is. The promise is made either in an attempt to look more important than he really is, or out of misplaced sympathy for a friend, a child, or some other "unfortunate" who has failed at the task. The resulting mad scramble to make good on the foolish promise drives at least a subplot (if not the main plot) for an entire episode.
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15	It usually ends up with apparent failure (and thus disgrace to the one who uttered the Celebrity Lie) suddenly rescued at the last minute by the celebrity in question, who sometimes goes so far as to help maintain the liar's deception. Usually requires a SpecialGuest or a CelebrityStar, although fictional celebrities are sometimes employed with sufficient exposition for the audience (see ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'', "Band").
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17	A common version seen in children's media (and countless real-life playground tall tales) since TheEighties is the kid who claims that his father or uncle works for a famous video game company, and that he can get them cheat codes, a beta build of their latest game, or some other swag.
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19	Virtually every 1970s sitcom had at least one of these episodes, and the plot continues to be used today.
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21	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]].
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23	Contrast HistoryWithCelebrity, when the shared history with a famous person is apparently legitimate. 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. For a character sincerely thinking he does know the celebrity well enough to ask for favors but the celebrity doesn't, see MutuallyUnequalRelationship.
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26	!!Examples:
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28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
31	* Bora in the first chapter of ''Manga/FairyTail'' claims to be a member of Fairy Tail to convince Lucy to go to his party on a yacht (actually a trap). When Natsu hears this he proceeds to confront Bora. Natsu proceeds to ''beat Bora senseless'' whilst shouting that he won't allow him to dirty Fairy Tail's rep. It becomes a case of "Unwitting It's Personal" because Bora was claiming to be the famous Salamander -- Natsu's nickname -- but Natsu appears to be completely unaware that it's ''him'' people refer to when they talk about Salamander.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
35	* ''Animation/BreadBarbershop'': While Bread is somewhat well-known throughout Bakery Town, in "Father Bread", Wilk comes up with an operation to give the idea of him being more popular to impress Bread's father, giving everyone fake items with Bread on it such as foods and a copy of ''Magazine/TIMEMagazine'' and making them gush about Bread. It works up to a point.
36	* 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 DisguisedInDrag as his InventedIndividual.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* {{Subverted\|Trope}} in a strip from the British girls' comic ''ComicBook/{{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.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
44	* ''ComicStrip/MadamAndEve'' inverts the trope in [[http://www.madamandeve.co.za/cartoons/me002005.gif this comic,]] where the Andersons return home to find Eve throwing a large party. She explains that it's a birthday party for Nelson Mandella, and Madam declares the party over. Mandella hugs Eve goodbye, and the shocked Andersons chase after him... thus failing to notice the ''other'' superstars at the party.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Fan Works]]
48	* Many ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanworks involving [[ConsummateLiar Lila]] naturally include this tendency of hers. This is frequently made to [[HoistByHerOwnPetard blow up in her face]]:
49	** ''Fanfic/{{BURN THE WITCH\|MiraculousLadybug}}'' has her convincing Rose to contribute to a FakeCharity, with Rose in turn convincing others to contribute as well, including Prince Ali. When Lila steals the money, Rose tries to mollify the Prince by telling him that it was set up by his "good friend", only for him to bluntly inform her that he doesn't know anyone named Lila Rossi and ends ''their'' friendship. Rose is so enraged upon learning the AwfulTruth that she's akumatized into "Witch Hunter", a RabbleRouser villain who wants to ''[[TorchesAndPitchforks lynch]]'' Lila, [[BurnTheWitch Spanish Inquisition-style]].
50	** ''Fanfic/LadyBugOut'' sees her claiming to have helped Ladybug set up the titular blog. When Marinette posts a video revealing her own involvement (carefully set up to preserve her SecretIdentity), Lila tries to claim that she [[ExactWords only ever said that Ladybug]] ''[[ExactWords asked]]'' [[ExactWords her to help]], not that she agreed.
51	** In ''Fanfic/LeaveForMendeleiev'', Hawkmoth sees Lila's "exclusive interview" on the Ladyblog where she claims to be Ladybug's best friend and promptly targets her with his latest akuma. Chat Noir proceeds to make things ''much worse'' when he casually reassures Ladybug that [[spoiler:Lila can save herself by using her ''own'' Miraculous, forcing Lila to reveal that she was lying]].
