Fashion News

Top Oscar Stars Paid to Wear Jewelry?

March 1, 2011

Rumor has it both Anne Hathaway and Gwyneth Paltrow were paid mega bucks by top jewelry houses to wear their jewelry at the Oscars! As if!

Anne Hathaway and Gwyneth Paltrow were reportedly paid $750,000 and $500,000 respectively to wear the jewels and gems we all drooled over to the 83^rd Academy Awards on Sunday.

While reps for both stars deny the reports, a source told USMagazine that both Tiffany (Hathaway) and Louis Vuitton (Paltrow) paid the A-list beauties hush-hush endorsement money to sport their sparkle for the world to see.

So is this all that shocking? Not really. While some celebs are just happy to have the free loaner bling, others are famous enough to demand payment. And top design houses are more than happy to pony up.

According to a report on BellaOnline, Hilary Swank originally borrowed jewelry from jewelry Harry Winston for the 2005 Oscars, but returned it after accepting an offer from Chopard to pay her an estimated $90,000 to wear its design instead.

And this pay-to-wear practice has only escalated in recent years at the risk of eliminating smaller designers from the party. LA Times reporter Beth Moore writes of the phenomenon that it's:

"the latest artifice of rigged pop culture (that) risks squeezing smaller designers out of the promotional game and could signal the end of seeing any real personal style in Tinsletown."

Of course there's always a catch: Joan Rivers, The Jewelry Insider, et al. If the fashion police don't like a particular look (e.g. Amy Adams' emerald necklace at this year's Oscars) - the design house might not get the blingy bang for their buck.

That's showbiz.

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