Nicole Richie $300,000 richer for cutting MidCity ribbon
        •        Richie flown in to open shopping mall
        •        $200,000 fee for just three days' work
        •        She got $30,000 goodie bag plus expenses
IT'S not bad work if you can get it.
After a hectic three days of cutting ribbons, cocktail functions, interviews, a Sydney Harbour lunch and even a private visit to Sydney's Taronga Zoo with daughter Harlow, US socialite Nicole Richie left Australia yesterday $300,000 richer.
Richie was brought to Sydney for the re-opening of the MidCity shopping centre in the heart of the CBD.
But bringing a woman famous mainly for her friendship with Paris Hilton and engagement to rocker Joel Madden does not come cheap.
She was paid a fee of $200,000 plus first-class airfares valued at $72,000 for her, two-year-old Harlow, Harlow's nanny and PR agent Nicole Perna.
Richie stayed in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel on George St (value $36,000) and had a daily allowance. And she acquired $30,000 in clothing, accessories, watches, jewellery and sunglasses.
MidCity project manager Sam Spoakes said the co-owners were "absolutely chuffed" with the results.
"The whole thing has been fantastic and we've got far more in PR value than we expected," Mr Spoakes said.
Link here:
http://www.news.com.au/entertain ... rfmqi-1225881590066

More power to her if she can command that price I always wonder why so many people get pissed off when people like Paris Hilton get 300,000 dollars to attend a party. Hell, if someone is stupid and rich enough to pay me for doing jack shit, I would take it in a second!

On a certain level I agree. Anyone stupid enough to buy something only because a so-called famous personality recommends it deserves to be ripped off, but at the same time I don't think you would be human if you weren't a little pissed off that they're giving $300,000 to this talentless slag to spruke crap.

[ Last edited by  atomic3d at 21-6-2010 13:44 ]

I'll never understand what people's fascination with fame is... It's such an odd sensation.

This is a very common occurrence in Asia where Asian stars are paid an attendance fee. It's a form of advertising and if you don't get a star coming to the opening then you won't get as many press photographers. I am surprised they revealed the amount of money that was paid to Nicole.

Fact is, people are kidding themselves . They all want to look down on little Nicole's (or Paris', or Birtney's or Lindsay's...) antics and judge them (which explains why they get pissed off when they get this amount of $$ for doing basically nothing but turning up), BUT they cannot help watching those same antics with a fastination bordering on addiction (which explains why it is profitable to pay so much to someone who does nothing but turn up!).  

This is evidence how trashy the media has become today. Instead of reporting on important topics like the Gulf Crisis or Afghanistan they will go the easy route and report on trash. Intellectualism is dead.

agreed.  What a crap story.  Wish journalists werent so damm lazy and actually wrote a worthwhile story.

I disagree, I think the story has real merit. It's important show how media whores like Richie really make their money.

Media is what government use to get our mind off of all the fucked up shit that they are doing. Media is just a brain washing device.

I agree with you and in the case of the US, the Republicans use Fox News and Rush Limbore as their right wing brainwashing mouthpiece. In the US there is freedom of speech and despite this, the standard of journalism has really slipped. There are still great journalists around but people entering the media these days have no analytical abilities and opt to report on celebrities which does not require any skill at all, like some of the bros here that only do the one liners to gain Ks but no naming names (not referring to you of course).

it's dumb people out there that choose to acknowledge them as an actual celebrity. i can care less about richie and i would just ignore her. if everyone just ignore her stupid ass then she would quietly fade away. i dont even know why she's famous

I actually see this as a big problem in modern society. People are getting DUMBER and demand very little from the media! Sure the play-makers have the media in their pockets, but at the end of the day a paper packed with gossip and crap (see above story) will sell better than one filled with actual information. Unfortunately, in Oz anyway, the media is a business and it is all about making $$$'s. If they have a great story about government corruption, with no relevant footage, or a shit story about a footballer getting drunk and behaving like a c*#t, with really good footage, which do you think will get most air-time? People watch the news for some light entertainment and little else.

The problems of the world are a little too scary (and probably on a scale that just confuses most people) so rather then demand quality journalism, people just want to read about celebrity gossip with the occasional story about fireman rescuing a cat from a tree (light entertainment). And the media will just pander to what rates/sells well.

A young journalist may start with all the right ideas and skills, but to get regular employment they are going to have to tow the line and write trash like this, otherwise they'll just get fired or their employers just won't run their stories.

I don't blame the media - its the people who do not demand more of them!

I think we need to look back at what we define as media. Is the media just for reporting the news or is the media more importantly for our entertainment? I believe it is the latter (since all news is fabricated/tailored in a way anyways).

Also, for this event, you need to look at the audience of this news. Viewers of TMZ, etc are the target audience that MidCity is right after. If they're trying to sell stuff to environmentalists, they'd fly in Al Gore. It's just smart marketing.