A-List Secrets: Do Stars Get Paid for Grad Chats?
Why do universities think students want to hear celebrities make commencement speeches? And do the stars get paid?Denise, Boston
If you’re asking how much Oprah got for that commencement chat she just gave at Stanford, the answer is $5,000about enough, I would imagine, to pay for half a tassel in her cream-and-gold-brocade sky palace.
Harvard, which recently recruited J.K. Rowling to speak, says it didn’t pay her anythingand not because, as you might suspect, she made Ron marry Hermione. (I personally would have paid Rowling 50 bucks just to see Draco tap that.) A spokesman tells me the university never pays its commencement speakers.
Other schools do, though. And just how much may surprise you, so keep reading…
According to several reports, star speakers charge up to $50,000 for just a short talk. And even that sometimes isn’t enough. Hence honorary degrees, and even use of a private jet, if all else fails to satisfy the celebrity.
Here’s how it works.
In most cases, the university makes at least a nominal effort to work with the student body, or at least its president, to agree on which celebrity should don the rayon robe and crack mock-self-deprecating jokes. Then the president extends a formal invitation, often cosigned by a rep from the student body. In the case of Stanford, the university likes speakers who have some connection to the school. Oprah’s goddaughter Kirby Bumpus was in this year’s graduating class.
As for why these celebrities keep getting recruited, blame the students. Last year’s Stanford commencement featured Dana Gioia, an accomplished poet who has won several awards. Students promptly complained Gioia wasn’t famous enough.
“Unlike last year’s highly criticized speaker choice,” a student reporter wrote triumphantly in a February edition of the Stanford Daily, “this year’s commencement speaker will not be suffering from a lack of star power.”
Oh, and be my fan on Facebook, ’kay?
Shall she dance? Hillary invited to Dancing with the Stars
As the race between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barak Obama heats up for the Democratic party presidential candidacy, here comes news that should throw the spotlight onto Hillary…if she’s savvy enough to say yes. During a recent visit to The Tyra Banks Show, Hillary revealed that “if (paired) with one of those really good partners” she would someday like to compete on Dancing with the Stars. When the powers that be at Dancing heard that, they wasted no time in sending the former first lady a formal invitation. While they acknowledge that the show is not currently in production, dancers from the show are performing around the country in Dancing with the Stars - The Tour. They invited Hillary to choose any one of the dancers and take a try at a cha cha, pasa doble or tango. Or, if she prefer, she could always call on hubby Bill for a pas de deux.
Hillary shouldn’t hesitate. She should take them up on this offer and do it now. This is a perfect opportunity to display her lighter side. It would be just like June 1992, when the then-struggling Democratic candidate, Bill Clinton, appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show and played “Heartbreak Hotel” on the saxophone. It is now considered classic TV. According to Wikipedia, it was “an important moment in Clinton’s political career, helping build his popularity among minority and young voters.” Many believe it helped Bubba to beat George H.W. Bush and become the President of the United States.
There’s no question that a Dancing with the Stars photo op would be just the right thing to get Hillary some great publicity and show her off in a fun, frothy way. So, Hillary, grab your Capezios and stretch those calf muscles; the dance floor awaits you.