52	** The PointOfDivergence of the AU fic ''Fanfic/TheOneToMakeItStay'' is Rose learning from Prince Ali that he's never met Lila, much less worked with her like she claimed. This leads to Kitty Section rallying around Marinette as her allies, as well as revealing Lila's deception to the rest of their class, though [[CassandraTruth not everyone believes them]].
53	** Lila tries this twice on the Japanese students in ''Fanfic/RaiseYourVoiceAgainstLiars'', only to get rebuked because they know more about the people she's talking about than she does. The first time, she claims that she's a former student of famous artist Ichiryuusai Madarame to Madarame's [[AbusiveParents much-abused former foster son and pupil]] Yusuke; the second time, she claims to a larger group of students that she's dating Kunikazu Okumura's son, not realizing his only child and daughter Haru is in earshot.
54	** This one backfires big-time on Lila in ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'', as the titular {{Nominal Hero}}ine is none other than [[RichBitch Chloé Bourgeois]]. Not only does Adrien instantly figure out that she's lying about being her friend (and is extra pissed off since Scar forces him to [[HypercompetentSidekick pull all the weight]] while ''she'' [[StealingTheCredit steals all the credit]] for protecting Paris), Chloé's so furious over her lies that she [[DisproportionateRetribution throws her into a fountain]].
55	** ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/23096338 Wait, you're related to who now?]]'' sees Lila set up for one, claiming to Bustier's class that she's related to someone famous. She doesn't get the chance to say who, though, instead getting blindsided when the others start talking about the famous superheroes they're ''actually'' related to in response to her claims.
56	** In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21138575 Who You Know]]'', Lila claims to know the mysterious new fashion designer MDC, and tells Alya that she's going to try and help Marinette meet her. What neither of them realizes is that [[spoiler:Marinette ''is'' MDC]], so when she hears about the supposed offer, Marinette can't help but burst out laughing.
57	** Marinette's ''own'' celebrity connections are [[FandomSpecificPlot often invoked]] as well. Particularly her knowing Jagged Stone, who is commonly portrayed as confused and aghast that anyone thinks he ever owned a cat, much less that some girl he's never met saved it from being run over by an airplane and that he wrote a song about the incident.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
61	* ''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.)
62	* In ''WesternAnimation/Sing2'', Buster's desperate pitch to producer Jimmy Crystal includes an offhand reference to a song by reclusive singer Clay Calloway, which morphs into him knowing Calloway personally and having him star in the show. Thus, one of the subplots of the film is Buster trying to track down Calloway and convince him to join.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
66	* 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]].
67	* [[ZigZaggingTrope Played straight, subverted and then played straight again]] with Joey "The Lips" Fagan in ''Film/TheCommitments''. He claims to have been a session trumpeter who has played with all the greats including Elvis. The trope comes into play when Wilson Pickett comes to Dublin and Jimmy Rabbitte asks Joey if he can get him to play with the Commitments on stage (Joey having claimed with Wilson Pickett on a number of occasions). Joey claims to do so (we never see the meeting) but then Wilson Pickett never turns up to the Commitments' concert so Jimmy Rabbitte assumes that Joey was lying.....until later on as he's going home, he's stopped by the driver of a large limousine asking for directions to the club. Then later on Jimmy gets a postcard from Joey saying he's on tour with a musician...who died five years ago.
68	* The 1965 beach movie ''Film/{{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 Music/LesleyGore, 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.
69	* Subverted in, of all things, the ''Series/HannahMontana'' movie. Miley tries impressing people in her hometown by telling them she "knows" Hannah Montana.
70	* In ''Film/HustleAndFlow'', [[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.]]
71	* In ''Film/ItHappenedInHollywood'', Tim promises to bring Billy to his Hollywood ranch and introduce him to fellow celebrities once he recovers. This isn't a lie at the time as Tim is a major Hollywood star. However, by the time Billy arrives, the introduction of talkies has destroyed Tim's career. So as not to disappoint Billy, Tim throws a party using the doubles and stand-ins of the Hollywood stars.
72	* ''Film/JazzinForBlueJean'': 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.]]
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75	[[folder:Literature]]
76	* In ''The Fabulous Five'' book ''The Bragging War'', Beth claims to know visiting rock star Trevor Morgan. Egged on by the disbelief of her rival, she claims to not only know him, but to have been personally invited to his upcoming concert. She manages to sneak into his hotel dressed up as a Native American (knowing this will get his attention thanks to his interest in the topic) and finagle front row tickets to the concert for her and her friends.
