This post was part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007 feature. Voting has now closed and readers have chosen Oprah Winfrey as the most overpaid celebrity of the year. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you are pleased with this result.
Oprah Winfrey returns to our Most Overpaid Celebrity category after having lost the title to Paris Hilton last year. For 2007 she is joined by overpaid celebrities Madonna, George Lopez, and Russell Crowe.
Winfrey, Madonna, and Lopez all made the Forbes Celebrity 100, a ranking of Hollywood players by pay, influence, and popularity. Winfrey, of course, comes in at number one, both in terms of pay and power. Madonna's earnings placed her at number nine on the list, while Lopez came in at number fifty-one.
Forbes estimates Winfrey's earnings at $260 million last year, and her net worth in the area of $1.5 billion, making her the nation's wealthiest African American. She'll be adding two new reality shows to her media empire, which already includes a blockbuster daytime talk show, satellite radio show, magazine, and Broadway musical, as well as stakes in hit shows by Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray. The school for girls she founded in South Africa has drawn much media attention this year, and she's recently endorsed Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Winfrey has been called the world's most powerful woman, the most influential woman in the world, one of the most influential persons of the 20th century, the world's first black woman billionaire, and the greatest pop culture icon of all time. Can any mortal person live up to all that hype?
Forbes estimates Madonna's earnings at $72 million. According to both the 2007 Guinness Book of Records and Billboard, she is the richest female singer in the world, as well as one of the richest self-made women in the world, with an estimated net worth of more than $850 million. In October, Madonna announced she would not renew her recording contract with Warner Music Group, where she's been for her entire career, and had entered a $120 million, ten-year deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc. A brave move by a visionary who recognizes the waning influence of recording companies, or a move borne of desperation by a performer past her prime? Time will tell.
Forbes estimates George Lopez's earnings last year at $26 million. When his eponymous sitcom, which he also wrote, produced, and co-created along with movie star Sandra Bullock, was canceled in May, the actor and comedian suggested that race might have been a factor in ABC's decision. Still, he scored an estimated $15 million from a syndication deal for the show. Lopez remains popular on the stand-up circuit, selling $9 million in tickets last year, and he has several big screen projects in the works, alongside the likes of Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia, and Luke Wilson. Lopez also hosts the PGA's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic golf tournament.
Though movie star and bad boy Russell Crowe didn't make the Celebrity 100 this year, he did end up on a different Forbes list. The Ultimate Star Payback list ranks movie stars by how much bang for the buck they deliver. At the very bottom of the list was Russell Crowe. His recent films have earned on average only about $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on Crowe's salary (compared to $29 for Matt Damon, who topped the list). Crowe's film A Good Year was made for $35 million, about a third of which went to Crowe, but it earned only $40 million in worldwide box office. His most recent films, 3:10 from Yuma and American Gangster, have fared better at the box office; maybe Crowe won't come in at the bottom of the Ultimate Star Payback list next year.
So for 2007, did Russell Crowe deliver the least bang for the buck, or were Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, or George Lopez the most overpaid celebrity of the year? What do you think?
Share the reasons for your pick of the most overpaid celebrity in the comments, or let us know about any contenders we overlooked. Also be sure to see the rest of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
12-01-2007 @ 10:00PM
Silvana said...
What are these people doing for that kind of money? Any change, research, discovered any cure for anything? How ridiculous, while teachers are so underpaid!!!! It is us who pay them by buying the tickets, CDs and watching their BS on TV.
12-05-2007 @ 11:54AM
Denise said...
Overpaid means someone else is footing the bill... however Oprah is paying herself and does not depend on anyone else for her earnings......
12-28-2007 @ 6:47AM
Cathy said...
Oprah certianly does depend on someone else to pay her... and that would be anyone listening too her radio show, watching her tv show or buying the magazine, none of which do I do. I do think she does good things, but its just to bad the school had to go in a foreign country and not in her own back yard.
12-28-2007 @ 7:42AM
VoxRationis said...
Amen to your comment, Denise. Why the negative comments about someone who earned her way out of the depths of poverty and the trauma of early abuse? Criticize someone for reaping the fruits of their labor, integrity, integrity and good sense?
She did not inherit her millions, she worked her way up from cub newsperson to widely acknowledged most influential woman in the world.
She did not inherit her money and profit from notoriety by outrageous behavior like numerous celebrities we could name.
She can EARNED her oodles of money and can do with it what she pleases, as everyone of the critics would claim the right to do if they had such resources. PLUS she DOES help others.. through her Angel Network and various charitable activities. GOD HAS BLESSED HER WITH SUCCESS.
She did not inherit her money ... but did it the old-fashioned way: She EARNED it. And earned the right to do with it as she pleases.
GOOD WORK, OPRAH. IGNORE THE ENVIOUS CRITICS.
12-28-2007 @ 10:35AM
Lanette said...
YOU ARE SO ON TARGET! PEOPLE WHO RESENT OPRAH FOR TAKING RESPONSIBILITY (KEY WORD) FOR HER OWN LIFE AS WELL AS SHARING HER WEALTH IN MEANINGFUL WAYS ARE PITIFUL!
12-05-2007 @ 1:47PM
MAC said...
Why some people ae overpaid by doing nothing big like discovering a cure for cancer,which is killing the majority of the people,that is a shame,while others are getting paid pennies. Those billionairs should help those homeless people,and God with repay them somehow.
