For those of us who reside outside the Hollywood bubble, it’s been a rather transparent exercise to witness Jennifer Lopez negotiate her way into a much higher salary for a second season of judging duties on “American Idol.” As far as Lopez’s strategy goes, Kaiser initially called it; and sure enough, Lopez issued some statements to the BBC merely one week later. In the interview, Lopez used a number of catchphrases, including “on the fence” and “waiting and seeing” to express her (faux-)ambivalence to returning to “Idol.” All the while, I’ve been rather flummoxed that FOX studio heads would fall for this tactic because, honestly, it seems rather unlikely that most “Idol” fans have been tuning into the show for many seasons, and the fact that Lopez is a relatively new judge hasn’t helped ratings at all. True, the ratings have remained level and steady since Simon Cowell’s departure, but I think this has more to do with the show’s content than whomever happens to be judging. Still, FOX has inexplicably rewarded Lopez with a new $20 million salary to perform the same exact duties for a second season of “Idol.” Boy, I bet Steven Tyler is pissed that he made the mistake of signing a multi-year deal, right?
Fear not, Jennifer Lopez fans: the singer is returning to “American Idol” to judge for at least another year, TheWrap has learned through two individuals familiar with the deal.
The pop star will be returning to the singing competition with a contract with the Fox Broadcasting Network that’s “a smidge over” $20 million, according to one of the individuals.
Both insiders said the deal is complete but has not yet been signed.
Another insider close to the show denied that a deal was in place.
Others disagreed. The $20 million was apparently the base minimum for Lopez, and after tough negotations with Fox, ended up just above that number.
It’s a considerable raise from the $12 million she reportedly raked in for handling judge duties last season.
The only hurdle left to be cleared in the deal, according to one of the individuals, is scheduling. Lopez will be working on two major productions — the romantic comedy “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” which is slated for a May 2012 release, and the thriller “Parker,” currently in pre-production — which will most likely necessitate a shift in audition dates for the upcoming season.
[From Thw Wrap]
Of course, FOX has made the very grave (repeat) mistake of only signing Lopez for one more season, which means that she’ll pull the same stunt next season too. And she’ll keep doing it until she ultimately reaches Simon Cowell’s former salary of $35 million per season. In addition, one cannot help but notice that this substantial salary increase follows weeks of headlines dealing with Lopez and Marc Anthony’s joint divorce announcement. In addition, FOX’s decision arrives immediately upon the heels of that strategically-scheduled Vanity Fair cover. You gotta hand it to JLo — she played this one quite well.
Photos courtesy of Fame
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Maybe she can buy herself a stylist who can knock some sense into her about her tacky, out-dated wardrobe.
I love her dress in that last picture..
What is she wearing in that last picture? My eyes just shut down they couldn’t take all the color and pattern.
I think it’s a mistake to think that any celebrity can “play” those network wolves. They know exactly what they’re doing. I assume that Jennifer brings in a large commercially viable latina demographic and their decision was purely business. I will say however that I think these numbers are highly overblown for the purpose of generating more publicity.
The way money is thrown at celebrities with compared to how the rest of the world is suffering is staggering when all they do is sit there and judge someone. 8 million? Sorry but that’s excessive.
I don’t see anything bad Jen getting that money and doing what ever she had to do to continue to support her babies and the lifestyle she is used too. I find it weird people treat making money as a bad thing just because the person is famous.
I really don’t how getting divorced played into this whole PR thing…even if she did time all these things…what would have been the point…to get her into the public eye? Her divorce is already old news, I just don’t see it.
Obviously, AI & Fox ignored my memo about not giving in to J-Ho’s tactics.
Oh well, I’ve never watched, so the only way it affects me is by having her in my face on magazines (which I won’t buy) and web pages (where I will tease her mercilessly for her diva-antics).
I guess if Fox is stupid enough to make the deal then you can’t blame the girl for taking the money. Unbelievable what Hollywood and the Networks pay for mediocre talent. Money must grow on trees in that town.
