Los Angeles, CA – Since its blockbuster debut in 2006 there has been little to stop the success of ‘The Hills’ and the stars that it has spawned. The reality cum fictional television show depicting the lives of twenty-somethings as they navigate their lives and loves has grabbed the public’s attention in ways few shows from MTV ever have before. Riding the wave of that success has been the two principle leads of the show, Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag whose careers have exploded since the debut of the program.
Arguably, it is Conrad who has gained the most from appearing on the program. A college drop-out, Montag has parlayed her exposure on the show into a music career and a fashion line. She also nabbed a husband along the way, Spencer Pratt. Like many sudden celebrities though, success appears to have gone to Montag’s head with recent news that she ditched out on her sister’s birthday party. Now Holly Montag, herself a performer on ‘The Hills’ is fuming mad after being ditched on the occasion of her twenty-sixth birthday and is letting everyone know about it.
“Holly was really wishing that her sister could just be a sister and stop by her birthday party, but Heidi only goes places if she is getting paid. I mean, this is her sisterand she wouldn’t even show up without a fee. That’s disgusting,” said an anonymous insider. “At the very least she could have reduced her fee. Everyone knows that Heidi is the breakout star of the show and the family and that she has all the money. Holly is doing alright but she just doesn’t have Heidi money and she can’t afford to pay those fees which, really, are a little out of control. She understands not waving the fee entirely but Heidi just wouldn’t budge on the price which really upset her and put a damper on the whole evening.”
Traditionally pop celebrities offer discounts for family and other special circumstances. Montag’s fees though have long been the talk of the town with many clubs protesting not only the base number but the additional fees associated with her appearances, which prices her out of many events.
“Heidi Montag is really the leader in a new type of celebrity. There have been others, and I think everyone would point to Paris Hilton as the Godmother of the movement, but she is truly revolutionizing the way this type of celebrity is done. One thing Hilton always had was discounts for certain people, especially family,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “Of course her success is based largely on her family name so brushing off those people, or at least not giving them discounts, might play poorly. Montag though has set a new standard with this and I imagine that in the near future we will see no discounts for anyone.”
Some experts have pointed to the recession as a cause to reduce appearance fees, something Montag has very much played off as irrelevant. “The trick here, at least in regards to next year, is whether or not Holly will be able to increase her capital in order to afford her sister. It’s hard for a Q-list celebrity at the best of times to draw significant appearance fees and that task is all the more difficult in this economic environment but if she is able to make a few more bucks she will likely have a much happier 27th birthday,” continued Temple.
“While it’s upsetting, at least these young people are learning about the value of the dollar. She is understandably upset that she can’t afford to have her sister at her party but for some of these privileged young people learning that they can’t have everything they want is a strong lesson to learn.”Lauren Conrad reportedly attended a birthday party for younger sister Breanna last August free of charge. She has apparently not been able to regain her previous asking fee after that event.