20 Times Celebs Got Paid Thousands To Do Something Totally Normal (Like Turn On Lights)
You might think that celebrities get paid millions of dollars because they have successfully built up their career over the years. And you'd be partly right. But there's also another side to it that includes getting paid astronomical amounts for things most of us could do in our sleep.
Whether it's turning on some Christmas lights, showing up to store openings or simply just sending a tweet, these celebs are banking big bucks through seemingly ridiculous side gigs. And we're on to them!
If you already thought that celebrities are making too much money, you'll be amazed when you see the ways they're making supplementary incomes. Check out these 20 times celebs got paid millions for doing something useless.
20 Kim Kardashian Gets Paid to Party
Could you imagine getting paid to go to a party? That's basically like getting to paid to have a fun weekend.
But for Kim K, working hard is partying hard and it costs a pretty penny too: $600,000 to be exact.
That's how much she was paid to attend a New Year's Eve party at Tao Las Vegas.
“The cost of hiring a celebrity to attend or host an event has risen over the past couple of years,” Elliot Stares, of the Miami-based PR consultancy ESPR, told FOX411's Pop Tarts.
“It's increasingly more difficult for a publicist or brand to garner editorial coverage for an event without a celebrity association.”
19 Rihanna Turned On Christmas Lights For Millions Of Dollars
Rihanna was asked if she would do the honor of turning on the Christmas lights at the Westfield Shopping Centre in London.
We're not sure what kind of budget Westfield has but it must be something special if Rihanna is making appearances and getting paid 8 million dollars to do so.
“Rihanna's thrilled she has been asked again,” a source told the British newspaper. “She knows it's a big deal and is totally up for it if it fits in with her schedule.”
Hmm… we're sure she's thrilled about the 8 Ms too.
18 Kendall Jenner Paid Big Bucks For One Instagram Post
In our current climate, we all know how crucial social media is in building a career and a business.
Celebrity endorsements have always been popular in advertising, and social media allows businesses and sponsors a wider platform for reaching out to audiences. That's why its no surprise Kendall Jenner was paid $250,000 for a single post she did on Instagram for Ja Rule's Fyre Festival, which she has since deleted!
We don't think Ja Rule got his money's worth; the festival turned out to be a disaster and was quickly shut down due to lack of tents and toilet paper.
17 Britney Spears Gets Paid To Sit On A Stage
When Britney Spears attended the New Year's Eve Party at PURE nightclub in 2006, she was paid $350,000.
She didn't have to perform or sing or even stand up. She propped herself on the VIP stage and watched the festivities.
When it comes to celebrity appearances, you can expect to pay a lot of money with little to no return. Even when Britney was undergoing her infamous breakdown, she was repeatedly asked to make appearances.
16 Blake Lively Paid to Attend Store Opening
Blake Lively was asked to attend the opening of a New York City store and walk their carpet, likely because of her reputation as a fashion icon. Celebrities like Lively bring in crowds because they are fashion mavens and inspire seasonal trends.
She didn't even stay around for refreshments was paid $50,000.
“At minimum, celebrities are getting $10,000 to $15,000 for a straight appearance, which often includes no more than… a couple of photo ops,” one New York event publicist dished.
“For a store opening in NYC last year, Blake Lively was paid $50,000 to just walk the carpet. She left ten minutes later.”
15 Kylie Jenner Paid To Attend Her Own 18th Birthday Party
Well, now we've seen it all.
Kylie Jenner was paid close to $100, 000 to go to her own birthday bash. Sources stated that Jenner didn't want to be there which is why she asked for a fee.
She arrived an hour late to the party and made a fuss about the bathroom not being acceptable enough for a wardrobe change.
She then "asked to be taken back to her car by security," Page Six reported," and then driven 100 feet to another, evidently more suitable bathroom."
14 Jennifer Lopez Paid Over A Million For 40 Minutes
J.Lo was paid $1.2 million for a 40-minute set at a joint birthday party for a Russian billionaire and his wife.
Andrey Melnichenko wanted to hear songs like "Jenny From the Block" at his birthday party and was willing to pay extravagantly for it.
“I can confirm that a very high-profile singer performed at a private party in Surrey,” Melnichenko's spokesman, Brian MacLaurin, told People.
It's not her first birthday party either, apparently, Lopez makes it a habit of serenading millionaires… wonder why…
13 Mariah Was Paid Millions For One Night
Mariah Carey is one diva who won't do anything that's not worth her time.
In 2015, Carey was paid $5 million dollars to perform on New Year's Eve at Copacabana in Brazil, according to TMZ.
"I think what you have to realize is people aren't making that much money on their music anymore. They are making it from touring and merch and doing private events and doing commercials. Same thing for movie stars and athletes and former athletes no longer getting that income," Ryan Schinman of Platinum Rye Entertainment says.
"I think this is a terrific way to supplement their income."
12 Ed Sheeran Attends Weddings
Ed Sheeran was seen on social media attending a (seemingly) random wedding.
We later found out he was paid by the bride and groom's family as a surprise to the newlyweds.
"I think you can't control social media nowadays. As long as it doesn't go to the press or somebody isn't trying to profit off of it, I think that celebrities come to realize that social is a part of it," Schinman says.
