Thurgood Marshall graduation 2012
Badin vs. Versailles
Law Enforcement Memorial Day
Home > Blogs > Celebrity Worship > Archives > 2008 > October > 14
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Simon Cowell makes too much money
What’s a nasty judge worth? A lot more than an incoherent, babbling judge, it seems. Earlier this year, Forbes reported that Simon Cowell makes $72 million a year, of which $45 million is for each season of American Idol.
The show’s former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe severely underestimated Cowell’s salary when he told Australia’s Courier-Mail, “I think Simon is now earning something like $36 million a year from Fox alone but they can afford to pay him that because at one point we heard (Fox) were getting something like $900,000 and $1 million per 30 seconds in advertising revenue.”
Even using that inaccurately low number, Lythgoe said Cowell’s pay is a point of contention. “(Jackson’s and Abdul’s) salary has never been advertised and Simon has been in Forbes which is why I am talking about it. But there is always jealousy in every job. Why is he getting more than the other two judges? Because it is believed that he brings more to the table. Also, he has actually handled his negotiations quite brilliantly,” Lythgoe said.
Paula is particularly upset, according to an anonymous source allegedly close to Paula Abdul, who told MSNBC that “Paula knew that Simon was getting paid more, but she never imagined it was this much more. This could really put her in a bad way. She has a lot of concerns with feeling appreciated. First, they bring in another judge (Kara DioGuardi) and now it’s ridiculously obvious that she’s getting pennies compared to Simon.”
So the only real news here is that Paula doesn’t read Forbes, and is only now realizing that her incomprehensible babble and awkward hand clapping isn’t all that valuable. At least she gets free food out of the deal; Lythgoe told the newspaper, “Whenever we go out to dinner (Simon) is certainly the first one to put his credit card down.”
No word on how Randy’s taking the whole controversy.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Ringo to fans: Leave me alone!
Ringo Starr is all about the peace and love, peace and love, but keep your crap to yourself. The former Beatle, 68, posted a video on his Web site telling fans anything sent to him postmarked after Oct. 20 will be thrown in the garbage. Why? He’s just too busy.
“It’s going to be tossed,” he says on the video. “I’m warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love.”
Irony alert: The heretofore good-natured drummer guest-starred on a 1991 episode of “The Simpsons” in which he is shown scrupulously answering every piece of fan mail that comes his way. “They took the time to write to me, and I don’t care if it takes 20 years, I’m going to answer every one of them,” Starr said on the show.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment |
Tim McGraw apologizes for new album
Tim McGraw apologized for his latest greatest hits album, saying his label should have instead released a record with new music.
“I am saddened and disappointed that my label chose to put out another hits album instead of new music,” says the country singer. “I’ve only had one studio album since my last hits package. It has to be just as confusing to the fans as it is to me.”
McGraw, 41, said he has been working on a new studio album for more than a year and has debuted three new songs on his tour. But he said his label, Curb Records, decided to release a greatest hits album instead, to extend his contract term.
“I had no involvement in the creation or presentation of this record,” he says. “Sure, I love the songs and I don’t want to take anything away from all the creative people who were a part of making those records. But the whole concept is an embarrassment to me as an artist. In the spirit of an election year, I would simply say to my fans ‘I’m Tim McGraw, and I don’t approve their message.’ ”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Jennifer Aniston, John Mayer try it again
Looks like Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer are giving their relationship another chance. The pair met up Friday in Boston to attend a Ray LaMontagne concert.
“It was a very public date,” a source says in the newest issue of Us Weekly.
Mayer was in town teaching a weeklong music class at his alma mater, the Berklee College of Music. The couple then jetted together to New York City for the remainder of the weekend.
Mayer, 31, and Aniston, 39, split in August after dating for four months.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Marcia Brady: Sex, drugs & Michael Jackson
Maureen McCormick, forever better known as Marcia Brady, has written a book. It’s out today (Oct. 14), and, not coincidentally, stories are being planted all over the place (including here) that say the book, “Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice,” reveals intimate details about her secret life of binging on cocaine, trading sex for drugs and dating Greg (among others….)
In the book, she writes about her romances with Michael Jackson and Steve Martin. She delves into her relationship with Barry Williams, who played Greg Brady. Steve Martin? Say it ain’t so!!! (At least he didn’t go out with Cindy.)
The affair intensified while the “The Brady Bunch” filmed episodes in Hawaii. “We couldn’t hold back any longer,” she writes. “It was our first kiss, and it was long, passionate and deep. It was wonderful, too, though as we continued to kiss and press against each other so closely that we could feel each other’s body heat, a part of me — a tiny part, admittedly — said to myself, `Oh my God! I’m kissing my brother. What am I doing?’” Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!!!!!
McCormick’s drug addiction and depression fueled her downward spiral as she unsuccessfully tried to reconcile her real life with the one she had portrayed on TV. In the memoir, she writes about cocaine binges and parties at the Playboy Mansion and the home of Sammy Davis Jr., an unwanted pregnancy and trading sex for drugs.
Seriously. Jan was the more interesting sister, but this is a memoir that appears to have it all.
