Bid hits $15 million for Angelina Jolie baby pics

A fierce bidding war has broken out between two celebrity gossip magazines for the first exclusive pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s twins.

Two of America’s leading magazines, OK! and People, are reportedly battling it out to get their mitts on snaps of Brangelina’s as yet unborn twins.

Jolie and Pitt are expecting twins to add to their brood of adopted children, Maddox, Pax and Zahara, and biological daughter Shiloh.

According to celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, bidding has soared to US $15 million (NZ $19 million), and counting.

A rep for People says: “We’d love to see the photos in People. We wish the family well.”

However, rival publisher OK! has been tight-lipped over proceedings and declined to comment on any figures; reps would only admit that the magazine would be “foolish” not to bid for the exclusive snaps.

If the mooted $15 million figure is to be believed, it eclipses the mullah coughed up by People for pictures of the couple’s first baby Shiloh in 2006. The magazine reportedly paid $4.1 million for the North American rights to the pictures at the time.

All profits from the sale of the pictures were donated to charity by Brangelina.

Rumours were rife late last week that Jolie had already given birth in France, after she went into labour on Sunday.

US TV show Entertainment Tonight claimed Jolie had given birth to two girls, and that the proud parents had already named them Isla (pronounced eye-la) Marcheline (after Jolie’s mother) and Amelie Jane (after Pitt’s mother) Jolie-Pitt.

Jolie’s rep later dismissed the claims: “Angelina has not given birth. She is fine, enjoying her home and her family in France,” Jolie’s rep said.

So what prompted ET’s botched exclusive?

It appears that their premature announcement wasn’t as ill-judged as you might think.

Someone has been impersonating Jolie’s personal assistant and been feeding porkie pies to the press, according to the star’s lawyers.

The imposter reportedly used a fake email address to distribute fake and erroneous reports to the press, including news of Jolie’s twin non-birth last week.

Jolie’s lawyers distributed this letter to key media yesterday: “A random individual has engaged in a scheme to intentionally harm my client and deceive her fans, the public and the media through illegal and tortuous impersonation of Ms Jolie’s long-time assistant, Holly.

“The individual who claims to be, and to whom the media has relied upon as, a ‘reliable source’ is not my client’s assistant, nor does the email address belong to my client’s assistant.”

I bet Jolie’s positively fuming over this one.
Source: NZHerald