Celebrity is the dominant type of fame in contemporary society, and it has become an integral part of all spheres of society. Celebrity implies a cultural influence, or influence on public consciousness, and it deeply effects social processes and the construction of group and individual identities. The most common belief is that the rise of celebrity is associated with the expansion of mass media, the invention of PR and the growth of the advertising industry from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. This paper presents an overview of the relation between media and celebrity in the contemporary context. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the media in general and explains their function and role in society, focusing on their communicational aspects, the role in constructing social reality, the relationship between media and consumerism, and their role in forming trends and constructing identities. The second part of the paper discusses the phenomenon of celebrity. It presents definitions of the concept of celebrity and its different categorizations. It gives the short overview of the history of the emergence of celebrity with a special emphasis on the process of "production" of the celebrity personae. It explains the functions of celebrity as a commodity in the context of consumerism and the rol that celebrity has in shaping individual and group identities. The influence of celebrity and celebrity culture on the social changes is explained through the process of celebritization of society, its key manifestations and interconnection with other social processes.