The dress in the last picture will guarantee me a migraine if I look at that dress for more than 1 second – eekkk – throw that dress out!
Gotta hand it to her for maximizing the money-making power of publicity. seriously. of COURSE she waited to negotiate the contract until after the divorce/VF cover – it gives her major leverage since she’s “so famous” right now. She’s working this all to her advantage (in a way that, say, Eva Longoria didn’t manage, that ScarJo didn’t manage, that a lot of other high-profile breakups haven’t….)
Whyyyyyy? I watched the first episodes of last season (I just like the fun part in which people can’t sing) DESPITE her being there.
Yet another year of her judging musical talent…irony, anyone? I won’t watch more of her “you know baby it’s like” crap. I’d love to see the ratings take a nose dive because of her. I’ll be the first to change the channel.
She has the best agents. (for a no-talent narcissist)
It’s ridiculous that with all the troubles in the world, this bitch (and the rest) are making so much money. It boggles my mind how they can spend off the money they have and go bankrupt It also bothers me how people insist on supporting it (watching the shows, buying the product). There are children literally starving to death and Hollywood and other big corporations throw money at talentless, useless people. It’s sick.
I watch for steven tyler NOT JLO!!
Yes, blue this has past the head scratching phase to sickening phase – with mass starvation in somalia this talentless brainless cow gets 20 mil to sit on her arse – a pox on her and Fox; we need to boycott this stuff and the in your face greed. I wish the latin community could see through her; she plays them like she played fox – JHO has one cause herself. Hollywood types love to play the fake lib when it suits them but they have no hesitation acting like wall street robber barons when it fattens their nest. A pox on all them. Disgusting. Please no lectures about the “marketplace”; it is no more sacrosanct than other institutions.
20 Million – 10% to Jazz Hands Medina – 48% to the IRS – Marc Anthony, Cris Judd & Oh-haw-knee’s palimony – the designer fetish for designers that don’t let her get free or borrowed stuff – the unspecified re-Diddyfication fee – the unplastic surgery = much more than I’ll make this fall.
Some women have all the luck. Go Jlo!
Whatever! JLo is so 2003.
YAWN….like we really did not see this coming
PS – Idol done jumped that shark. They got 3, 4 seasons left, tops. It ain’t going 20 years like American Bandstand and it’s outlived its usefulness in the American lexicon now that we got The Voice, XFactor America on the way and all these other Johnny Off The Street Star Talent Shows. She also knows that’ll be a great Wikipedia entry – “A blockbuster music star but a mediocre singer herself, she was, ironically, one of the last AI judges and a mentor to one of Idol’s most successful finds, **insert name of a singer she has yet to discover in the next few seasons.**
Quote it that I wrote it.
@jover and @blue-double ditto to both your comments.
(er, I think we’re feeling irate over the money particularly because this is a little out-of-context. Film actresses make this much cash for a single movie and we don’t bat an eyelash – it’s because this seems like such a hefty paycheck for a TV show, maybe?)
Great, another season of her fake tears and love for the contestant.
heatheradair, personally I think it’s disgusting that any celebrity earns that much money.
NOT ONE THING that any of them do, and this includes celebs I like, respect and care about (like Ewan McGregor, Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler), deserves that kind of payment. It’s even worse when I hear that useless worthless famewh8re a88holes like the K family earn that much money!!
Every day I deal with people, families, children, that barely have enough money to buy OTC medications or healthy food, or to go to the doctor for regular treatment, and then there is this POS Linnocent wearing 1200 dollar shoes to court while proclaiming how destitute she is???
…this kind of sh8t literally makes me sick.
/end rant
I can’t be mad at someone who runs a hustle like that.
anon33, heatheradair, et al: Count me in. It’s pathetic what these people make, and even more pathetic what they do after they’ve made it.
Maybe she can use some of it to get rid of the saddle bags on her thighs. Meaow.
People dying in somalia?! What the hell has that got to do with this post? NEWSFLASH: 95% of the celebrities that we discuss on this site have more money than all of the people in Somalia combined. And?
Do we suddenly live in a socialist society? Some people earn more than others. Fox is making an enormous amount of money with American Idol. It is up to the individuals that contribute to the shows success to negotiate the best deal they can. If Fox didnt think they were worth it, they wouldnt pay it – its that simple.
Lets leave the “babies are dying” wah wah on another site, shall we? Sheesh!!!
There are people that do backbreaking work that get paid the minimum, and I see celebs get paid absurd amounts just to say words and look pretty. It’s mind boggling. I have no clue why any of us give a crap about their opinions on the world, and etc when most of them are shallow and live in a fish bowl with all their clones. They have no perspective about the world.
MB-It’s just that these people don’t even seem to know what they have. JLO is rich and wants more. hollywood needs a reality check.
I don’t understand why people blame the stars for getting all the money they can out of the corporations. At the end of the day they aren’t getting nearly as much as the producers and top brass at the networks are. Am I jealous of the paycheck absolutely but why blame someone for asking for what they can get.
That said I stopped watching AI when the Paula-Simon rivalry ended.
It’s not HER playing them it’s her “people” and she has damn good “people”.
I’m not a fan of Aerosmith – they are an odd combo of “before my time” and “recycled Rolling Stones” but as a fan of rock music his being there comes across as a joke and a sell-out whereas, J-Ho is the perfect pop demographic for a show like that. I’m also not an AI fan. I prefer the trashy dancing has-beens and look forward to seeing both Tyler and J-Ho on there soon.
I wonder if this $$$ is to make up for whatever Marc Anthony is going to take from her?
PS: I’m half Latina and I have Latina friends and I don’t know any Latinas that like J-Ho – we’re embarrassed to be honest. I say I’m glad she’s not Mexican* but then I feel bad because I’m sure Puerto Rican women are even more embarrassed.
*I said that with Ahnuld’s maid too. Terrible I know.
JLo sucks as a judge and isn’t worth anywhere near $20 million. They need to get rid of both Steven and JLo because clearly that show has jumped the shark. Steven is a horrible judge too.
I agree that if the producers of this show are stupid enough to pay her $20 million for doing nothing, then she’d be stupid not to take the money. She has NO talent, but obviously the message Idol is sending is: fame is more important than talent.
JLo is a famewhore, nothing else. I have zero respect for her as an entertainer, but I must admit, she is a very good fame and money whore.
I agree she’s not worth the money – I don’t personally know anyone who watches the show anymore but it’s hard to see that she brings that much value to Idol.
Who else would they get to replace her? I think that was her leverage.
Way to go Jlo! Good for her, now that’s how you do business! The only reason I watched the show was to see her and Steven Tyler.
I don’t blame the stars for getting all the money, I blame Fox for thinking JLo’s a star & worth all that. Like @Miranda said, if I hear that, “you know baby it’s like” crap one more time . . . And what about Paula Abdul? I wasn’t even a fan of hers, but she was a big part of AI to a lot of people for a long time, and she sure deserved a raise, at least. Especially considering what she was asking, compared to this lewd amount JLo’s been handed. What the heck . . I only watched this season to see Steven Tyler anyway, and if I watch again, that will be the ONLY REASON I do.
You’re all being silly by calling her and other celebrities overpaid. They’re no more overpaid than any corporate bigwigs, who in fact make more money than any celeb– James Cameron and Tom Cruise included.
If you want to be mad at overpaid brats, blame the CEOs, CFOs, etc who make hundreds of millions of dollars every year while their companies tank and must lay off thousands of employees or send precious jobs to China or India. It’s they whom you should be mad at, not these celebrities who’re making chump changes compared to the corporate world.
At least, celebrity earnings rise and fall with how they do in the BO and in ratings. One day you’re an A-list making 20 mil per picture, another day you’re a C-list making 5 mil a picture.
That’s not so for corporate bigwigs, who earn hundreds of millions of dollars in golden parachutes even when companies under their stewardship fail or go bankrupt, resulting in countless poor American workers losing their jobs and living off unemployment checks.
