[vidarh]

It's ironic that you call it cynical, but assume they see it as being a talking monkey (I assume "money" was a typo) and selling their reputation. That seems overly cynical to me. Many people will happily do things where the financial payoff doesn't really move the needle for all kinds of reasons ranging from enjoying it or wanting to be available to fans and admirers, to just filling dead time or boring moments. I'd imagine part of the appeal is that these services have made it quick and easy to use it as a way to fill dead time doing something (talking to fans) they often end up doing for free anyway.

[s1artibartfast]

On His Cameo profile his rate is 10k for 10 minutes and says he is doing it for charity.