A person of some seeming distinction who is actually a product of publicity: Steven Brill calls him an ''empty suit'' whose main talent is getting his name in the papers(1980s+)
Idioms and Phrases with empty suit
empty suit
An unimportant person; also, a phony. For example, Don't pay any attention to him—he's just an empty suit, or She acts as though she knows what she's doing, but she's really an empty suit. This graphic expression calls up the image of an empty suit of clothes. [ c. 1970 ]