Celebrity 2.0: Lil Miquela and the rise of a virtual star system

In this essay, we interrogate the boundary between the highly controlled Hollywood celebrity star system and the highly liberated social media influencer. By examining the case of Lil Miquela, a virtual social media influencer created through computer-generated imagery (CGI), we introduce the notion of a re-imagined virtual star system, which is defined by techno-human cultural intermediaries and the non-agentic persona as property. The virtual star system calls attention to contradictions between the real and the artifice and questions the significance of authenticity in both celebrity practice and the influencer industry.