EP · 011
THE SCIENTIST WHO BET HIS CAREER ON BUGS. 14 YEARS LATER, HE WAS RIGHT.
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I think everyone should have a why in their career — really for anything that they do professionally.
Brett Cohen
Brett Cohen started an internet radio show at 15 from his bedroom in Long Island on his mom's landline phone. By the time he was booking Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Jimmy Fallon, he was still in high school. Nobody knew. Then a $40 Craigslist stunt in Times Square landed him on Good Morning America and the Today Show by Friday morning.
Key Takeaways
- →PR Newswire as a guest-booking engine: Brett's primary method for booking celebrities on his Blog Talk Radio show as a teenager was refreshing PR Newswire multiple times daily, then emailing the contact at the bottom of any press release tied to a notable figure. He booked Kim Kardashian this way by offering to promote a less-desirable client in exchange for access to her to discuss a fitness DVD.
- →The fake celebrity social experiment went viral for under $40: Brett hired actors off Craigslist to play bodyguards and orchestrated a walk through Times Square with photographers, showing how quickly crowds confer celebrity on a stranger with the right visual trappings. The video cost less than $40 to produce, hit Reddit's homepage the night it was posted, and landed him on Good Morning America and the Today Show within 36 hours.
- →Media credibility runs in the opposite direction now: When Brett went viral in 2012, the goal was to convert internet success into traditional TV deals. He notes the inversion is now complete—journalists from CNN, the New York Times, and major networks are leaving to become independent creators on Substack and YouTube because that's where the audience and revenue have moved.
- →Fishing for a newsworthy moment without tipping your hand: Brett describes extracting the detail that Jimmy Fallon kept his Late Night studio freezing cold due to overactive sweat glands—something Fallon hadn't discussed publicly—which People Magazine picked up and cited as a reference. He contrasts this with a misstep asking Melissa Rivers whether her mother would have supported Trump shortly after Joan Rivers died, which she called out directly on air.
- →Don't quit your day job—but don't stop either: Brett's friend Edward, who collaborated on the fake celebrity video, recently recorded his thousandth consecutive daily podcast and has grown past 250,000 Instagram followers through sheer consistency. Brett ties this directly to not being afraid of failure and having intrinsic drive: 'If the passion isn't genuine, it's not gonna drive you through.'
In This Episode
- How he booked celebrities nobody would talk to from an AOL email address and his mom's phone
- The PR Newswire playbook that got him Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Jimmy Fallon
- How a $40 YouTube video made on a Wednesday went viral on Reddit and landed him on every major network by Friday
- What going viral before going viral was a thing actually did to his life and career
Full Essay
We turned this conversation into a long-form essay. More context, more depth, and the moments that didn't make the edit.
Read on Substack →What We Discuss
0:00South Florida, baby on the way, reconnecting after decades
3:00Growing up in Long Island and where the drive came from
4:30Starting internet radio at 15 on BlogTalkRadio in 2005
10:00Booking Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Jimmy Fallon from mom's landline
25:30The $40 fake celebrity prank video shot in Times Square
30:00Reddit, Good Morning America, and Lester Holt in 36 hours
34:00Back in class a week later
Q&A
Questions answered in this episode
How did Brett Cohen book celebrities for his podcast as a teenager?
Brett monitored PR Newswire daily for press releases tied to celebrities, then contacted the publicist or management listed at the bottom of each release. He offered maximum flexibility—pre-recorded, over phone, 10 to 15 minutes only—and sometimes promoted a lesser-profile client first to earn a reciprocal booking with the star he actually wanted.
How did Brett Cohen's fake celebrity video go viral?
Brett walked out of 30 Rockefeller Plaza with paid actor bodyguards and photographers on a Friday night in Times Square, filming how crowds of strangers immediately treated him as famous with no other evidence. He uploaded it to YouTube on a Wednesday night before going to the gym; by Friday morning his face was on the cover of the Metro newspaper in New York City and he was on Good Morning America.
What makes a podcast interview stand out to a celebrity's publicist?
Brett says the key is offering radical flexibility—short time commitment, phone or pre-recorded format, scheduling around the guest—and connecting the interview to something the celebrity is actively promoting. He also emphasizes researching what the guest has never been asked about before, because finding that unexplored angle is what produces a clip or quote the media will pick up.
How do Forbes live events handle speakers who cancel last minute?
Brett says the response depends on lead time: with a few days' notice they attempt to replace the speaker; with no notice they adjust the program schedule, extend other sessions, or cut the slot entirely rather than leave a gap. His core principle is maintaining calm as a leader so the team can make rational decisions rather than reacting in panic.
Is podcasting or online media still worth starting from scratch today?
Brett argues the tools available now—AI for research and outreach, platforms like Riverside, and established monetization paths—make today's environment dramatically more favorable than 2005 when he started on Blog Talk Radio with a home landline and an AOL email. His advice: treat it like a craft that requires reps, be your own harshest critic, and keep going past the point where most people stop.
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