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It only took one iconic quip: \u201cYou do french fries, I do franchise,\u201d for \u201cReal Housewives\u201d star Angie Katsanevas to find herself on Capitol Hill promoting entrepreneurs in front of the House Committee on Small Business on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have never thought that I would be standing here today because of a viral moment that I didn\u2019t expect to go viral until it did in real time,\u201d Katsanevas, known colloquially online as \u201cAngie K.,\u201d told NOTUS in an interview. \u201cBut it\u2019s put a spotlight on franchising, and hopefully on the International Franchise Association and the opportunity that can come with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Katsanevas wasn\u2019t the only popular social media influencer on Capitol Hill Thursday \u2014 longtime Hollywood icon Paris Hilton also made the rounds, meeting with lawmakers to advocate for the bipartisan DEFIANCE Act, which would allow victims of nonconsensual, AI-generated explicit images and video to sue people responsible.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a sign that lawmakers are learning, especially as constituents turn to social media to get their information, to partner with celebrities with platforms to spread awareness on policy issues. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared alongside Hilton at a press conference Thursday, told NOTUS in an interview that she believed it\u2019s essential to have people with public platforms use them to highlight important issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always significant when everybody and anybody decides to engage in our democracy,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez told NOTUS. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly special when we have everyday people step up, and I think that public figures doing that also shows the rest of us can do it too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hilton has had previous success advocating on Capitol Hill, bringing her own trauma at a youth residential treatment facility to the fore. She spent years championing the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which passed both chambers of Congress in 2024. Ocasio-Cortez noted that bringing celebrities could lead to more success in passing legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it makes a difference, and it opens doors. And when we think about some of the times in modern American history when we\u2019ve had waves of transformative legislation passed, it was done alongside public figures who had the bravery and courage to use their platforms to advocate for things that were important to them,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez added.<\/p>\n
Small Business Committee Chair Roger Williams told NOTUS that he hadn\u2019t watched Bravo\u2019s \u201cReal Housewives of Salt Lake City,\u201d but his staff suggested that Katsanevas could be a strong messenger on franchise issues. Williams was excited by the idea after learning about Katsanevas\u2019 hair salon franchise Lunatic Fringe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not aware of the buzz per se,\u201d Williams told NOTUS. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say it doesn\u2019t matter \u2014 we\u2019re glad she\u2019s coming \u2014 but it\u2019s her story. It\u2019s the American story. It\u2019s the American dream, and it filters down all across the country, that people can take some risk and get reward. America was built on risk and reward. We\u2019ve gotten away from that a little bit. But she\u2019s an example of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celebrity sightings are not uncommon on Capitol Hill<\/u><\/a><\/span>, but as lawmakers try to up their social media game<\/u><\/a><\/span>, bringing high-profile guests to Congress offers new opportunities for content generation. For example, the Small Business Committee posted a video<\/u><\/a><\/span> where each of the Republican members imitated a famous tagline from the \u201cReal Housewives\u201d franchise.<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 hearings don\u2019t typically draw large crowds or media throngs, but on Thursday in the Rayburn hearing room, there were cameras, staffers and reporters lined up to get a peek at Katsanevas and her family, who accompanied her.<\/p>\n In a chase for \u201cauthenticity\u201d that resonates with voters in the digital age, lawmakers associating with celebrities and their platforms doesn\u2019t just elevate issues, it helps voters easily digest them.<\/p>\n Hilton, for example, shared her experience of an intimate video of her circulating on the internet when she was 19 years old, explaining, \u201cThere were no laws at the time to protect me. There weren\u2019t even words for what\u2019s been done to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believed the worst was behind me, but it wasn\u2019t, because today, what happened to me then is happening now to millions of women and girls in a more terrifying way,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cBefore, someone had to portray your trust and steal something real. Now, all it takes is a career and a stranger\u2019s imagination. Deep fake pornography has become an epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n