Jimmy Kimmel is in New York this week, specifically Brooklyn. He broadcasts from the East Coast for a week at least once a year, which is always fun because of the guests he can get who are working in New York. Kelly Ripa joined Jimmy (after he appeared on her show, Live with Kelly and Ryan) and she talked about – wait for it – her kids. Mainly she talked about her oldest child, Michael, who attends New York University and lives in Brooklyn. According to Kelly, Michael is footing his own bill for room and board and it’s proving a challenge as it’s leaving him “chronically poor.”
If you don’t have time for the whole interview, here’s the part about Michael’s financial straits:
Your son lives in Brooklyn now. How’s that going for him? Does he like it?
You know, I think he loves the freedom. He hates paying his own rent and he is chronically poor. I don’t think he ever experienced extreme poverty like now. It’s very funny, my parents, always give my kids, for years, for Halloween, they mail them an envelope with $20 in it. For years, I’m like, ‘Mom, Dad, you don’t have to do that. They don’t appreciate it, don’t worry about it.’ For years, my kids sort of ignored the $20 and Mark and I would say, ‘you know, when we were kids, $20 would take you through weeks and weeks of life.’ But now that he’s living on his own, he’s called like three times, ‘Halloween envelope arrive?’ He’s like, tak(ing) the subway, to get his Halloween envelope. Just so he can have electricity.
At the risk of being a Kelly apologist, I do think she’s being sarcastic calling him “chronically poor” and experiencing “extreme poverty.” And Michael’s neighborhood, Bushwick, is listed as one of the more affordable options in Brooklyn. But let’s face it, the average rent is still almost $3K/month so let’s be real, the kid’s not slumming it. But if I’m reading between the lines, which I think is what Kelly is hoping we will do, Michael is on a budget now and he’s learning to live within it. I doubt Michael has a job, I’m sure his parents pay his rent and give him a monthly allowance, but honestly, even that’s admirable for a celebrity kid. We all know his parents will bail him out if things become too dire, but forcing him to learn how to stretch a dollar by not paying his gas bill for him is a step in the right direction. Although I do agree with Jimmy, who gets $20 for Halloween?
As mentioned, Michael goes to NYU’s Tisch School of Arts. He asked Kelly to be a producer on one of his school projects, an experimental film. Kelly posted the cute Instagram below, but the best part of the story is about the professor for whom Michael was doing the project, Chris Goutman. Kelly said Chris was the casting director who directed Mark Consuelos and Kelly’s screen test on All My Children and worked with them on the soap for 11 years. So when Michael was touring the various film schools to determine which he wanted to attend, Chris singled him out and said, “You have to go here because I am literally the reason you exist.” I love that story but I hope not all kids have to decide their futures based on how they got here, otherwise mine are working in a Jameson’s distillery.
Photo credit: Avalon, Instagram and YouTube
3k a month in NYC will not get you that far. Jesus, they have walk-in closets for rent as apartment space going for $1800 a month. What is the point of doing that to your kid if you have the resources not to?
One of the pharmacists I worked with moved into a $3.6K a month Manhattan apartment when she was given a major opportunity there. It was mind blowing to think her rent for a tiny apartment (albeit modern and nice) was more than my total income as a pharmacy tech.
Maybe Kelly Ripa is afraid of her son being the next Tori Spelling if she doesn’t teach him the value of money now.
I doubt it’s 3k a month, that’s average and includes the 12k/mon fancy places. He’s probably 2000-2500 per month if no roommates, less if so. Still a lot though. They probably gave him a reasonable budget to cover rent, utilities, food and entertainment. So he doesn’t quite understand working for the money yet, but understanding budgeting no matter your bank account balance is very important. He’s in college he’s spending money on entertainment, parties, going out food, clubs. Thats why he needs to stretch that Halloween money. And good for them for showing him money isn’t magically always there and you need to budget. He probably has an in case of emergency credit card, and monthly parental deposits into a checking account and debits everything.
He’s not “poor” or in “poverty” but making him “suffer” (or what he would consider suffering given his privilege) is better than most in that group do.
Because kids need to understand money, survival and living within budgets if their parents don’t want to leave another useless trust find man-baby or woman-baby in the world.
I always tell my kid, “I won’t be alive forever, and no one else will pay your way.” We are comfortable and fortunate to be able to pay for undergrad. My kid is having to learn the same thing right now.
