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Is Shiloh II going to cause just as big a press frenzy?

Mon., Mar. 3, 2008 2:29 PM PST by Leslie Gornstein

Do you think the paparazzi and even legit news coverage of Brangelina's second pregnancy will be as crazy as the first?
—Hannah, Tampa, Florida

The B!tch Replies: You'd think people would have learned by now: All newborn babies look like a cross between giant moth larvae and Ming the Merciless. Every single newborn. But apparently America has yet to catch on.

So to answer your question, yes. The coverage will, almost certainly, be just as nuts. Of all the celebrity spawn debuting right around now and in the near future—J. Lo's twins, Xtina's son, Jessica Alba's unborn child, Cate Blanchett's proto-Oscar winner—the highest interest remains with Brangelina's newest bump.

Now, the frenzy surrounding Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt may seem hard to beat—the birth in Namibia, the first photos selling for a reported $4 million—but baby-gossip watchers seem sure of another windfall.

According to an Us Weekly editor who recently spoke with Matt Lauer on the Today show, the impending Shiloh II will probably fetch the highest price for a magazine cover photo, when compared with all the others currently gestating or recently sprung. And given that Xtina's new son fetched a reported $1.5 million from People, that's no small feat.

"Seeing the little brother or sister of Shiloh is something that millions and millions of Americans will still pay money for," Janice Min told Lauer earlier this month.

(And oh, obligatory caveat: La Jolie hasn't officially confirmed a second pregnancy yet. So in the interests of responsible reporting, Jolie may just be sporting an oddly placed goiter.)

As far as what the "fuss" is, you'll have to ask someone more maternal. Here's Min's take on it: "Women sit around, and when you find out someone had a baby, the first thing anyone asks is, What does the baby look like? Can I see a picture?"

I'd rather look at photos of, well, pretty much anything else, I suppose. But I guess that's just me. And you.