When my students would raise their hand and say “I have a question,” I would respond, “I might have an answer.” Now I have a question. Actually, I have a series of questions that are all centered around one basic question. Technically I could Google the answers to my questions, but it’s more fun to wonder and speculate.
So here’s the basic question: How do celebrities (including professional athletes) get paid? Back in the 90s when Jim Carrey was bursting onto the scene (remember, Don’t Judge Me for Jim Carrey), he famously got paid 20 million dollars for one of his post-Ace Ventura movies—“The Cable Guy” actually. That leads me to all of my follow up questions. Did he get one big 20 million dollar check? If so, how do you go about depositing a check that large? Do celebrities use debit cards? Credit cards? Do they have a checking account with millions of dollars in it? How do they pay their bills? Do they have autopay on their electric bill like we do? Do they pay online? What kind of security do they have for their accounts? Do they just get on the internet and logon to their credit card account and pay their monthly bill? Is their money insured? Is it even possible to insure money?
Or do celebrities have direct deposit? Do movie studios put the millions directly into their accounts like my employer does? I know contracts are different and some stars opt to take a percentage of the profits. I’ve heard of actors getting royalty checks years later. In fact, I could retire just on what one of the six original members of the cast of “Friends” gets in royalties every year.
So, what about professional athletes? They get those huge multi-million dollar contracts. Does that contract money come in installments? Is it per game like tv stars get per episode? Or do they get it all at the end of the season? I know there’s bonuses if you get to the World Series or SuperBowl.
Finally, I think I know the answers to these, but when celebrities attend the Super Bowl and sit in those fancy box seats, how do they arrange that? Do they call the stadium? I’m guessing their agents/managers/handlers make that happen. But what if I want to save up and have a fancy box seat at a game, can I buy tickets for that online? Or do I have to know somebody who can get me the box next to Jeff Goldblum? Did you see the video of him at the SuperBowl last year or the year before? As much of a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio as I am, don’t put me next to him. Jeff Goldblum is obviously the one who would be more fun to sit next to. How much do I have to pay to actually be in the box with him?
As Meg Ryan says in my favorite Saturday movie, “You’ve Got Mail”… “I don’t really want an answer. I just want to send these cosmic questions out into the void. So goodnight dear void.”
Seriously though, if you know the answers to any of these questions, please enlighten me. I have honestly wondered about this topic for a while.
P.S. Without Googling, does anybody know the name of the movie Jim Carrey and Jeff Goldblum were in together?
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