People magazine ponies up for Brangelina babies
Last Updated: Saturday, August 2, 2008 | 9:59 AM ET
The Associated Press
Actors Brad Pitt, left, and Angelina Jolie, here in mid-May at the Cannes Film Festival, now have six children. (Matt Sayles/Associated Press)People magazine and a British tabloid have nabbed joint rights to publish exclusive photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins.
The Associated Press reports that People and Hello! magazines have bought rights to publish the most expensive celebrity pictures ever sold. The news agency says that number is purportedly $14 million US.
People will feature twin babies Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon in an issue to hit newsstands Monday, spokeswoman Nancy Valentino said Friday.
People.com will unveil the first photo online Sunday evening.
The money will go to a foundation created by Pitt and Jolie that largely focuses on helping children around the world.
It's the second time the celebrity weekly won the North American rights to the couple's first-look baby pictures, and the third time they've worked with the two magazines in exchange for a hefty donation to charity.
"We're thrilled to be able to feature these pictures in People," managing editor Larry Hackett said in a statement late Friday.
People will split the bill with London-based Hello! magazine, which has worldwide rights; particulars of the division were not disclosed.
Even before the babies were born July 12 in Nice, France, the speculation began over which celebrity magazine would come out on top of an inevitable bidding war. The couple ultimately chose to go a familiar route with its joint deal between People and Hello!, with Getty Images as the photographer and go-between.
People ponied up a reported $4 million US donation for the U.S. rights to the first shots of their daughter Shiloh, now two years old, while Hello! obtained the British rights. And last year, the couple sold intimate shots of their son Pax, then three years old, to Hello! and People.
Jolie, 33, and Pitt, 44, established their foundation in 2006.
They donated $1 million US in June to The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict to help children affected by the war in Iraq and last year, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation gave more than $300,000 US to support the International Rescue Committee's relief program for Darfur refugees.
