Leader of social elite becomes comedian (6)
I believe the answer is:
scream
'comedian' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'leader of social elite' is the wordplay.
'leader of' suggests taking the first letters.
'elite' becomes 'cream' (as in the cream of the crop).
The initial letter of 'social' is 's'.
's'+'cream'='SCREAM'
'becomes' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for scream that I've seen before include "express horror" , "Person who seems extremely funny?" , "Loud piercing cry" , "Funny person; cry" , "Caution" .)