Just curious, as I would want to emulate your approach. Were you able to get a response from any of them? If so, who did you contact and what message did you send?
I have talked to a lot of celebrities. Recently my energy had dipped. I reached out to like 20 before the energy drain got me. I get about a 25% response when contacting people even high profile people, but I only contacted like 20 about debating.
I have some tips but I want to set expectations. You are seeking something from them and my 25% rate is from.asking about things they care about or asking about things pertaining to their reputation.
You do mot want a template message. If they did an interview or wrote an article contact them with a question about the article or interview. Do not ask questions from them that a Google response would secure.
Do not hint around at what you want. So something like.
Dear Peter singer, I saw an article you wrote about it being morally permissible to commit infanticide to a new born if they are handicapped. Some people would love to debate you on this and understand your position better, would you be interested in a text based debate?
My response of 25% I was asking for clarifications on positions etc. A response that takes them 30 seconds to generate. You would be asking for a time commitment.
That means your response rate will likely drop to 5% and the yes answers may be as low as 1%.
You need to send 500 emails to get 5 debaters IMO. Definitely tailor each one to the individual and if the yes falls below 1% than a new tactic is needed or this just isn't possible. A rate above 1% and likely you should start getting into sales as a profession because you have skills