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CNN Live Today

Interview with Peter Kafka

Aired June 21, 2002 - 14:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Celebrities -- we love to watch them sing, play, perform, whatever. But does our attention translate into raw power, for them, of course?

"Forbes" magazine says it does. The new "Forbes" Celebrity 100 list is out and it reads like a veritable who's who of celebrity power, what else?

With us now to talk more about it is Peter Kafka. He is the senior writer with "Forbes" magazine.

And I rather was surprised by some of the people who at least made the top five, and then not so surprised with others.

Good to see you.

PETER KAFKA, "FORBES" MAGAZINE: Hello.

What surprised you?

WHITFIELD: Well, Britney Spears is number one, huh?

KAFKA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: I know she's powerful, but my gosh, in terms of popularity, but wow.

KAFKA: Yes, well, that's really what we're measuring here is sort of power as a measure of how present this person is sort of in the general consciousness right now.

WHITFIELD: So what is it that defines power?

KAFKA: Well, technically we're looking at both the amount of money someone earns plus their presence on the Internet, on TV and radio, in the press and on the magazine covers. Britney does very well on magazine covers and the Web.

WHITFIELD: Right. And quickly, the other people on that, at least the top five of the top 100, Britney Spears number one. Tiger Woods, Steven Spielberg, Madonna, U2.

KAFKA: Right.

WHITFIELD: They all seem to be able to translate or transcend generations, as well, don't they?

KAFKA: Yes, and they make a lot of money, which is the other reason they're on the top of the list. We weight all our listings -- this is "Forbes" magazine, of course -- toward dollars.

WHITFIELD: OK, so, Peter, let's move on to some top actors and actresses. I'm rather surprised that Adam Sandler seems to be the highest paid actor?

KAFKA: He's the actor who made the most in the last 12 months. At a certain level pretty much most of the actors are all making $20 million, $25 million a film if you're in that top echelon. He happened to have worked in the most films in the last 12 months. I'm not sure if you're an Adam Sandler fan. It sounds like maybe you're not, but there are a lot of them out there and this guy's got that kind of money.

WHITFIELD: Hey, I like him, "Water Boy," you know, that was fun.

KAFKA: There you go. There you go.

WHITFIELD: But I'm still surprised. Cameron Diaz, I'm not so surprised. I don't know anybody who doesn't like her.

KAFKA: She has a wide fan base and she's finally getting paid dollars that reflect that. Julia Roberts would normally be at the top of that list, but in the last 12 months she worked in lower budget movies.

WHITFIELD: Yes, she was dethroned.

OK, let's move on to athletes. Tiger Woods already one of the top five of the most powerful, but no surprise, he is, cashing in, bringing in the bucks.

KAFKA: And you know what? I hate to sort of undercut the issue, but you're going to see him in that spot year after year after year.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, Venus Williams, though. You know, I am surprised because as much as I love her as a tennis fan, at the same time I don't seem to see her in as many ads as you would expect to see given that she is the number one ranked female tennis player right now.

KAFKA: You know, women in general in athletics have a hard time translating their performance into significant endorsements. I think Venus had about $11 million total last year. Most of that's endorsements. Compare that to Tiger, I think about $60 million or so, maybe $50 million of his total dollars last year were from endorsements.

WHITFIELD: OK, there's a lot on the list, but we've tried really hard to dissect this to kind of cut to, you know, some of the more surprising folks. When we talk about kid stars, I guess everyone has been watching these twins. But little did anyone know that they were multi, multi, multi millionaires. KAFKA: I think if you've got kids of your own, specifically girls, you might have some inkling because you've been spending a lot of money yourself on these girls. Their handlers project they're going to clear about a billion dollars at retail in the next year.

WHITFIELD: And they've become so pretty, haven't they? I mean they were always cute, but now they're kind of, you know, drop dead, aren't they?

KAFKA: You know, I should probably stay away from that. I will point out that they did turn 16.

WHITFIELD: OK, that's right. Sweet 16. They just had their birthday. All right, Oprah Winfrey. Everyone was looking to see where is she on the list. I would have thought she was one of the more powerful, like maybe number one or at least top five, but she falls to number eight.

KAFKA: I think number eight is still a pretty good spot for her.

WHITFIELD: Is it? OK.

KAFKA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's...

KAFKA: And you know what? Oprah still has a lot of clout. She's got enough power to launch a magazine. She's going to launch a spin-off show next year.

WHITFIELD: OK. $150 million is nothing to sneeze at.

KAFKA: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Believe me, I am not, you know, not play hating here right now. I'm really happy for Oprah.

KAFKA: That'll salve whatever wounds she has.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And she really does seem to have a very broad based audience. She's got her Web site. She's got movies and she's got, you know, her show, of course, and even with her cable network. She really does seem to tap into an awful lot of interests that other people are into.

KAFKA: Yes, and don't forget the books, which she didn't make money off of but she could make someone a best seller just by telling people that she liked so and so. And that's a lot of power.

WHITFIELD: All right, very cool. Well, thank you very much, Peter Kafka with "Forbes."

KAFKA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Always nice to see where the big celebs are ranking. Thanks a lot.

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