![]() It's no secret that money changes hands when a magazine scores an exclusive, but this wasn't always the case. Having a baby, getting married, it's the most intimate thing you get to see from celebrities, and you have to turn to magazines to see it." You talk about celebrities like you talk about your best friends. "You don't call her Angelina (Jolie), you call her Angie. "Now more than ever, we want our celebrities to be real and think of them as family," noted Rob Shuter, executive editor of OK! magazine. "Having a baby represents an extremely happy time in their lives, but it's also something that makes celebrities very accessible," Sansing said. "It's not just about seeing stars in movies or on television shows, we want to see them in the grocery store, shopping for clothes and playing with their children."īabies in particular offer that up to the readers of celeb weeklies. "In the last few years the public has been increasingly interested in every aspect of celebrities and their lives," Dina Sansing, Us Weekly's entertainment director, said. As point of reference, Jennifer Lopez received a reported $5 million for pictures of her twins, which appeared in the March 11, 2008, issue of People.)Īlthough there's always been a nascent interest in the spawn of the rich and famous, the real baby boom has taken place more recently. (There's no corresponding dollar figure for just how much money has been spent on celebrity baby photos since then. More than half of those have run since 2000. 27, 1976, cover of People magazine and since then, People has devoted 28 covers to celebrity babies. appeared on the cover of the inaugural issue of TV Guide, and in turn, paved the way for the likes of Prince William, Apple Martin and the Jolie-Pitt children.Ĭher, Gregg Allman and their son, Elijah Blue, appeared on the Sept. 19, 1953, Desi Arnaz Jr., Ball and husband Desi Arnaz's second child, came into the world, and Ball's Lucy Ricardo character gave birth. (The episode that kicked off the storyline actually borrowed some French and was titled "Lucy is Enciente.") Her pregnancy was written into the storyline, but it was agreed the word "pregnant" wouldn't be spoken on air. In the end, CBS negotiated with the parties who'd taken issue with her pregnancy and allowed Ball to stay on the show. Ball was in the middle of the show's filming schedule when she found out she was with child for the second time, and CBS (and basically every other major network) maintained that pregnant women couldn't be shown on television.īall was left with little choice: either challenge CBS on its stance, or don't work. However, its star, Lucille Ball, presented a problem no one was "spectin," as Ricky Ricardo might say. The precedent for covering the birth of a celebrity baby and the public's appetite for the related details likely stems from the public's love of Lucy.īy 1952, "I Love Lucy" was a certifiable ratings hit for CBS. Time and again, the if-you-build-it-they-will-come approach to covering the birth of celebrities' babies has worked, but why? While there are some fans who might rush to an online baby registry and buy a token of congratulations, history proves that far more people will rush to a newsstand and part with a few hard-earned dollars so they may catch a glimpse of Celebrity X's little miracle. ![]() In a climate where everything from box office hits to traffic stops makes headlines in blogs, newspapers and celebrity weeklies, it comes as no surprise that the more substantial life events of an A-lister - say, the birth of a baby - constitutes news.
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