77	* Children's book ''The Fib'' by actor Creator/GeorgeLayton -- apparently autobiographical -- tells the story of a young lad who claims that his uncle is famous footballer Bobby Charlton. He is correctly disbelieved, and then the real Bobby Charlton shows up to turn on the Christmas lights. His friends attempt to dob him in, only for Charlton to take it like a real sport and pretend that he is indeed the boy's uncle. Of course, he then gets into trouble because his mother doesn't believe he's late home because he's been having tea with Bobby Charlton and the Lord Mayor...
78	* Creator/JamesHerriot met a farm labourer who claimed, despite the sarcastic derision of his mates, to know ''lots'' of famous people. Herriot reluctantly agrees to go with him to a Yorkshire county cricket match where the unpreposessing farmhand claims to know the star players. There is no sign of recognition of him on their part and Herriot is steeling himself for the fact he will very soon witness humiliation on the part of the Walter Mitty farmhand, as he is brought down by reality. As the players leave the field at the end of play, an England international star, the Ian Botham or the Freddie Flintoff of the day, does a double-take and stops, exclaiming "Walter! how are you? sorry I didn't see you sitting there or I'd have said hello earlier..." and rushes over to shake hands with Herriot's companion. Several other players also recognise Walter...
79	* Given a twist in ''Literature/{{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.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
83	* ''Series/{{Acapulco}}'': Played for laughs with the chatty bartender, Beto, who is introduced as a guy who has thousands of anecdotes about celebrities...some of which are true.
84	-->'''Beto''': My friend Creator/MarlonBrando makes the same joke about me.
85	* ''Series/ArchieBunkersPlace'' (the 1979 sequel series to ''Series/AllInTheFamily'') displayed an early inversion of this trope in the episode "The Return of Sammy", when Archie fails to convince his friends at his bar that he actually knows Sammy Davis Jr. (Which he did, thanks to an episode of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' from years earlier -- see IgnoreTheDisability.) Even a call to a live TV show where Archie speaks directly to Sammy seems destined to paint him a liar until Archie gives enough detail about their earlier encounter, prompting Sammy's enthusiastic recognition and subsequent visit to the bar.
86	* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' had an episode where Eric and Jack form a fraternity named "Magnum Pi". When the dean of the fictional Pennbrook College asks who their famous alums are, the two scramble for names and come up with "Bernie Kopell and Ted Lange" (of ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' fame). They did show up, though Eric had to pay them for their time.
87	* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' had two examples:
88	** Bobby claims to know football star Joe Namath to impress his friends. After many unsuccessful attempts of his own, Cindy manages to wrangle a visit from the athlete...problem is, she faked a letter in Bobby's name claiming he was deathly ill. Naturally, their cover is blown, but in the end Bobby gets to throw a few passes with Joe and his friends are so impressed they don't even believe him when he owns up to his lie at the beginning of the episode!
89	** On another episode, Marcia made an empty promise to hire [[Music/TheMonkees Davy Jones]] to sing at a school dance, then went crazy trying to fulfill her promise (mostly just to save her reputation). In the end, she not only gets him to sing at the dance, but receives the honor of being his date for the dance as well.
90	* Also used on ''Series/BrooklynBridge'' -- the grandfather claims to have played ball with Gil Hodges. When they run into Gil Hodges, he plays along with the story so the grandfather doesn't lose face with his grandkid. He's called a ''mensch'' for it.
91	* ''Series/BuffaloBill'': Bill hires a Creator/BurtReynolds look-alike to do a pop in on his local talk show, pretending it's his good friend the real Reynolds.
92	* In an episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Giles apparently had once told Olivia that he was an original member of Music/PinkFloyd.
93	* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Woody has an extra role on ''Series/SpenserForHire'' and claims to have become good friends with its star Creator/RobertUrich. Nobody believes him, but it's true as shown in TheStinger of the episode.
94	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor is often prone to this, depending on the incarnation. He's a time-traveler, though, so at least ''some'' of them are likely true.
95	* ''Series/{{Frasier}}''
96	** In "A Lilith Thanksgiving", Frasier and Lilith try to impress the headmaster of their son's fancy school by pretending that Lilith had been given earrings by Golda Meir. The ruse completely falls apart when Frasier tries to describe their connection to Meir's cousin... [[PunnyName Oscar.]]
