Lady Gaga Earned More Before She Turned 30 Than You Ever Will

21.40K

Anonymous

07/24/13 11:22AM

Filed to: lady gaga

Are you reading this while you're at work? You might want to put that letter opener back in your coffee-stained pencil cup before you read on.

Lady Gaga made $80 million last year. Oh and she's only 27.

The math wizards at Forbes are continuing to release those fun little lists that make us all want to slash our wrists, and hot on the heels of RDJ earning $75 million is their new "Top Earning Celebrities Under 30" tally. While you were busy reheating Lean Cuisines and debating whether taking the GMAT would be difficult half a decade after college, everyone's favorite Mother Monster just made anything you accomplish throughout the rest of your life look sad and pathetic.

So what could Lady Gaga buy with $80 million? Some options:

1. 8 million ribeye steaks for her next meat dress.

2. 400,000 wagyu beef steaks for her next meat dress. (She has $80 mil! She's not comparing the cost of ribeyes at Ralphs!)

3. 150,000 human skeletons. She's gotta get those facial bones somewhere.

4. Adele, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner. Seriously. Gaga is so rich that even though they round out the seventh through tenth spots on Forbes' list, SHE CAN PURCHASE THEM, MAKE THEM PUT ON LITTLE MUSICALS FOR HER, AND STILL HAVE MILLIONS LEFTOVER.

The remainder of the list contains mostly of musicians (Taylor Swift is in third, Calvin Harris fourth, Rihanna and Katy Perry are in fifth and sixth) and "musicians" (Justin Bieber in second).

[Image via AP]

The following replies are approved. To see additional replies that are pending approval, click Show Pending. Warning: These may contain graphic material.

6

Maceo the Cat Anonymous 07/24/13 11:43AM

Let me start off by saying that I have zero problem with this. Good for her. But:

I laugh when people get bent out of shape when they hear that athletes make a lot of money, but don't seem to bat an eyelash when they read that Tom Cruise or Robert DeNiro might command $20M for three months of work on a movie.

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LongSnake Maceo the Cat 07/24/13 11:48AM

All celebrities and athletes are extremely overpaid. Our priorities as a society are wack

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T H and E Maceo the Cat 07/24/13 11:57AM

Even more remarkable in that athletes, even the best ones, have 10-12 years of earnings, then have to essentially start over in another field. Plus most athletes suffer physical and psychological effects long after their playing days are over. Cruise, De Niro, ect. can act for 30+ without taking any big health risks, while musicians (who do bust their asses in a more limited window) can at least often make a living singing even after their heyday has passed.

Morticai Maceo the Cat 07/24/13 12:16PM

I actually feel the exact same about movie stars, sports athletes, and pretty much all entertainment industry sycophants. Grossly overpaid individuals who do nothing to actually push us or our society forward in any meaningful way. I am a little more lenient toward athletes, because they do put in a shit-ton of work, but I think multi-million dollar contracts on top of multi-million dollar endorsement deals is ridiculous. But that is more of a cultural gripe. It is not the artist's or athlete's fault they make that much, it is our collective fault for creating the environment that pays them that way. Imagine if all the sports fans spent the money they spent on jerseys alone on funding space exploration? Or alternative energy development? We could possibly living out Star Trek for real if that were to happen.

Maceo the Cat Morticai 07/24/13 01:02PM

I don't disagree at all, but you said it right when you said that no one should blame these entertainers and athletes. They're simply reaping what the market bears. If we stop paying for it, they'll stop making that money.

As for paying for space exploration or alternative energy development: We already do. Taxes.

Lastly, I'm on this earth for 80-90 years, and I find movies, books and sports entertaining, and I want to pay for them. If actors, authors and athletes get rich off that, it's no skin off my nose. Life's too short to worry about it.

1

Cam/ron Anonymous 07/24/13 12:06PM

I see that the Devil offered her a great deal at the Crossroads. She just has to look out for the debt collector before March 28.

1

raincoaster Anonymous 07/24/13 07:49PM

I can't really hate on her. She can be cloying and self-consciously "art majorish" but she made her money on talent and I cannot fault her for it. The world needs more people like her and JK Rowling.

4

Morticai Anonymous 07/24/13 11:52AM

Using "earned" in the headline is a bit misleading. She was given it, but I don't consider it "earned". I feel the same way about any celebrity with million dollar contracts, and the companies that fuel them. A firefighter makes around 45-55k per year, while this twat makes more money than the average person makes in a lifetime for being stupidly "unique". Don't misunderstand me, I think she should be able to make a decent living if she is good at her craft, and apparently she is, but this ridiculous $80 million payday crap has got to go. Makes me so angry that she gets that much cash, but we pay teachers shit. I don't get it. And yes I understand one is a private industry employee, while the other is a Gov't worker, but still. If we, culturally, would just value education more and gave that 14 dollars we would have spent on a CD to NASA, or some other science based organization, we could do AMAZING things. Not intending to make a point, just ranting\venting.

BurbsOfBurbs Morticai 07/24/13 12:05PM

What are you, a commie?

1

BedandBreakfastMan Morticai 07/24/13 12:10PM

I think you should focus on the word "warranted" rather than "earned". I would venture that what she does requires some work and effort on her part. Sure she has a team of people who supply things for her, but in the end she has to go out on stage and do the actual act. From what I understand she writes her own songs and creates those stupid costumes too (I could be wrong on that part).

Now the question of where what she does WARRANTS that kind of money, over, say a firefighter, that's a whole 'nother issue, one in which I agree with you.

Morticai BurbsOfBurbs 07/24/13 12:11PM

1

askar1212 Morticai 07/24/13 01:41PM

I think your issue better fits with overpaid CEOs and the like. In those situations you have a small group of people authorizing extremely high pay that makes some people question whether it is "earned".

For musical artists, its a little more difficult to argue that their large pay days have "got to go" because their pay is the collective result of their fans. There isn't a person, sitting in a office, authorizing that Lady Gaga make $80 million this year just because. The collective will of her fans who purchase her merchandise, her music, her products and tickets to her shows are where that number comes from. Even more so, that number likely represents a percent of overall sales she's generating. You won't find golden parachutes and high salaries for failing artists. You won't find an artist with a severance package worth millions while everything underneath them goes bankrupt. They're money is tied directly to their popularity and in my opinion thus makes it earned.