How Nicole ''Snooki'' Polizzi Inspired a Proposed Law in New Jersey

State's legislation wants to implement a limit on speaker's fees at public universities

By Kendall Fisher Mar 23, 2017 5:59 PMTags
SnookiCourtesy of Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is stirring up some legal controversy, but this time it has nothing to do with being drunk in public on the Jersey shore.

The reality star is part of the inspiration behind a proposed law being voted upon in New Jersey today, which would put a $10,000 pay limit on speakers at the state's public universities.

The proposition comes after Snooki collected a whopping $32,000 to speak during two Rutgers University events in 2011, which N.J. assemblyman John DiMaio says inspired him to write the bill, according to the New York Post.

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Snooki-Palooza!

But it wasn't just Snooki. The school's actual commencement speaker, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, earned $30,000 that same year.

DeMaio called it "ludicrous and wasteful" for the state to fund so much money for university speakers.

Still, this isn't an entirely new discussion, as Snooki's salary caused some debate when it was first reported six years ago, and in her defense, the student body invited the Jersey Shore star come speak.

"The students canvassed for who they wanted here and had the funds available," Rutgers spokesman Steve Manas said at the time, noting that student organizations routinely invite speakers to campus and compensate those speakers using generated revenues and student fees.

During her visit to the university, Snooki discussed everything from fist-pumping to tanning to wearing the proper "poof" in her hair.