I gotta know: How much can stars like Jessica Simpson and Snooki make off of their babies these days? Are they earning more than their day jobs by selling out their fetuses?
—Your Favorite B!tchlette, Virginia
Make no mistake: Having a baby while famous can make your richer than rich.
How rich?
Well, put it this way: By not selling a first photo of Blue Ivy, Beyoncé may have sacrificed the cost of generously proportioned single-family home in the central United States. At the very least. Really.
As for Snooki and Jessica Simpson, here's what I can report ...
Both of them, reportedly, want to use their pregnancies to make money. So far, their successes in this goal are less than clear. In general, stars tend to break down their baby-related income into several chunks: Selling exclusive confirmation of the pregnancy (generous pay), selling exclusive access to their baby shower (decent pay) and selling the first baby pics (very generous pay).
That equation does not, of course, factor in the thousands of dollars worth of free stuff that pregnant celebs field, without even asking, from ambitious publicists, opportunistic retailers, rich and doting friends, and slavering fans who need something better to do.
So what kind of income might these stars be making at this hour?
Let's look at Simpson first. Jessica allegedly tried to sell confirmation of her pregnancy, plus first baby photos, for a reported $750,000, but failed. (Instead we got a free photo of her as a "mummy." Get it. Get it?)
ou can't blame Simpson for trying; Jennifer Lopez charged somewhere between $4 million and $6 million for first photos of her twins. Jamie Lynn Spears (who isn't even Britney) extracted a reported $1 million from a magazine for photos of her baby. (That's according to my own fabulous book, by the way.)
Even Bristol Palin's baby eventually earned her more than $262,000 as a teen-pregnancy-awareness ambassador for the shoe brand Candie's.
As for Snooki, tabloid editors speculate that she lied about her pregnancy early on so that she could shop a more lucrative confirmation story to Us Weekly this week. But her potential baby payday probably won't end with paid magazine covers. There's also money to be made in endorsements—up to $2 million per, some experts say—and maybe even a spinoff reality series about raising a li'l juicehead post-Jersey Shore.
In other words, you can guarantee there will be lots and lots of overpriced animal-print baby blankets with Snooki's name on them, and you will probably see them first on a reality show...starring Snooki.