Simply put they are human trash. The kind of people that you keep your kids away from, lest they end up trying to emulate them. They have power because a spectacle makes good entertainment, and much of our society has apparently decided entertainment is more important than competence or morals. And the bonus is that these kind of people are easy to keep in line behind authoritarian orders, because inside they know that they're hollow and that if they stop fronting it is a long way down.