12-28-2007 @ 12:10PM
anthony said...
Mac, we haven't found a cure for Cancer yet but I can tell you that the drug companies will make a fortune when they do!
12-28-2007 @ 1:57PM
Harry said...
All of these complainers that are specifying where Oprah should be donating or giving money to are self serving and greedy individuals. If they want to give away thier monies to whom ever let them,
just leave mine alone I will do with mine as I wish and not yours.
Why is it that those who have nothing are always trying to tell those that have something what they should do with what they have.....earn your oun and do what you tell others to do with it.....Ha Ha
12-28-2007 @ 6:13AM
Jolene Maier said...
Oprah has earned every penny shes worked for, She got a Big heart and what she gives out she gets back 10 fold, Shes accomplished alot of respect from alot of influential people. She deserves whatever life brings her.... Shes the Bomb!!
12-28-2007 @ 6:29AM
WaylonLightfoot said...
She's a phony. Whenever she's parading and bragging about her school in Africa, I want to puke. All I can say is Charity should begin at home, right here in one of the poor sections of the good old USA. Go away OPRAH, get out of my face.
12-28-2007 @ 12:13PM
anthony said...
You have a right to not like Oprah but be honest about it. charity began at home here in the USA. She does do great things for other people, what do you do? Why are you hating on someone that actually gives back?
Again, ask yourself who are you?
1-06-2008 @ 1:38PM
carmen said...
I DON'T BELIEVE HALF THE THINGS OPRAH OR MADONNA SAYS. BUT RUSSELL CROWE IS THE BEST ACTOR TODAY & EARNS EVERY PENNY.
12-28-2007 @ 7:19AM
Nina said...
Oprah makes money from the advertisements connected to each of her media outlets and speeches. And it is possible that many of her TV show giveaways are donated or subsidized. It's great that she built the school in Africa for black girls BUT why not a school in the USA for black, white, red, or brown girls and women to help them out of poverty and off welfare by teaching them skills and finding jobs that will earn them substantial salaries? It seems she is now showing her true racism as her recent public forums are toward helping the black race; nothing has been mentioned of her helping other races.
12-28-2007 @ 8:02AM
Sharon said...
Oprah has been helping people of all races in the US for years. Americans have been helping people of other countires mostly caucasian for years. When caucasians are being killed beacuse of their hertiage or religion is considered genocide and a horrible thing. But when it's Africans I don't hear white America screaming how horrible it is. (look at Darfor) Remember that Oprah is African American and why shouldn't she want to help people of Africian decent. I don't hear you screaming at Madonna or Angelina Jolie. It looks to me like some of you are sounding a little racist.... I say go Oprah keep on doing what your doing. I believe that God has blessed you and you are fulling the mission he has set out for you to do.
12-28-2007 @ 10:26AM
Larry said...
just responding to sharon's comments about how oprah helps all races. she doesshow it in her talk show but outside she reflects her feelings toward blacks. there is nothing wrong with that just that i wonder what her true meaning to help others is really all about. anyone with all that money and power may seem to influence any group or individual that she may have an interest in. she says that she wants to help those who are in dire straights whatever the situatiuon may be. she was surprised by the number of people who listen to her at one of obama's rallies. what seems confusing to me is that she is a really good person at heart but what is her real motives for being there and why. she is considered the most powerful women of our times and she seems to be on a missionof sorts. for someone to be in this position why do i get the feeling that she is playing god. if you are this good or great wouldn't be nice of her to be gracious to others and for the women before her that got het to wher she is. i am not a hypocrite just an observer that wonders with all this power and influence what is her message?
12-28-2007 @ 8:03AM
Gail said...
It never ceases to amaze me when people with no idea of the time and effort going into earning large amounts of money are so critical and envious of people who do it. These same people would be outraged should their neighbor criticize them for buying a new car instead of donating the money to a homeless shelter but don’t hesitate to point a finger at others.
12-28-2007 @ 8:35AM
me said...
I am sick of Oprah. Her show is boring already. She should let it go. Tell her to give all her money for research in the health field. Those are the people who really deserve more money. And the people that protect our safety deserve more money. Tell her to give more money to our police officers and firefighters. Health Field - Homeland Security...Period...Pay those people more money! Tell her not to give out cars to her audiences who already have cars, and not to give out money to her audiences with gifts like purses, perfumes etc. Let the overpaid celebrity give to where it truly counts. amen.
12-28-2007 @ 8:50AM
hotcatcyn74 said...
Oprah makes millions upon millions of $$ every year, and I struggle to make my house payment and feed my kids. She talks on TV for 1 hour a day, I save lives as a nurse 10-14 hours a day. Something is realyl wrong with this country.
12-28-2007 @ 10:38AM
LHThurman said...
THOSE WHO KNOW NOT AND KNOW NOT THAT THEY KNOW NOT ARE DOOMED.....THAT MEANS YOU. YOU DON'T KNOW THAT THE ONE HOUR ON TV IS NOT WHAT IS BEING EVALUATED.
GET AN EDUCATION!!!!
12-28-2007 @ 11:55AM
furi said...
Yes, something is wrong, and tha is people like you, hotcatcyn. Why are you a nurse and not a Doctor? How can you help cure the sick, if you do not have the inteligence to understand pay structures. We get pay according to what we do for a living. If you do not care enough for your "calling" in life; Go and try having your own TV show. Otherwise, go and present your argument to your grossly overpay Doctors.