WHAT DO YOU CALL celebrities who are famous, not for their own accomplishments, but for being involved with genuinely popular or controversial people or issues? They?re more than groupies or alalays, but there?s something similarly symbiotic and even parasitic to their dubious claims to fame?or infamy, as the case may be.

In US show biz circles these days, the two prime exponents of this dubious celebrity are Levi Johnston and Jon Gosselin.

Levi is currently more ?famous? for being the father of Sarah Palin?s first grandchild. Now kicked out of the Palin home, he?s done his darnedest to exploit the failed relationship by using it to keep himself in the public eye and get a career going as a certified ?personality.?

Media mileage
Levi is only 19 years old, but he?s determined to make it big. He?s gotten valuable media mileage from getting linked to this and that similarly publicity-hungry starlet, and from signing a contract to do a nude pictorial for Playgirl magazine.

What motivates him to be so productively controversial? We suspect that he wants to avenge himself on Sarah Palin, and thinks that, if he continues to embarrass her in front of the entire tabloid world, he will be able to exact his perverse pound of flesh.

Even more recently, Levi has been invited to join the panels of a number of showbiz talk shows, both as commentator and controversial guest. He?s gotten a lot of negative feedback for exploiting his relationship with Palin, but he may still have the last laugh.

These days, Levi is sharing the stage with another savvy relationship exploiter, Jon Gosselin. Technically, Jon is less of a celebrity appendage, since he?s popular in his own right as the co-host, along with his wife, Kate, of a long-running reality show about them and their huge brood of kids.

Through the years, however, Kate has become more popular, with more viewers rooting for her, especially when Jon was caught fooling around, leading to their marriage ending up in divorce court.

So, Jon is clearly playing second banana to her, and he?s been reacting to that demotion in a particularly nasty way, by painting the town red with a number of nubile and willing female accomplices.

Parental neglect

This irritates viewers big time, because Jon is the father of many young children, who could be suffering from parental neglect as he does his own thing for the rancid delectation of the tabloid media. And, he?s turned more people off by hinting that, following Levi?s cue, he wouldn?t be averse to baring his crown jewels in exchange for a hefty sum. To make things worse, Jon isn?t exactly in tiptop physical shape, making people mutter, ?What is this guy thinking??

Levi and Jon, Jon and Levi ? two leading exponents of the new starlet category for people who are able to make a career out of basking in reflected glory. Will they be able to eventually become stars in their own right? Only if they have something to offer beyond momentary controversy and ?negative appeal.?

Nude centerfolds are great for titillating the Peeping Toms and Tammys out there ? but, after baring it all, what do you do for an encore?