Celebrity in the GTA IV Era
The Grand Theft Auto series has always strongly relied on satire of popular culture, but a strong influx of parodies of celebrity/gossip culture can be noticed from Grand Theft Auto IV onwards.
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.
Heirs and Heiresses:
| Name | Occupation | Main Parody |
| Cloe Parker | Import/export heiress | Paris Hilton, Britney Spears |
| Jill Von Crastenburg | Banking heiress | Nicole Richie, Mary-Kate Olsen |
| Unnamed British Prince | Royalty | Prince Harry |
| January Natasha Vasquez | Drug heiress | Kim Kardashian |
| Alfonso Vasquez Jr. | Drug heir | Rob Kardashian |
| Tyler Dixon | Cloe Parker's fiance | Kevin Federline |
| Lyle Cleethorpes V | Historic family heir | Josh Astor, David Mayer de Rothschild |
Self-Made:
| Name | Occupation | Main Parody |
| Kerry McIntosh | Supermodel | Kate Moss, Britney Spears |
| Samantha Muldoon | Singer | Angelina Jolie, Madonna |
| Tony McTony | Social network founder | Mark Zuckerberg, Sean "Diddy" Combs |
| Ernesto Asaltacunas | Baseball player | Jose Canseco |
| Richard Bastion | Radio host | Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck |
| Poppy Mitchell | Actress | Lindsay Lohan |
| Clay "Pain Giver" Jackson | Rapper | Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Cam'Ron |
| Bruce Spade | Actor | Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio |
| Al Di Napoli | Actor | Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino |
| Blue Brothers | Singers | Jonas Brothers |
| Wayne Tearson | Actor | Heath Ledger |
Carried over from GTA III Era:
| Name | Occupation | Main Parody |
| Jack Howitzer | Actor | Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone |
| Love Fist | Rock band | Motley Crue, Guns 'n' Roses, Iron Maiden |
| Madd Dogg | Rapper | Ice-T, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube |
| OG Loc | Rapper | MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice |
| Lazlow | Radio host | NA (as himself) |
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.
| Name | Occupation | Main Parody |
| Joe Lawton | US President | George W. Bush |
| Charles Martin | Alderney Senator | Duke Cunningham, James Traficant, Webster Hubbell |
| Michael Graves | Liberty Gubernational candidate | Mark Foley |
| John Hunter | Liberty Gubernational candidate | Al Franken, Fred Thompson, Jesse Ventura |
| Thomas Stubbs III | Liberty House Representative | Kennedy family |
| Julio Ochoa | Liberty Mayor | Fernando "Freddy" Ferrer |
| Bryce Dawkins | Liberty Deputy Mayor | Larry Craig, Richard Curtis, Bob Allen |