Sheeran was likely paid $1-2 million for his attendance at the wedding.
11 Christina Aguilera Gets Paid $16,000 A Minute
Christina Aguilera was hired for a Halloween party in San Diego and was paid $1 million for an hour of her time. That's roughly $16, 000 a minute. Not a terrible hourly wage if you ask us.
Unlike some of the stars we've seen, Christina actually spent the hour performing, so we know her heart… and wallet are in the right place.
10 Nicki Minaj Hits Up A Bar Mitzvah
New York financier Andrew Murstein made his son's Bar Mitzvah the party of the year when he hired rapper Nicki Minaj to perform. And it only cost him $5 million dollars!
The photos posted later certainly tell an interesting story, but we thought the birthday boy was supposed to be the one racking in envelopes of cash?
It was fabulous. It added a great buzz leading up to the party as word started spreading that I would have someone (famous),” said Murstein, president of New York's Medallion Financial Corp. “But I never told anyone who it was.”
9 Dwayne Johnson Gets Paid to Post About His Own Movies
It's no surprise that celebrities want you to come see their movies. Posting on Instagram is a common trend for stars with upcoming flicks: behind the scenes excerpts, cast selfies; anything that will intrigue us enough to pay for a ticket and a large popcorn.
But Dwayne Johnson isn't giving away his Instagram tags for free. He gets paid $1 million dollars to post about his own movies on social media.
Crazy right? Well, maybe not so crazy when we account for the fact that he's one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood… with an extensive social media following.
He has even more followers than Kim Kardashian does, at $12 million and counting!
8 Paris Hilton Gets Paid To Go To A Pool Party
Talk about a hot way to make a paycheck.
In 2012, Paris Hilton was hired for the Miami Music Week AVICII Pool Party among celebrities Paula Abdul and Holly Madison.
We can imagine how much they dished out for the heiress to attend, but as far as work days go for Paris, there are worst ways to spend an afternoon.
“Gone are the days when they were contracted to stay all night and do a certain amount of interviews. All celebrities have to do now is a quick PR stunt.”
7 Kim Kardashian Got Paid For A Date
A date with Kimmy will cost you $500,000.
In 2014, Austrian billionaire Richard Lugner paid the hefty sum to have Kim on his arm for the Vienna Opera Ball.
You don't always get what you pay for and we think Lugner might have had regrets as he later called Kim "annoying."
Interestingly enough, the oldest Kardashian was already engaged to Kanye West when she accepted the offer; we're guessing half a million is enough to OK another man on your arm.
6 Matthew McConaughey Charges For Commencement Speech
Commencement speeches have become a popular hotspot for celebrities to offload their insight on to bright-eyed graduates. We often associate these appearances with well-intentioned instances of philanthropy; in another words we rarely think about whether they get paid to do so.
But for Matthew McConaughey, wisdom comes at a price. The Dark Tower star received $135, 000 to speak to the University of Houston's graduating class:
“Don't choose anything that will jeopardize your soul. Prioritize who you are, who you want to be, and don't spend time with anything that antagonizes your character. Don't drink the Kool-Aid.”
5 Kim Kardashian Cashes In On Instagram Posts
It's been said that 25% of Kim Kardashian's income comes from the affiliate work that she does on Instagram.
Michael Heller, CEO of Talent Resources (a digital marketing firm that manages the Kardashian family's reality TV show contracts) told US Weekly:
“Some companies have been known to pay up to $500,000 to get access to Kim Kardashian's 9.4 million Instagram followers.”
Getting followers to look at products is big business these days. Anything that Kim posts on social media usually sells out in the same day.
4 Paris Hilton Was Paid To Wear Hair Extensions
How much can someone really pay to have another person wear fake hair?
Well if you're Paris Hilton, and you agree to exclusively wear one brand of hair extensions, you'll find yourself with $3.5 million in the bank.
And don't take the term "exclusive" loosely; Hilton was later sued for $35 million by the same company when she wore a competitor's hair on the red carpet. Yikes!
3 Kevin Hart Gets Paid For His Tweets
We think Hart took a page out of his buddy, Dwayne's Johnson's book when it comes to this one.
Hart revealed that he contracts for $2 million when asked to tweet about movies he's in.
We're thinking Jumanji had a larger advertising budget than they originally expected.
2 The Rolling Stone Do Birthday Parties
Some bands will flat out refuse to sing to you on your birthday. They find it offensive. "Bruce Springsteen's not going to do it for you. U2's not going to do it for you," Schinman says. The Rolling Stones, however, played for a birthday party where they charged a fee of $2-5 million. "That's most people's sweet spot when they're doing big, lavish events," Schinman says.
1 Have Hilary Duff Show Up At Your Next Party
While we can think of many people who would love to have the adorable Hilary Duff attend their party, we're not sure how many of them have $500,000 to budget towards it.
“This trend is getting worse. Celebrities are not showing up to support launches and celebrations unless they are paid, which as hurt the business drastically,” sniped one PR business owner.
Time is money for these celebs; and can you blame them? People are willing to pay!
References: nationalpost.com, bbc.com, harpersbazaar.com,