97	** In "The Perfect Guy", Frasier tries to impress the title character, new KACL medical presenter Clint Webber, by claiming he was friends with opera tenor Jose Carreras. Turns out that Carreras is Clint's godfather. This leads to what might be the best line this trope ever inspired: when Clint 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."
98	* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'':
99	** One episode has Will lying to his aunt and uncle that he can get Boyz II Men to sing at Nicky's christening because he grew up with them in Philly. He goes to their studio where they are doing some recording sessions and begs them to come, which works at first until events lead up to clarifying what is a slight subversion of the trope: Will actually did know one of the members, Wanya Morris, but only because he stole his girlfriend, which leads to the group saying no. After this fails, he returns to the studio dressed in a Santa suit and gets them to come, until he accidentally reveals himself. Later on, when it seems they won't show up, Will begins to confess and it seems everyone is about to be disappointed, but the group shows up at the last minute singing "Silent Night" and their first names, in turn, are used as Nicky's middle name.
100	** Inverted with Hilary, who frequently claimed to know famous people, to which a disbelieving Will would scoff. . .only to have several of these celebrities show up at the Banks' Christmas party and greet Hilary warmly, revealing that they obviously ''did'' know each other very well.
101	* ''Series/FullHouse'' had a subplot where the band Music/{{REM}} is booked for a bar, but it turns out it's three old ladies -- Rebecca, Esther, and Martha.
102	* Subverted repeatedly as a RunningGag in ''Series/GavinAndStacey''; Vanessa is constantly namedropping celebrities she's met (and often slept with) in her MysteriousPast -- and she's apparently telling the truth every time.
103	* ''Series/Girls5eva'': As part of her MockMillionaire act Wickie pretended to be friends with the Dalai Lama.
104	* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'':
105	** When the girls are working to host a variety show to raise money for charity, their scheduled emcee cancels. Rose is convinced that Creator/BobHope, who she has never met, is actually her biological father, and will host the show for them. Through a bizarre coincidence (Hope was Sophia's new boyfriend's old vaudeville partner), Bob Hope really ''does'' show up to host the event, although no indication is given that he's been made remotely aware of Rose's conviction.
106	** Another episode has Sophia claim that she has a date with Julio Iglesias. The other women think she's lying to avoid admitting 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 shows up and goes out with Sophia.
107	** At one point, the girls win a contest to attend a meet and greet event with Burt Reynolds, but exclude Sophia as they only have three tickets. Sophia nabs the tickets from them after they are mistakenly arrested for prostitution, and tells them about the all the celebrities she hung out with at the event once they get out. Sophia claims to have a date with Burt Reynolds later, but Dorothy blames her for fabricating the tales to make them feel worse for missing the event. However, Burt Reynolds shows up at the door for her date with Sophia immediately after.
108	** 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.
109	** In "Mrs. George Devereaux", Dorothy says that she met Sonny Bono and Lyle Waggoner and they both fell for and were fighting for her, but as she was AllegedlyDateless, no one believes her. While she was telling the truth, the episode turns out to be a BizarroEpisode that was AllJustADream.
110	** 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 the stories she contradicts is what she claims to have done with Buzz (supposedly Aldrin) in the Lunar Module.
111	--->'''Blanche:''' I would [[BlatantLies never lie]] about the US Space Program!
112	* ''Series/HappyDays'': Richie really did know the keyboard player from "Johnny Fish & the Fins" at summer camp, but when he tries to get tickets for their concert nobody believes him because they're in the nosebleed section. They figure he just bought cheap tickets to cover the lie. Then he's given a ShoutOut from the stage, and everyone believes him.
113	* ''Series/{{Hollyoaks}}'' had a spin-off episode where Dennis Savage tries to impress his friends by tracking down the musician Maverick Sabre and asking him to perform at the Savages' party. Dennis really has met Maverick before, but no one will believe him, and it's a race against time to find Maverick before the party.
114	%%* Appeared repeatedly on ''Series/ILoveLucy''.
115	* ''[[Series/ImAlanPartridge I'm Still Alan Partridge]]'' had Alan claim to his girlfriend that he knew Bono, lead singer of U2. After a row, she insisted he take her to Bono's house, so Alan takes her to a stately home and arranges for a man to turn up in dark glasses speaking in a fake Irish accent, which backfires quite badly.
