Brad and Shiloh in her first photo shoot
Somewhere, Jennifer Lopez is seething. Page Six is reporting that first photos of the baby or babies currently gestating in the womb of Angelina Jolie could be worth $10 million.
THERE’S no limit to how much money celebrities are being paid to pimp out their babies in the magazines and tabloids.
After paying Christina Aguilera a reported $1.5 million in February for shots of her newborn, Max, People shelled out a whopping $6 million to Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony for the first photos of new twins, Max and Emme.
One magazine editor who asked to remain anonymous said, “It’s at the point now where some stars might decide to have more kids just to collect the money from their photos.”
Pregnant stars are now “treating this like a game,” said National Enquirer Executive Editor Barry Levine.
“It’s become big business now,” Levine said. “It’s outrageous, they’ve gotten very sophisticated. The rights are bought up now even before the celeb enters the hospital. They hire extra security so it’s impossible to obtain a photo illegally.”
Levine said stars now realize that having a child is “akin to getting a role in a movie.” And the glossies don’t mind paying because they recoup the money over time with magazine sales, Web hits, and by re-selling the photos overseas.
Angelina Jolie, rumored to be carrying twins, could nab up to $10 million for selling the first exclusive photos of the babies, Levine estimates.
This is something we’ve been discussing here at CB for a while now- when does this sort of baby bargaining go over the edge? How badly to readers of gossip magazines really want to see those newborn pics- and is it worth the multi-million dollar price tags for these mags?
“That’s where the market is right now,” he said. “When I was the editor of Star in LA, we bought photos of Lisa Marie Presley’s baby back in 1989 for $100,000, and at the time I thought it was outrageous. Now it’s chump change.” He added, “I’d like to see more people like Sarah Jessica Parker standing outside the hospital and giving the shot away for free.”
American Media Editorial Director Bonnie Fuller said the payouts just keep escalating. “If J.Lo really did get $6 million, then I think Angelina can now command $8 million,” Fuller said. “The magazines must look at it as a long-term investment, but I think it’ll cap out at a certain point.”
Halle Berry, who just gave birth to a baby girl, falls below Jolie in terms of interest. “I can’t think at this point who could command more money than Brangelina,” said Fuller.
We live in a world where celebrity babies are a big business. A lot of celebrities figure that doing a formal photo shoot is better for them and their new baby than being stalked by paparazzi, but that doesn’t explain the outrageous price tag attached to it- and it certainly doesn’t stop the paps. These are people who are, in many cases, making millions of dollars per movie or project anyway. I think it’s rather tacky and unsavory to make that kind of profit from a baby picture, but that’s just me. And I have to wonder if magazines like People and OK! really make that money back from magazine sales. Magazines are a dying medium and most of us get our celeb gossip from the Internet anyway. And as we’ve seen, these “exclusive” pictures often get leaked online before they hit newsstands. So, who’s really raking in the cash in these million-dollar baby photo deals? The celebs.
Here are Shiloh’s debut photos from June, 2006.
Doubt if the mags would be doing it if it wasn’t paying big dividends in sales. Personally, I would never buy a magazine for first pics. Maybe read it in the supermarket queue but pay money, never!
i’m HUGE into celebrity gossip – and yet, the issues with the mother cuddling the baby, etc – are my LEAST favorite and you’ll never see me buy one off the rack. Babies, to me, are VERY uninteresting. Whether they are famous or not. Now toddlers are more interesting because you can really see them take on the looks of their famous parents. GO VIOLET AFFLECK!
that´s 10 million for charity. not bad.
I wouldn’t pay 10 cents for a pic of Brangalinas babies. I seriously doubt that they would give 10 mil to charity, they didn’t give all the money they got from the other kids pics.
I love celeb baby pics!! Mainly because I love baby pics. But I haven’t bought a copy of People Mag since Paris Hilton made the cover.
As for magazines, it’s not about sales as much as advertisers which is where magazines make their money.
J.L would have gotten 2 mil tops if People didn’t have People en Espanol. That’s where they expect to make their cash. Watch.
I’m with Headache….I like seeing the baby pics. But I don’t buy the magazines. I prefer to check them out at Celebitchy, or in line at the grocery store.
And here we were, a few days ago, discussing how SJP was making big money with the SATC movie.
At least, she got her 10 million dollars (well, that’s the tag price we assume it is) through a work contract…
I’m happy to read she didn’t pimp out her newborn baby.
Personnally, I must admit I never buy gossip magazines. Never have.
