The Tyranny of the GlamBOT Must End

ABLUpdated 2 months Ago3 Mins read13

Every GlamBOT video consists of two parts: the part where GlamBOT inventor Cole Walliser explains the GlamBOT — “It’s a high-speed, slow-motion camera” — and the part where we see the resulting shortform video that should allow its subject to look cool or stylish. When Walliser went through the concept with eventual Oscar nominee Sebastian Stan at the 2025 Golden Globes, Stan started shaking his head. “No way,” he groaned — not in disbelief but vague annoyance. For Stan, a veteran of the industry, the GlamBOT appeared to be yet another obstacle between him and whatever table he was trying to get to. To the member of his team, below the camera’s podium, he shouted, “Evelyn! Am I doing this?” She pointed at the camera and mouthed, “Hurry up!” Stan was, to his dismay, doing it.

Stan’s trepidation felt like a sliver of honesty in a GlamBOT landscape full of halfhearted “Oh, wow” and patient “Cool!” responses to the slow-moving camera capturing celebrities turning around and making eye contact with the lens on a crane. The best ones thrive on a combination of simple pose, cool outfit, and nice attitude, as though the presenter’s invention were to combine every aspect of a press line in a nine-second video.

That Walliser invented something to turn celebrities into living GIFs is interesting, but the fact of the matter is that only a handful of celebrities have ever really “mastered” the GlamBOT. A typical red carpet these days requires celebrities to list their Letterboxd “Four Favorites” or describe Brat Summer, which makes the GlamBOT the most disposable and empty of all the new press obligations. Did Stan’s GlamBOT turn out to be any good? It’s fine! It’s silly! Few actors or singers are capable of transcending the medium’s limitations with many more goofy (or harrowing) examples than outright slays. An eight-minute compilation of the GlamBOTs plays like an eight-hour video of a cozy fireplace burning to put on in the background of a Christmas party if the logs were wearing couture. “The pressure is on because you only ever have ONE take, and this is a dangerous rig that can knock you out. I get good at explaining things, but sometimes the environment is so frenetic you can’t really hear me or focus,” Walliser explained on Reddit. Got it. So the GlamBOT is confusing, dangerous, and completely dependent on the skill of talent who don’t know what they’re doing and can’t hear themselves think. Being on a red carpet is already stressful enough for everyone there; that ecosystem doesn’t need a Saw-like contraption that could knock out Chloe Fineman that much. Beyond that, the GlamBOT videos seem to only be appreciated by celebrity stan accounts and celebrity stan accounts only with little for awards buffs or fans to get out of the process otherwise.

The real legacy of GlamBOT’s six-year tenure so far is increasingly becoming the behind-the-scenes footage of Walliser catching up with or introducing himself to the GlamBOT victim in question. Walliser is undeniably charming and quickly establishes a warm relationship with whoever he’s talking to. He’s part stylist, part photographer, and part brand consultant, encouraging whoever stands in front of his camera to show off their best self. Like Amelia Dimoldenberg and Sean Evans, he’s become a staple character of the new-media landscape — one of the more likable faces in media’s ongoing pivot-to-video shift. With his elegant locks and enthusiasm, Walliser has become the sole highlight of an otherwise embarrassing routine. It’s time to free the celebrities from the obligation to leave no crumbs and to free Walliser from having to explain what he’s built over and over again to unsuspecting participants. Besides, he’s the real star of each and every GlamBOT video, no matter how big the hair toss or skirt flip in front of the camera may be.