116	* ''Series/TheJimHensonHour'' back-half special ''Miss Piggy's Hollywood'' has her trying to put this over on the audience, even as it quickly becomes clear that the Tinseltown stars she's trying to get on camera for interviews are ''not'' dear friends of hers, reaching a low point when an angry Creator/JustineBateman backs her into a pool (Gonzo told her agent she was going to be interviewed by Barbara Walters). Just after she knocks on the door of the final "friend", Creator/DudleyMoore, Piggy finally breaks down and cries as she admits to the audience that she's been fibbing because she wanted to live up to their expectations...and for a moment doesn't realize that Moore has not only stepped outside but is thrilled to see her, as he's a huge fan of hers. She promptly cheers up after that!
117	* A variation in ''Series/KenanAndKel'' - Kenan mistakenly thinks Sharla is going to the dance with some "special guy" (she means him) and lies saying he's taking R&B singer Tamia. Realising his mistake, he goes to a signing and eventually persuades Tamia to say yes. She is forced to cancel at the last minute - but Kenan has already left for the dance so she tells Sharla instead.
118	* ''Series/LateNightWithConanOBrien'' 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.
119	* Likewise the ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' episode that takes place in Washington, where Lou can't convince Mary that he knows important politicians. She refuses to believe that Gerry Ford left his pipe in Lou's hotel room, even after Betty Ford (playing herself) calls to inquire about it.
120	-->'''Betty Ford:''' Hello Mary, this is Betty Ford.\
121	'''Mary Richards:''' Hi, Betty. This is Mary -- Queen of Scots!
122	* ''Series/{{MASH}}'':
123	** 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.
124	** Played straight in "Bombshells", when Hawkeye and Charles start a rumor that Creator/MarilynMonroe is going to visit the 4077th, and it snowballs until even Colonel Potter believes it and arranges a welcome ceremony for her.
125	* ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' twists this. Mio, the villain, claims that Usagi knows IdolSinger Minako and can get her to perform for the class, while telling Usagi that she'll take care of it. In reality, she's actually plotting to make Usagi miserable and lonely, intending for Minako never to show up. Minako, being Sailor Venus, is suspicious of Mio, finds out the plot and shows up.
126	* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'':
127	** Inverted. Sabrina ends up alienating her co-workers and they're convinced she's crazy. One day she pays for a woman's coffee and talks casually about it to her, not knowing it is actually Music/{{Ashanti}}. Ashanti later comes into the magazine office while it's empty and sings for Sabrina to prove who she is. The rest of the magazine refuse to believe Sabrina but then Ashanti comes back in and references their conversation earlier, making it seem like they know each other. Sabrina then makes it seem like they have known each other a while in order to save her reputation.
128	** Also subverted in a season six episode. Roxie claims to know Isaac Hanson - which she does. They dated years ago.
129	* In one episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', Creator/JonLovitz's Pathological Liar character was trying to pick up Jerry Hall in a bar, with increasingly absurd lies ranging from being a Senator, inventing Rock'n'Roll, to knowing Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger then walks in to pick up his girlfriend, and [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/85/85jliar.phtml uses Lovitz as his excuse for not coming home some nights]].
130	* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''
131	** In "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.
132	** 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.
133	** George was fond of bragging that the previous owner of his car was Creator/JonVoight. This was technically true in that it belonged to someone with that name, but it wasn't the famous actor, as he wanted people to believe.
134	* ''Series/SilverSpoons'': Alfonso claims to know Michael Jackson, and when called on it he hires a Jackson look-alike to show up. Everybody is convinced but he ends up telling the truth.
135	* Subverted in ''Series/SisterSister'', where not only does Roger know Batman (from the group Immature/IMX) because he is related to him, he gets him to come. Of course, [[StrongFamilyResemblance since Batman looks just like Roger]] (and Marques Houston plays both), no one believes him until the very end of the episode.
136	* ''Series/SmallWonder'' had a running gag with the Brindles' aunt Ida Mae, who continually claimed to know practically every celebrity on the planet, even to the point of giving them advice. She name-dropped constantly, and the Lawsons thought they had a chance to prove she was lying when they met Lyle Alzado and asked if he'd come over that night for a moment. Before Lyle shows up, they ask Ida Mae if she knows him, which of course, she claims to, saying that it was her idea for him to go into professional football. He wanted to be a ballet dancer. This story, like her others, is so ridiculous the family thinks they've got her dead to rights. Cue Alzado entering...only to shout "Ida Mae!" and run into her arms, proclaiming "If it weren't for this woman I'd be doing ''Swan Lake'' in a tutu!"
