About

Hiring An Impersonator For Myself is a meme trend and prank video series where someone hires a celebrity or character impersonator to perform for only them, as opposed to a party. Some of the most popular renditions of the prank involve Michael Jackson impersonators. The trend was started by content creator Chase Hofer, who began posting videos following the format in early February 2026. It was further popularized by DomTheTroll throughout February 2026, with other creators also posting videos participating in the trend. As the trend went viral, it inspired parodies and variations in which impersonators are hired to interact with other impersonators.

Origin

On February 9th, 2026, TikToker^[1] @chase_hofer posted a video where he hires an Austin Powers impersonator to perform for him, rather than for a party as intended. Hofer invites the impersonator over and has him perform his usual bits, but solo. He then sits on the couch with the impersonator and talks with him awkwardly. The video gained over 13.6 million views in a month.

Spread

Videos of people hiring impersonators for themselves continued to spread on sites including TikTok and Instagram Reels throughout February and March 2026.

On February 21st, 2026, TikToker^[2] @domthetroll.tiktok posted a video where he hires a Michael Jackson impersonator and then tells them that the party was canceled, but still has the impersonator perform for him. The video gained over 23 million views in just over a week.

The video was also posted to his Instagram^[3] page, gaining over 4.4 million views in the same span of time.

On February 26th, TikToker^[4] @jacksonfelt posted a video where he hires a Michael Jackson impersonator, then hires another Michael Jackson impersonator to interact with the first one, garnering over 4.4 million views in five days.

That day, TikToker^[5] @chase_hofer posted a video where he hires a Tom Cruise impersonator to perform for him, garnering over 8.7 million views in five days. The video was reposted by X^[6] user @RealDonKeith, gaining over 23,000 likes in four days.

Also on February 26th, 2026, X^[7] user @DonnieDoesWorld posted a screenshot of the Tom Cruise video, writing, "I know someone who hired this same impersonator for a birthday party. He ended up doing blow with him in a bathroom stall and he never broke character once. #commitment," garnering over 16,000 likes in the same span of time.

On February 28th, TikToker^[8] @domthetroll.tiktok posted a video where he hires a Donald Trump impersonator to interact with a Michael Jackson impersonator, garnering over 30 million views in four days.

The trend also inspired many parodies. For example, on March 1st, 2026, TikToker^[9] @jaydenoncamera posted a version of the meme where he hires a Jeffrey Epstein impersonator for himself, garnering over 230,000 views in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References