Do the annoying Teen Moms on MTV get paid? What about the kids? If so, doesn't that really glamorize teen pregnancy? --StvUnger, via Twitter It'll be impossible for any of those teen breeders to glamorize anything until one of them picks up a hairbrush.
In the meantime, some numbers that might shock you:
We'll start with MTV itself.
"We are actually going to pass on making any comments on financial matters," an MTV spokeswoman tells. (I didn't bother asking her about glamorization matters, but I can if you want. Do you want?)
Meantime, at least one news outlet is claiming that the teen moms are making in the five figures.
Not per episode, mind you--they'd have to be friends with Snooki for that. No, we're talking by the season, if Life &Style can be believed. (And I'm not saying it can.) According to one of the mag's reporters, the Teen Moms bring in $60,000 to $65,000 per season.
As for the kids, well, there's a chance that the parents have opened trust accounts for them, but not necessarily. A law called the Coogan Law protects child actors in several states; according to the Screen Actors Guild, the Coogan Law --named after old-timey child actor Jackie Coogan--requires a showbiz employer to set aside 15 percent of the kid's pay and place it in a blocked trust account.
But laws covering actors aren't generally seen as covering reality TV kids.
That may change--at least one state lawmaker is trying to tighten those rules--but until that happens, paychecks for the babies aren't necessarily a sure thing.
Still worried about glamorizing? Then you're not paying attention.