It’s not that much. I live in a very very desirable area of Brooklyn and have a 2 bedroom brand new apartment in the first floor of a 3 floor private home. I pay $2200. Living in NYC is really only super expensive if you are in the city in the UES/UWS/Murray Hill area. I have friends who rent gorgeous apartments for under $3k with no roommates. My best friend lives in Prospect Park (much nicer than Buschwick) in a 2 bed/2 bath walk up and has one roommate, her rent in $1350.
Jesus. I mean…I live in Portland, OR and my house payment for my 3 br house is $750 so this all sounds INSANE to me, but I guess everything is relative.
I live in Denver and the rent here has skyrocketed. Studios in newer buildings in my neighborhood are going for $1600. Two-bedroom units are $2750 in the nicer buildings. A house in most areas of Denver proper will run at least $500K, and that’s one that requires renovation. It’s a bit mind-blowing to think that it’s generally cheaper to live in my former city, Chicago, than it is in Denver now.
Doing what to your kid? Teaching him the value of money? Letting him stand on his own two feet and learn how to budget? Letting him know what it feels like to have a limited income so that he can be motivated to earn a living and later on appreciate what he has?
I think she was being facetious, too, but it’s still decidedly tone deaf given the state of the country economically. The benefit of the doubt is not on the side of the wealthy right now.
Agree with ya.
I know it is part of the gig to tell a quick, funny story on these shows but…come on Kelly. No. Just. No.
Yeah… now would be a good time for her to make a donation to a nonprofit helping those that are truly experiencing extreme poverty.
It is tone deaf. People are truly suffering. It’s mean and lazy to use “poor” for this situation.
I;m tired of her yapping about her family. Does she ever stop?
This trust fund kid goes to school with my nephew, at Tisch. Trust me, he is *not* living in poverty, nor waiting on money to pay the electric bill.
Good to know. So she’s just annoying, lol.
Of course he isn’t. Which is why her joke was so gross and disingenuous.
I loathe when people with money (and connections) use the word poor.
First of all, MAYBE he is BROKE at the moment (though i doubt it) but he CAN NOT BE POOR.
Poverty is about WAY MORE than just money. It is absence of access, it is lack of connections, it is not having OPPORTUNITY!!! Poverty is not something you get out of with a subway ride to your rich parents for $20
THIS IS SO GROSS AND ENRAGING
She sounds like a horrible, spoiled, out of touch, insensitive even cruel asshat here. Absolutely in BAD TASTE
Exactly.
I know what it feels like to be so poor that I had to go hungry. After things got better for me, I came across this article and it made me weep:
https://longreads.com/2018/06/12/the-difference-between-being-broke-and-being-poor/
Going hungry leaves a person with a sense of shame that is scarring, and the fear of it ever happening again sticks with a body.
I doubt her kid is nowhere near to going hungry.
Even if she was being sarcastic it was a s*itty thing to say. There are REAL poor and impoverished people who struggle everyday. They have to decide between feeding themselves or their family or paying the rent. It isn’t a joke. Kelly has a net worth of a 100mil dollars. Jokes from multimillionaires about poverty are gross. And I HIGHLY doubt she and Mark would let their son starve or be without lights.
+1
Totally agreed. She’s an idiot. Inequality and people facing real poverty are seriously struggling. Poverty isn’t a ‘sarcastic remark, joke or analogy’.
word.
Well said.
“I love that story but I hope not all kids have to decide their futures based on how they got here, otherwise mine are working in a Jameson’s distillery.”
Hecate, and this will be a problem ;).
What kind of a job does an 18 year old freshman have that he can pay 3k in rent a month…plus food…clothing, transportation? Who is paying his tuition? I know they are trying to teach their kids responsibility but when you know your parents are millionaires and aren’t going to actually let you starve and be homeless, it’s a safety net that many don’t have. Plus those kids know they will have a nice inheritance one day.
The daughter is the freshman and in the dorms, I think the oldest one graduated already or maybe is in grad school now.
Oh ok sorry I didn’t know that. I thought he was a freshman ! Still what kind of job does he have that makes him able to afford that kind of rent? Normally if you’ve just graduated it takes a while to find a good job no? LOL nm his family has connections so of course he’s not sending out a hundred resumes a day !