This is in reference to poster #5 who said that “Jennifer must appeal to Latinos”
….Jennifer Lopez appeled to girls like me beginning in 1997 when I was in middle school and the media pointed out she was “Latina” and in a lead role of Selena and all she was doing.
So for 10-18 year old girls…we grew up with her, it was empowering to see a Latina be successful actress…esp if you wanted to do the same.
I’m sure she had women in college who were latinas and admired her too. But old school latinos are a whole other ball game. They are sorta stuck in the 60s/70s and golden oldies or their own Latin Hollywood.
It just says a lot when I see people assume all us “latinos” like an artist just because they are “latin.”
Jennifer is from NY…a NY Puerto Rican that didn’t really speak Spanish. Like What I was trying to say at first is if that she appealed to anyone it was to the assimalated or acculturated (that’s a real term) young men and women who were either into seeing her in her movies or her hip hop phase dating DIddy and then Ben. Through our college years.
However, my 50 year old parents were not what you could say following her career or waiting in line to see her films or buy her records or stuff in the tabs like us young first gen girls.
So no she wasn’t initially popular with the older folk until she got so big in HOllywood and the Latin American media in the US (ex: univision) covered her. She did get a lot of attention and love from us initially with her role in Selena, she even appeared in “Cristina” (the Latin Oprah so to speak) but Latinos are too busy trying to work three jobs to pay attention to Hollywood like a lot of Americans.
Rather, her audience was the children of that population and the suburban white kids that were also listening to hip hop and the latin pop. This new multi cultural generation was pretty powerful and I think accounted for a lot of her success and why some older whites don’t “get her success.”
I have to say I don’t think dating Marc Anthony was a calculating way to get a piece of the Latin market…in that case he was a NY Puerto Rican that she could relate to when she needed him most.
Anyhow, people over and under estimate her so much it’s funny!
I also agree that the TV Network producers and such probably make more and CEO bigwigs are the truly overpaid ones.
If ya don’t like how much they’re paid, don’t watch the show! I don’t!
So, when the ratings start to tank will she have a magical, soulful reunion and repeat marriage to Skeletor?
Paula Abdul must be so mad right now!
I just think the judges of these shows should be really knowledgeable and/or masterful at the talent themselves. So if I could sing (can’t) I would be quite affronted to be *judged* by J.Lo!
She can however instruct me on which shiny lycra leggings will best give me the meatiest cameltoe.
JLo ruined the entire season of Idol for me, she made it all about herself with the non-stop self promotion. It was embarrassing to watch.
Heard that Steven Tyler got more than her. Not right, since nobody talked about Tyler, while Lopez made everyone talk about Idols again.
She is a worthless, disgusting, piece of sub-human waste.
In an interview about her divorce she said that she was “tired of compromising”. It’s obvious that she chose “fame and money” over her family by refusing to working things out with her husband. Not even for her children.
If she couldn’t care less about family and her own children; it is NO surprise that she profits from the torture and death of animals for their fur. She not only wears it, she also profits from fur by using it in her “clothing line” sweetface.
NASTY, UGLY, B!TCH inside and out!!!!!!!
JL0 can dance, act in any genre, even singing a little to those who hate Jlo I can tell you that she fulfilled all expectations with her new album by placing her number one in over ten countries worldwide. with her new album Love ‘on the Floor “was …. number # 1 on Youtube for over a month….Now has more than 332,000,000 views and for the Haters JLO was selected the most beautiful woman of all world by People Magazine and is gentle and business women. So many have erred in their careers, their images projected from the sale of sex, the promotion of evil, deviant sex, , fauxhumanitarian, self- tattoo (which only shows ignorance, lack of intelligence and common sense) self-glory and relevant media manipulation. Jlo has always been active, intelligent and very sure of her life. I could say so much about JLo but would need more time, space and people who truly understand the contribution of her in the media …. JLO are many who hate you and I would tell her to continue forward …. I love you JLO.