Thursday - August 06, 2009

Hollywood Loonies

Paula Abdul decided this was the year she wanted an answer — straight up, in the words of one of her biggest pop hits.

As the eighth season of “American Idol” began to draw to a close last spring, Ms. Abdul’s representatives told Fox Broadcasting and two companies that produce the popular series, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, that she wanted a significant raise from the $2 million in salary plus another $1.5million in expenses and other benefits that she was then earning a year as a judge on the show.

What she deserved, her representatives said, was a package that would put her closer to parity, if not on par, with Simon Cowell, who earns an estimated $30 million annually from “American Idol.”

In the end she got an offer of close to $5 million a year, far below what Ryan Seacrest, the show’s host, got last month when he signed a contract with 19 Entertainment for $10 million a year in salary and another $15 million over three years for other production deals and rights to his image.

Feeling unappreciated, Ms. Abdul said on Tuesday that she would rather walk away from the biggest stage on television after eight years. Shortly after telling the “Idol” producers that she could not accept their offer, and with auditions of potential contestants for the ninth season scheduled to begin this weekend, Ms. Abdul told the world via Twitter that she was leaving “American Idol.”

A person close to negotiations tells The Times that the producers had offered Abdul, 47, a 30 percent raise and a total multi-year deal worth more than $10 million.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Abdul asked for about $20 million to continue with the show.

She “felt unappreciated” in recent months, The Times reports. Ryan Seacrest had inked a three-year $45 million deal, and Simon Cowell, who has suggested he may leave at the end of his current deal, is already in talks to sign a deal for a reported $100 million a year.

Holy shiite. Ok, on the one hand I can understand her thinking on this. The host and the other judges earn far more than she does, and there is obviously a huge pile of money to spread around. But on the other hand, $3.5 million a year to sit on your ass for a few hours a week and mouth cotton-fluffball encouraging inanities? I’d do that ... let’s see, call it 10 hours a week max ... give myself a nice fat raise ... I’d do that for $25,000. And so would you (assuming that the stage was near your home), and so would 99.997% of the entire population of the planet. $50/hr to do nothing is damn great money. You give me her job, at her current wages and benefits level, for ONE YEAR and I’d be set for life. FOR LIFE. Ok, let’s make it 2 years, what with Obama’s tax plan and all. But still.

Hollywood is insane. They’re even more insane than the ‘roided up performing monkeys of professional sports.

Posted by Drew458     on 08/06/2009 at 11:56 AM   
Filed Under: • Hollywood •  
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