NBC’s singing competition The Voice seduced Ariana Grande with a $25 million contract.
She’s easily the highest paid of the four coaches. Kelly Clarkson negotiated for $15 million, which is still more than either John Legend or Blake Shelton.
Gossip guru Rob Shuter said (quote) “Ariana is getting a whopping $20 to $25 million for the show, putting her in the same category as Katy Perry on American Idol. With John and Blake getting $13 million per season, it is the women on the show that will be making the most.”
Ariana starts her new gig this September. She’s at the top of her career, the most-streamed at Spotify among women, and The Voice would like to leverage her 229 million Instagram followers — 10-times the number of the three other Voice coaches combined. (OK!)
Legal battles between Britney Spears and her father just hit a new low. Jamie Spears now wants her to pay his $3 million attorney bills.
A member of Team Britney told the New York Post (quote) “If approved by the judge, this money would come from Britney’s estate. She essentially would be paying her own father’s lawyers to fight her in court.”
Jamie Spears filed documents asking for Britney to pay him a salary of $16,000 per month as co-conservator — and to pay his monthly office rent, which goes for $2000. (New York Post)
Sharon Stone revealed Wednesday on The Kelly Clarkson Show that Britney reached out in 2007 as her life spiraled out of control. Sharon said (quote) “Britney wrote to me a very long and important, poignant letter. I was in a very difficult time of my life and I couldn’t help myself.” (Kelly Clarkson)
Billy Joel tells Billboard magazine that he loves to mentor the new generation of artists. “When I first started I didn’t know a lot about the job, so I kinda had to figure it out by wire, ya know? It was hit and miss, I made mistakes, and fortunately I was able to recover from most of ’em. But I promised myself if I ever get to a point where I can help somebody that’s trying to learn how to do this, that I would try to do that. I always wanted to try to be a teacher even before I was in the music business.”
