Why would celebrities — including Oscar winners — shlep to Pittsburgh?
Answer: to make money signing autographs and giving photo ops to fans.
This weekend the entire surviving cast of “Beverly Hills 90210” went to Steel City Con, which has become the mecca for this short of thing. Even Shannen Doherty went, and she’s got Stage 4 cancer. (She looks pretty good.)
Jason Priestly, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering, and notorious Tori Spelling all made the scene, too. They’re there right now! Did they eat meals together? Did they speak to each other after all the slagging in various tabloids? (Let me know at showbiz411@gmail.com)
But Doherty and Ziering charged a little more than others for signing and posing. The former got $80/$100. The latter took $60/$100. The others charged $60/$85.
But they weren’t the top chargers. Oscar winners Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis wanted $100/$120 each. And “Escape from New York” director John Carpenter asked for $125 for each item.
Fan events have been around forever. But recently we’ve been seeing more A listers willing to hit the hinterlands and sit for hours chatting with the hoi polloi.
But what a way to rake in a few shekels!