Forbes Ranks Angelina Jolie as World's Most Powerful Celebrity

Angelina Jolie has taken over the top spot on Forbes' annual list of the most powerful celebrities - taking the crown away from Oprah Winfrey.
According to Forbes, Angelina Jolie is now the world's most powerful celebrity. That distinction is based on a proprietary formula that includes Forbes' estimates of celebrity media exposure, yearly earnings and subjective opinion. Perhaps tabloid media coverage is also an important factor in the calculation, as that might be the only way that you could justify Angelina Jolie has more public influence than Oprah Winfrey. Not that any celebrity has any real power in reality.

How often has Angelina Jolie influenced anything that you've done in your daily life? The same could likely be asked of Oprah, Brad Pitt,Jennifer Aniston, Tiger Woods and so many of the other celebrities on the list.

Ultimately, the list is fun. It gives us all a chance to argue about who rates as the biggest celebrity in the world. From an earnings standpoint, it would appear that Oprah stands alone. She brought down an estimated $275 Million last year from all of her income sources. Jolie, in contrast, made a mere $27 Million last year. And in terms of influence, you have to question how Jolie could possibly compete with Oprah. Winfrey's on television every day in a format that she controls and she speaks directly to her audience with clarity and conviction. Jolie's most direct contact with the public is while they're in the check-out line at their local grocery store. And then the headlines are usually about some marital issues with Brad or some new revelation about whether he cheated on Jennifer Aniston, etc.

But lists make for good conversation - and Forbes knows that as well as anyone.

By Buzzle Staff and Agencies
Published: 6/4/2009
 
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Your Comments:
Your Name:
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
Recipient Email Address:
 Separate multiple email addresses by ;
Your Name:
Your Email Address: