It’s no secret why Jessica Simpson is hiding her baby bump from the paparazzi. But the $500,000 payday she’s seeking from celebrity mags to officially let the cat out of the bag is a bit much to expect.
An insider tells On the Money that a slew of mags, including, People, Us Weekly and OK! (which certainly isn’t shy about shelling out cash for exclusive photos), have already shot down the figure Simpson can expect for close-ups of the much-flapped-about bump.
“Simpson even attempted to sweeten the deal and the pot to $750,000 by guaranteeing pics once the child is born, but they still passed,” our insider said.
The decision comes as no surprise to Ronn Torossian, president and CEO of 5W Public Relations. Torossian, who was involved in an earlier media-frenzy payout for pictures of a celebrity baby (Shiloh Jolie-Pitt), which he describes in his new book, “For Immediate Release,” sees no hope for Simpson.
“She’s not as hot as she was a few years ago . . . No music and no movie on the way,” Torossian explained. “That price tag in this economy isn’t going to work even for an A-lister, unless its a sure-fire home run.”
An e-mail to Simpson’s reps wasn’t returned by press time.
Joseph Barracato
Actors’ equity
Given that the new movie “Margin Call” takes place at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis, it’s only fitting that the film used a throwback-type of financing that the global recession may have helped usher in.
The credit crunch that predated and was part of the 2008 financial collapse ultimately helped put an end to Wall Street film-financing deals that had proliferated in previous years. In their place, a number of equity investors have emerged.
One such financier, Seattle real-estate scion Michael Benaroya, put up the entire $3.5 million “Margin Call” budget.
Actor/producer Zachary Quinto made the process of securing funding sound quite simple at last Monday’s screening, saying, “We met with [Benaroya], he read the script, we talked with him about our belief of how it would unfold, and he wrote a check.”
But it actually took Quinto, who co-stars with Demi Moore, and his partners a while to find the money to make their film. Although they’d pursued other options, Quinto says that with Benaroya they were able to “arrive at terms that worked for everyone.”
Benaroya, meanwhile, told us he was willing to commit millions to this independent film because he liked the script as well as first-time writer/director J.C. Chandor.
Benaroya, who founded his eponymous production company in 2006, has several other high-profile titles on the horizon, including “The Paperboy,” starring Zac Efron, and the Shia LaBoeuf starrer “The Wettest County in the World,” which is being co-financed by another young equity investor, Megan Ellison, the daughter of Oracle CEO, Larry.
Hilary Lewis
PAL lunch
All the ladies behind the Police Athletic League’s Women of the Year luncheon at The Pierre are power brokers. The chairwoman is Diana Taylor, managing director at Wolfensohn.
Honorees include Dolly Lenz, of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Tara Stacom of Cushman & Wakefield. The third is Liza Minnelli. The fete is scheduled for Nov. 7.
Post staff
Bon appetit
At least celebrities still have disposable income.
One year and $250,000 later, New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi officially opened his charity restaurant in Red Bank, NJ.
Once an old, 1,100-square-foot auto-body shop next to the Red Bank train station, the newly renovated JBJ Soul Kitchen serves up gourmet meals that rival trendy neighboring eateries.
The Soul Kitchen, established with wife Dorothea Bongiovi, is part of the singer’s famed Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation — the same foundation that has placed 260 low-income families nationwide into new homes.
With money tight for middle-class America, dining out is no longer a viable option — and Bon Jovi aims to change that.
“With the economic downturn, one of the things I noticed was that disposable income was one of the first things that went,” Bon Jovi told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.
Patrons who stop by to feast on the grilled salmon or cornmeal crusted catfish may dine-and-ditch without getting heat.
The restaurant’s menu is priceless — but customers strapped for cash are encouraged to lend a laboring help.
“If you can’t afford to eat, you can bus tables, you can wait tables, you can work in the kitchen as a dishwasher or sous chef” to earn a meal, Bon Jovi said.
Kenneth Garger