137	* ''Series/TheSteveHarveyShow'':
138	** Played with: 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.
139	** Sara did this a lot during the first season. She constantly lied to her classmates that she knew certain celebrities like George Clooney, Will Smith, and Wesley Snipes. This usually prompted everyone to tell her to shut up.
140	* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'': In another effort to impress Bailey, Cody tells her that he is friends with Series/HannahMontana and can get them tickets for the concert she was going to hold. Subverted because he actually does know Hannah (they met at the Tipton when they were younger) but Hannah doesn't remember Cody. Cody does everything he could to win the tickets for him and Bailey and when he fails, he tells the truth to Bailey but she is touched that Cody was willing to go through so much trouble for her. Then, Hannah and Lola skip by and Hannah finally remembers Cody (Woody getting cake all over Cody's shirt helped) and gives them tickets and backstage passes. Cody and Bailey then have a RelationshipUpgrade (prompting a hilarious BrickJoke from the beginning of the season).
141	* ''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. This 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.
142	* On ''Series/TheWayansBros'', Busta Rhymes is in town for a concert and Dee's church needs $3,000 to stave off foreclosure due to Shawn and Marlon losing the money because they got arrested for scalping tickets to said concert. At that point they meet Busta and try to get him to remember them from their school days. He says that he does and that's because they insulted his girlfriend who is now his wife. He refuses to help them. Later, they raise money for Dee's church by lying that Busta will do a benefit concert. Marlon hijacks Busta's limo and takes him and his crew to the church instead of the airport. Busta's angry at first, but when Marlon and Shawn apologize to him, he agrees to do the benefit and Dee's church is saved.
143	* On one episode of ''Series/TheWeirdAlShow'', Al claims to know John Tesh and promises his friends that Tesh will perform in his cave. He then attempts to pull off an elaborate sales scam to raise enough money to hire Tesh for said performance. When the scam falls through and people come in to return the product, one of the people turns out to be John Tesh himself. Al doesn't recognize him.
144	* Occurred in the final episode of ''Series/WhatsHappening,'' with Rerun pretending to know Sammy Davis, Jr., and then later being pressed to have him appear for a performance at a teen center.
145	* ''Series/{{Wings}}'': In an attempt to get Alex to go out with him, Brian tells her that he knows Clint Black and has several misadventures trying to meet him before Helen finally convinces the country singer to pretend to be an old friend of his. Afterward, Alex tells Brian that she had been sure he was lying and that the fact that Brian would have gone to such absurd lengths to impress her made her consider going out with him, however when she found out he actually ''did'' know him, it completely took the air out of it.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Music]]
149	* Pretty much the point of the Aaron Carter song "Oh Aaron". Although Aaron really is Nick Carter's little brother, three thousand tickets are a bit much.
150	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "[[Music/{{Usher}} Confessions]] Part III" includes this revealed lie.
151	-->'''Al''': Like remember when I told you I knew Creator/PaulyShore (Pauly Shore)\
152	That's a lie, I don't know what I said that for.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Webcomics]]
156	* Inverted in [[http://www.dorktower.com/2007/12/28/comics-archive-975/ this]] ''Webcomic/DorkTower'' comic strip with Creator/StanLee.
157	* ''Webcomic/NextSoundOfTheFuture'': In chapter 6, Shine pretends to be idol influencer Princess' friend so she can confirm whether Roll's tip that she frequently visits a specific coffee shop is true.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Western Animation]]
161	* The ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "My Morning Straitjacket" has Stan become a fan of the band My Morning Jacket, and he and Roger eventually manage to find their way onto their tour bus. Stan tries to ingratiate himself by making up a story about partying with famous musicians. Unfortunately, the musicians he chooses are "Tina Jivestrong" and "the black guy from Music/TheBeatles", and he and Roger are summarily kicked off the bus.
