Media scholars would likely view Rambod’s case as an instructive example of how the line between “expert” and “celebrity” has blurred. In the era of user-generated content, a person can be given epistemic weight (introduced as a “nakhbe” or knowledgeable guest) in official contexts and then later repurposed by entertainment industries or social platforms into a different kind of cultural figure with very different expectations. The meaning attached to that person’s identity shifts depending on which institution — state TV, Instagram, or reality production — is doing the presenting.
