(Nov. 21) - It's not easy being the Angelina Jolie familiar to millions around the world as a dedicated mother and philanthropist, and according to a new report by the New York Times, the actress and a handful of advisers have skillfully applied a tight grip on how celebrity magazines cover her.
The Times claims that this summer, Jolie proposed a offer, with hefty editorial conditions, to several magazines for exclusive rights to run photos and a story about their newborn twins, Vivienne and Knox. According to the report, Jolie insisted that the winning magazine's coverage must "not reflect negatively on her or her family" and requested an "editorial plan" from the publication providing how the feature would be laid out.
The winning magazine was People, which published an article on Aug. 18 that had questions about her and partner Brad Pitt's charity work and how their other kids were adjusting, but as the Times points out, "no use of the word Brangelina, the tabloid amalgamation of their names, which irks the couple."
"These claims are categorically false," a spokeswoman from the publication told the Times. "Like any news organization, People does purchase photos, but the magazine does not determine editorial content based on the demands of outside parties."
The couple reportedly received an estimated $14 million for the pictures. The money was slated to go to charity, as did the $4.1 million they received in 2006 for exclusive pictures of their daughter Shiloh. Besides their three biological children, the pair have three adopted kids -- Maddox, Pax and Zahara.
Jolie doesn't have a publicist or an agent, so the interviews she gives and the photo opportunities she provides are often facilitated by the star herself. Other editors in the celebrity-driven media allege that Jolie has long dictated terms to magazines on how she and her family should be presented and covered and often creates her own photo situations.
After her divorce to Billy Bob Thornton in 2003, Jolie was sought by Us Magazine for an interview and photo shoot. She declined, but according to the Times, later offered the magazine a chance to photograph her playing with her adopted son, Maddox, in a paparazzi-like situation. The resulting image kick-started her public transformation from a dark and eccentric actress to a loving young mother.
The bastion of responsible journalism that is In Touch magazine is claiming that Angelina Jolie does nothing but cry and sleep all day long thanks to post-partum depression. We take this with a major grain of salt.
In Touch
Vivienne Marchline and Knox Leon Jolie-Pitt made their public debut on the cover of PEOPLE. The magazine reportedly paid $14 million for the shots of the Vivienne and Knox.
PEOPLE
Hello! magazine paid for the rights to distribute photos of the twins internationally.
Hello!
The $14 million paid for Knox and Vivienne is more than triple what Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's first photo shoot earned from PEOPLE, which was rumored to be around $4 million.
James Devaney, WireImage.com
Dr. Michel Sussmann, Angelina Jolie's obstetrician at the Lenval Hospital in Nice, delivered twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline on July 12. Sussman said the entire Pitt-Jolie clan was "doing marvelously well" afterwards.
Lionel Cironneau, AP
After an evening of conflicting reports -- twin girls, a boy and a girl, scheduled for Tuesday, nothing's going on -- once official word came, it didn't take long for a television crew to set up outside of the Lenval Hospital.
Lionel Cironneau, AP
Maddox, the oldest child of the Pitt-Jolie family visited his mother at Lenval on July 5, just a few days after her admittance.
Eric Gailard, Reuters
Pitt leaves the Lenval Hospital in Nice, France on July 2, a day after Jolie had checked in.
Claude Paris, AP
Nurses are seen at the Lenval Hospital. "There's no urgency. It's been planned for a long time," said Nadine Bauer, a hospital spokeswoman about Jolie checking in. "She's very well. Everything is fine."
Lionel Cironneau, AP
Room With a View: The Lenval Hospital sits on the sea and specializes in maternity care.
Lionel Cironneau, AP
In 2006, Jolie offered magazines to bid on exclusive rights to photos of her and Maddox, but insisted that the accompanying story focus on her charity work and not her personal life.
?While Angelina and Brad understand the interest in their family, they also expect that the publications who purchase these photos will use them in a way that also draws attention to the needs of the Cambodian people,? her philanthropic adviser Trevor Neilson wrote in a memo to editors.
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Jolie is also a master at taking a possible sticky situation, like the fallout from when she began dating Pitt, and instead flooding the media with positive stories to drown out negativity. When she was being portrayed in the tabloids as a home wrecker who stole Pitt away from Jennifer Aniston, Jolie ramped up her charity work.
She visited an Afghan refugee camp, met with the president of Pakistan, and later she and Pitt made a trip to Kashmir to bring attention to earthquake victims there.
"Presto, they come out looking like serious people who have transformed a silly press obsession into a sincere attempt to help the needy," publicist and author Michael Levine told the Times. "People don?t realize the complexity of what Angie is doing,? he said, while reminding that ?a lot of her charity work is done quietly and not in front of the media."
Other bigwigs in the gossip game agree.
"She's scary smart," Bonnie Fuller, the former editor of Us Weekly and Star magazines, told the Times. "But smart only takes you so far. She also has an amazing knack, perhaps more than any other star, for knowing how to shape a public image."
