Wave of Celebrity in the HD Universe

"Faded starlets, troubled celebutantes and aggressive, costumed street performers - you never know who you're going to bump into on Vinewood Boulevard. Come see the sights and sounds for yourself, or jump aboard the Vinewood Star Tours bus to have a struggling actor narrate as you take a guided tour of the landmarks and homes of the rich and famous while sitting on an un-airconditioned bus."

- Official tourism website for San Andreas.

The Wave of Celebrity in the HD Universe is the term used to describe the sudden influx of celebrity and gossip media in the fictional Grand Theft Auto World series during the HD Universe timeline.

Pop and Tabloid Culture
GTA IV's media is sprinkled with references to its own fictional pop culture universe, which parodies the 2000s-era wave of reality television and "famous for being famous" celebrities. Many of the celebrities have turbulent friendships or loose associations with each other, much like their real life counterparts; For example, Brody Jenner and Kim Kardashian are half-siblings, and many other celebrities are socially linked together via New York's Covenant of the Sacred Heart Catholic school.

Real-life celebrities
Considerably more famous people in real life agreed to portray themselves in GTA IV than any previous GTA game. Almost every in-game DJ is a prominent musician or personality in real life, Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams play themselves as comedians, and Busta Rhymes also appeared on the radio as himself to promote his new album (in-game and real life).

Politicians
The political atmosphere of the game has a very strong sense of post-9/11 hysteria. Surprisingly, there are no references or parodies whatsoever to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, which was arguably the largest media frenzy of 2008, likely because the majority of GTA IV was completed before 2008, and well before Obama was considered a viable candidate for President.