How Much Do Celebs Usually Pay for Hookers?

Tabloid reports rumors that David Beckham paid $10,000, which, as it turns out, isn't that outrageous

Regarding these David Beckham rumors: Is $10,000 a lot for a celebrity to pay these days for a prostitute? Or do celebrities get hookers for free?
—MaD, via the inbox

You speak of the tabloid reports of a ho that the soccer nugget allegedly paid in a possible moment of indiscretion brought on by his generally accepted hotness. The call girl in question claims to In Touch that the transaction went down—so to speak, you understand—in 2007, though Beckham denies the allegation and has said he will sue the mag.

Either way, here's what I can tell you about a $10,000 price tag, from real-life call girls and the people who love them:

First of all, I'm told that stars do pay for their escorts. They're not free. And that makes sense. When stars get freebies of any stripe, it's usually with the understanding that the gifter gets to use the celebrity's name for PR purposes. Can't exactly do that in the call girl world, now, can you?

Not that celebrities don't try their best.

"A lot of celebrities who come through here think that our women should give it to them," says Madam Susan Austin of the Mustang Ranch brothel near Reno. "Because of who they are. They say, 'I'm so-and-so, and I never pay for it.' "

They end up paying for it, is the point. But how much?

Here's what I've learned: In the Hollywood escort scene, $10,000 isn't cheap, but it isn't all that crazy, either.

"When I had a client and I stayed with him overnight I'd often get $10,000," says prostitution rights activist Norma Jean Almodovar, executive director of Coyote L.A. "And that was 20 years ago."

Celebrities generally pay for discretion, so they don't get discounts; in fact—cheap celebrities notwithstanding—sometimes the opposite is true.

"It's a kind of status symbol to pay your call girl a lot of money," Almodovar tells me. "They can brag to their friends that they paid their call girl $10,000. It's kind of a mental trip."

Some high-rollers pay even more—and they'll even travel to get it.

"We've had men come in here and spend $60,000 in a night," Austin says.

So wait. In that context, would that make anyone only paying 10 grand cheapskate?