I think he’s done some acting (he played the younger version of his father’s character on RIverdale)
BS. My brother works 40 hours a week at a decent job and I still have to subsidize his rent. Her kids will never know what poor is and she sounds like an ass pretending they do.
I hope my spawn will never know what poor feels like. I worked super hard to get where I am and to be able to provide well for my children, as did their late father and their stepfather. I came from nothing – I grew up in a children’s home and worked to get scholarships and worked close to full-time whilst doing undergrad. I barely had enough to makes ends meet and lived in the dorms because that was covered under a scholarship. I’m glad I can now pay for my kids to go to university, but I expect them to work somewhere after their freshman years – for incidentals and stuff like that. And if they want to live off-campus, they will have to supplement that cost. And of course, they will work in the summers when they get home – they already have jobs lined up working at a little resort in the Bahamas. But yes, my kids know privilege and to pretend they don’t is ridiculous.
Forgot to say: My kids have also worked since they were like 14. They’ve banked a good amount of money for books, room decor, etc. We’re not ignoring that they need to learn to budget and balance money. They’re learning.
I don’t like her and don’t think she is good at her job, she is not deserving of millions of dollars in pay yearly. She was a soap star.
What does being a soap star have to do with it??? Soap stars work way harder than most other actors. The volume they film is unparalleled in the industry and the pay is relatively low for all but the biggest stars. And plenty of serious actors started in soaps. If you don’t like her you don’t like her, but this is a snotty insult.
Ryan seacrest and regis were both game show hosts. Not like this is a job requiring real journalism chops. Soap star is fine.
I don’t watch any morning TV bc I find them all annoying. But I have no doubt she works her a** off so I have no issues with her. This is a stupidly worded comment but the gist- that her kid was financially spoiled and she is trying to give him the experience of budgeting is fine. If she said this in a speech at a benefit for the homeless, it would be tone deaf. On Jimmy Kimmel? No big deal
kelly is obviously having a hard time being an empty nester. she should just get a therapist. then she can take her foot out of her mouth.
She still has a child at home. He is 15/16.
Different perspectives I guess. I don’t take celebs seriously when they talk like that.
I was never poor. My parents are solid German middle class. I had horrible, crappy jobs all through university and learned how to appreciate managing and earning money that way but even when I was broke at the end of the month sometimes, it was never existential. I always knew I could ask for money. I did not and I’m proud of that but I’m aware that not once have I experienced poverty. That’s a luxury and there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that. I’m very very grateful for it.
I don’t know why it seems like celebs always need to sell us their “struggles”.
I’m close to Kelly’s age and have an elderly aunt who still sends me a card and $10 for “coffee and a treat for Chase (my dog)” for Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.
As for the Consuelos kid, I think he graduated from NYU last year. Since neither Kelly or Mark grew up wealthy I can believe they are subsidizing him but not 100% and expect him to contribute to his living expenses. Based on their comments about all their kids they seem to want them to have a work ethic and independence.
I mean honestly, good for Kelly and Mark! Her son had never had to NEED that 20 dollars. They are giving him perspective and that’s priceless. He’s not going hungry and has healthcare. He’s fine. Letting him struggle for a while is good for him.
“Extreme poverty?” Is he living on the streets on top of subway grates? STFU Kelly Ripa.
I cannot stand her. She is constantly preening for the camera on her show. UGH NO she and her husband are so over exposed like STFU for once.
Jameson’s distillery! That made me laugh out loud!!
Nice to see she’s moved on from her daughter. At least her son seems a bit more ok with her privacy intrusion and oversharing.
This is so out of touch. I’m of two minds because I think getting a job in college can teach a lot about responsibility- it certainly did for me, and I worked nearly every semester. But I understand that some students can’t effectively juggle jobs and schoolwork or their grades suffer.
Yikes I hope none of her kids inherited her extreme annoying personality!!! Pretty much everybody I know finds her irritating! I DOUBT he is paying for ALL himself – probably “broke” means that they put him on an allowance – boo hoo hoo. Her story is likely fake news. If the college scandal showed us anything, it is that many of these celeb kids are average and likely have little clue of the real world and can only get by with the help from their parents. I mean c’mon – the professor hired/worked with his parents?! That would a HUGE conflict in any other world but showbiz!!
I lived in bushwick and it was $850/month with 5 roommates. I doubt he doesn’t have roommates.
I think she was simply joking and perhaps being ironic.
I’m still stuck on her showering three times a day.