A couple of weeks ago we learned that Jessica Simpson finally gave birth to her first baby … a girl she named Maxwell Drew. Altho Jess has tweeted some about baby Max, we haven’t seen hide nor hair of the wee darling … and now we know why. While some celebs (notably Hilary Duff and Beyoncé) have decided to share the first photos of their babies themselves (for free), Jessica has decided to cash in on the first photos of her baby girl. Apparently, Jessica sold the first photos of Maxwell Drew to People magazine for a cool $800,000. Ker-ching!
Did the anticipation for Jessica Simpson’s baby, following a marathon pregnancy, create a bidding war for her new baby pictures? Not really. Several sources told WWD that People magazine will pay the former pop star about $800,000 to run exclusive photos … Simpson’s deal with People isn’t too significant, at least compared to celebrities such as Matthew McConaughey, who sold photos of his newborn son to OK magazine for $3 million, according to reports. When Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins, she pocketed $6 million from People and, although it’s probably unfair to compare, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt famously received around $11 million for the exclusive on their twins.
Honestly, I am not blaming Jessica for selling the photos. I don’t know that I would turn down $800K for photos of anything (I’m serious, make me an offer) so I can’t fault Jess for doing so. While celebs like Hilary, Beyoncé and Bruce Willis are happy to give away the first photos of their children, other celebs are even happier to cash in. People magazine is usually pretty good about getting these first baby photos to press very quickly so I suspect we’ll be getting our first look at Maxwell Drew very soon. For $800K, I hope she’s worth the wait.
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Hey Trent, is it US Weekly or People? Your header and link seems inconsistent :)
Do you think she needs the money that bad to exploit her baby? Shopping for who will pay her, as a new mother, the most for pics of her new baby when shes already very wealthy is just in bad taste. There are people in america who have to ration their kids food, or choose between buying food or buying gas at these prices to get back and forth to work because they are poor. Maybe she would be kind enough to feed some hungry kids in america with the money. Times are hard, me, my kids and so many people where i live in michigan are going without basic necessities and stories like this just adds to the depression we feel.
I think comparing her to Beyonce and Hilary is unfair. Beyonce is Queen, she has more money than God and Jesus combined, and she’s A-list: she would never sell pictures of her baby because it seems desperate. Hilary Duff, on the other hand, couldn’t sell pictures of her baby even if they came autographed with a hundred dollar bill stapled to the back. So she just posted it on Twitter because she can’t do better. Jessica is somewhere in the middle. She’s not A-list like Bey, but she does have name recognition and she is doing that show with Nicole Richie so she has some current projects, unlike Hilary. Jessica also has no shame, and let the paps and press document her every pregnant moment. So it’s only celebs like Jessica that would sell their baby photos, while others either can’t or won’t.
@Tommy — You are horribly mistaken. Jessica Simpson and her companies (clothing, etc.) make hundreds of millions of dollars. Google her real worth and see just how much Jessica doesn’t need another piddly $800k. Also, I’m not really comparing the ladies … they are just the most recent new moms to give away their photos.
My husband and I are going through an absolutely horrible financial time right now and there will always be wealthier people than most of us. I can’t judge or be upset with them for taking 800k for baby pictures because I have a lot less. It’s not their fault we’re struggling nor should they feel guilty for what they have. It’s not their responsibility to save the world.