There’s definitely a reason why Christina Aguilera has a subtle smirk on this week’s People cover. Reportedly she nabbed as much as $2 million for the exclusive rights to the shot of her and her youngin’.
With a cash flow like that, who needs to Billboard chart-toppers and Hollywood hits? Hollywood parents should know where the real profits are- in the crib.
Aguilera’s little guy Max is just the latest baby to bank just by being born. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden’s daughter Harlow isn’t really hard behind, banking around $1 million from people, according to gawker.com.
"Everyone is curious to see," says Roxanne Motamedi, executive director of entertainment at Getty Images, the agency that took the photos of baby Max. "The bigger the celebrity, the more people want to know what the baby looks like. It sells magazines."
The spawn of the ever popular Brangelina duo is still the top of the top when it comes to raking in the dough for baby shots. Pitt and Jolie reportedly snagged $4.1 million to run Shiloh’s picture on their June 2006 cover. Of course the charitable duo didn’t keep the money for themselves, instead donating it to African Children Charities.
"If a celebrity is noncover material, the value is less," Motamedi says. "Brad and Angelina are two of the biggest stars today and obviously they sell whatever they do. Everyone is interested in their life."
There are rumors that Angelina has a pea in the pod again, so who knows how much the photos of this new addition will go for?
"I can't even put a number on it," says Katie Caperton, a deputy editor at OK! magazine. "That's huge. The fascination that people have with Brad and Angelina and that family is just priceless.
"People are so excited to see this unbelievably glamorous couple - who have been in the public eye for years - have all these kids," she adds. "They just need to see them when they're walking down the street in the French Quarter [of New Orleans] and they've got the baby in one arm and a stroller behind them."
"People are so excited to see this unbelievably glamorous couple - who have been in the public eye for years - have all these kids," she adds. "They just need to see them when they're walking down the street in the French Quarter [of New Orleans] and they've got the baby in one arm and a stroller behind them."
OK! is also another leader in celeb baby photos, featuring such celeb kids as Bridget Moynahan and Tom Brady’s child, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s son, and Danilynn, the child spawned from the infamous Larry Birkhead/Anna Nicole Smith relationship.
Jamie Lynn Spears’s bun is still in the oven and OK! has reportedly shelled out $1 million for the baby announcement.
"We just do tremendously well on the newsstand when we've got celebrity babies on the cover," says Caperton, "because people love being with their favorite stars in these really important moments in their lives."
Getting a safe shoot set up with a definite paycheck works out well for the parents too..
"It's more beneficial for celebrities to cooperate with a company like us to do their baby pictures versus not doing it, because then paparazzi will chase them and will not stop until they get the picture of that celebrity with the baby," Motamedi says. "But once the pictures are out, there is really no value of paparazzi chasing them and trying to get the baby shot."