162	* In the ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl", Courtney's father Doug promises teacher Ms. [=LaBonz=] that if the school performs his daughter's proposed musical adaptation of ''Film/WorkingGirl'', he can get Music/CarlySimon to attend. At the show, [=LaBonz=] sits next to Simon's reserved seat while wearing a T-shirt reading "You're Still Vain Tour '85". The performance comes to a halt near the end and Simon still has not shown up while Doug makes various excuses for her tardiness. When it becomes obvious the whole thing was a lie just to ensure putting on his daughter's show, [=LaBonz=] confronts him and says "You probably think this slap is about you." (referencing Simon's hit song "You're So Vain") before slapping him in the face. After this, a re-written musical is performed [[spoiler:and Simon shows up in time for the curtain call, and sings with the cast during the episode's credits. Simon voiced herself for this appearance.]]
163	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' Larry the Lion claims to know Donkey from ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' in order to impress his son's classmates. A ZanyScheme ensues (involving kidnapping what turns out to be Donkey's stunt double), before Donkey decides to play along. It should be noted that in this case, Larry actually tries to get help from the "real celebrity" much ''earlier'' than the usual examples of this trope. However, Donkey keeps adamantly refusing. The only reason Donkey eventually decides to help is because [[spoiler: he walks in on Larry's son's classmates laughing at him...which causes Donkey to have a painful flashback to ''his own'' foalhood days of his classmates laughing at him, so Donkey sympathizes with Larry's son enough to play along.]]
164	* ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'' 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.
165	* Jetta from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is a wannabe BritishRockstar 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 [[IAmVeryBritish all British accents are posh-sounding]].
166	* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', many of [[ConsummateLiar Lila's]] lies involve knowing famous celebrities (for example, she claims famous rock star Jagged Stone wrote a song about her). The problems start when she lies that she knows Ladybug, which is eventually exposed as a lie to the guy she's trying to woo and leads to her [[BrainwashedAndCrazy getting akumatized.]]
167	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
168	** Played with in the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E9SweetAndElite Sweet and Elite]]". Rarity really ''does'' know Princess Celestia, which is what initially turns the Canterlot upper class's heads towards her; however, an incident involving some upper class ponies shunning her earlier in the day for coming from Ponyville drives her to put out a few fibs here and there to mask her origins. Eventually comes to a head when her friends from Ponyville show up at Canterlot, end up merging Twilight's birthday party with the upper class one Rarity was invited to, and inadvertently force Rarity to admit where she really came from. [[spoiler:Fortunately for her, one of the most influential ponies she befriended finds the whole thing "delightfully rustic", so she gets to keep her celebrity status despite the earlier lies.]]
169	** Another variant in the same episode exists. Rarity, discussing who will win the Wonderbolts Derby she and several upper class ponies are attending, uses what Rainbow Dash has told her to correctly guess the winner. Rainbow Dash's name was mentioned, though, and when the other ponies ask who she is, Rarity claims that Dash is the Wonderbolts' personal trainer.
170	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
171	** In one episode Lisa becomes popular when Bart tells everyone that she is best friends with a Series/{{Hannah Montana}} {{Expy}}. Lisa plays along with the lie but eventually has to come clean.
172	** 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. 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.
173	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the boys become talent agents and decide to pretend to publicly receive a phone call from a famous person to increase their credibility. Unfortunately, Cartman decides to get calls from UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and [[UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken Colonel Sanders.]]
174	* A played-with variation occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E8SupermansPal Superman's Pal]]"; Jimmy's reputation as "Superman's Pal" isn't due to him, but to Angela Chen and her willingness to QuoteMine for a good story; he's originally embarrassed and only starts going along with it later when he realizes the perks of the reputation. Then, at the end, Superman reveals he ''does'' see Jimmy as a close friend (although perhaps not quite as much as Angela implied).
175	* Subverted in ''[[WesternAnimation/FredAndBarneyMeetTheThing The Thing]]'' cartoon. Benji Grimm says the Thing will show up for a high-school talent show, which should be easy (since he ''is'' the Thing), but every time he transforms, he accidentally scares a janitor and then changes back to try to calm him down instead of just remaining the Thing and going to the show. In the end, the Thing never makes it to the show.
176	* An unusual variation appears in ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'', where in an attempt to help impress Ro's one-time foster family, Zeta takes on the appearance of fictional celebrity Adam Heat... without telling her beforehand. This goes awry on a variety of levels: Zeta gets roped into a ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' rehearsal, stalling them. Undesirable publicity follows. Then, when the real Adam appears appears in a live interview at the same time, [[InspectorJavert Agent Bennet]] comes knocking...
177	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CelebrityLie