I do work for several magazines myself (but not tabloids) but I would never spend the money on what I call the Big Brother business.
If I must give out 5euros, I’d rather have something with decent articles about books and culture by decent journalists who can really use and show their skills and criticism than this.
Celebitching is just an online pass-time for me.
What is this world coming to when someone can earn 10 million dollars just to have their photo taken with a baby? Money dominates people too much and it is getting sad. People should have to really earn that kind of money through hard work. Holding a baby and looking good is not hard work.
I put this story in the category of Jlo insured her butt for $1 billion dollars.
I doubt the magazine would make that money back in any case. The Shiloh issue did not sell as much as anticpated. I doubt the Jlo issue has sold a lot either. Never mind the general Brangelina fatigue. Notice that magazines are not putting them on covers that much any more even with the latest pregnancy. I am sure Angelina will pimp out these kids as well. She will say the money went to charity, but we all know she just wants more press time. Britney has been at the centre stage for too long.
Well…as long as people want to delve deep inside the lives of celebs this is the end result. People want to see baby pics because they feel it gives them a human connection to celebs who are for the most part living the most seemingly amazingly glamorous lives. It’s all about seeing the lucky baby who will be so blessed to be born into money.
I’m doing my damdest to quit my addiction to gossip. I totally feel small-minded reading about people who shit on the toilet just like me.
In Angelina gives a damn about Britney Spears I’ll eat my keyboard.
I agree that its out of hand now. But I never buy celeb magazines
From the disappointing sales these baby magazines are making, I doubt it is about the demand but more about being THE magazine that got the pictures. It gives a magazine more credibility because baby pictures are authentic and not sleeze. At least OK gets a chance not to put Kerry Katona or Jordan on the cover for a change. Do you know how hard it is to get a magazine cover in a slow week?
God Shiloh is such a gorgeous baby.
I’d rather the family get a larger share of the money that’s going to be coming from the magazine than the publishers! The magazine is GOING to make that much money because there ARE people who will buy it because of those pictures… I’d prefer the people who did the work of conceiving, birthing and raising the baby got more for it than the magazine who will just write a story now and then on them.
So wait, if Hillary Clinton in 9th cousins with Ange, and Brad is 9th cousins with Barack, will the twins looks anything like this?
http://www.celebitchy.com/10381/new_brangelina_baby_photos_worth_10_million/
The baby in the photo looks like a chicken fetus. What is it about these baby photos that celebs sell to mags for millions? Seems like celebs love to whore out their children. The bigger the celeb, the more money they get, the tackier the whole thing is…it’s really annoying and who cares about their kids anyway?
I think they’ll give every penny to charity so why not go for it. That will feed a lot of empty little bellies for a while.
just because it goes to charities doesn’t mean that the money will be used to feed hungry bellies or other good thing.
i wouldn’t pay money to see a newborn that looks like worms. sorry.
@ paris herpes: LMAOOOOOO! 🙂
@ the “chicken fetus” 🙂
I’d rather see Angelina with it than JLO, at least Angelina is a humanitarian of sorts, but JLO made it obvious she lavishes herself with all the bragging and boasting she’s been doing ever since she admitted she was pregnant. $120,000 nurseries with gold plated furniture, lavish hospital room, $90,000 baby shower with Swavorski crystals, goodness, and her $6 million is not going to charity.
LOL, Shiloh’s mouth has always been open.
Shiloh is so FREAKING CUTE! Aw!
But anyway.. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a People magazine. Ever. I like the baby pics, and at least in these guys case, most if not all the money will likely go to charity.. that part is ok. But I doubt the other celebs are doing that (which is lame) If magazines have that kind of money to burn, where’s the pressure for them to be doing more for charity and good causes? Seriously? Actors and whoever get bad reps, shouldn’t these, aparrently booming companies/mags/whatevers get a bad rap too?
John –
I noticed 3-4 Brangelina tabloid covers in the grocery line yesterday; even though they’ve not really been out and about, the tabs keep making up stories and recycling the same photos, oversaturating the whole thing. I imagine Brangelina would be perfectly happy not to see their pictures on the cover of every other mag, but I know you disagree.
Seriously she looks like a rat in that cover picture. A very repulsive rat. I am glad she got better. I hope though her head grows smaller as she grows.
they absolutly wood sell they have done that whit all the rest they are the first to put there kids on the marked i think thats sick they shoud just go away and stay away they meak me sick they are lyers whit a dobbel moral and media whores just diskustink
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