Celebrity Justice
Shawn Johnson $cores Big with 'DWTS' Contract

Shawn Johnson is raking in the cash on "Dancing with the Stars" -- although she may not think it's worth the hassle of dealing with alleged stalker Robert O'Ryan ... and we have her contract to prove it.



We've obtained a copy of Shawn's "Dancing" contract -- a public document filed with the L.A. County Superior Court. A judge had to approve the deal because she's a minor. Under the contract, Shawn gets a guarantee of $125,000 for appearing on the show. By surviving the first elimination, she gets an additional $10,000 a week for weeks 3 and 4.

If Shawn survives the next eliminations, the rate doubles to $20,000 a week for weeks 5, 6 and 7. For weeks 8 and 9 she scores $30,000 a week.

And here's where it really gets sweet. In weeks 10 and 11, if Shawn makes it through, she gets $50,000 a week.

Total take if Shawn makes it to the final 2 -- $365,000.

Under the contract, Shawn must train approximately 20 hours a week. As for the all important issue of injuries ... the contract makes it clear that "Dancing" has no liability. It reads, "Artist releases Producer, Network ... from any and all claims ... arising from physical or other injury resulting from Artist's appearance in the Series..."

Nice work if you can get it.



Tags: ABC, contract, dancing with the stars, DancingWithTheStars, DWTS, money, payment, robert oryan, RobertOryan, shawn johnson, ShawnJohnson

Reader Comments

(Page 2 of 4) Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

16. I thought this was celebritys that did not get paid for dancing.....My bad...

Posted at 10:50PM on Mar 26th 2009 by question

17. $365K minus attorney fees; minus agent's fees; minus bodyguard; minus minus minus... TMZ knows in hollywood that figures is gross pay, not net. To report it otherwise is irresponsible.

Posted at 10:54PM on Mar 26th 2009 by afroe

18. I thought they did NOT get paid for this......did I not read this somewhere?????

Posted at 10:56PM on Mar 26th 2009 by question

19. She needs all that money to pay for the boob job and abortion

Posted at 10:57PM on Mar 26th 2009 by pro life

20. haha now i see why people go on that show.

Posted at 11:39PM on Mar 26th 2009 by Bald Outing

21. I like the kinder, gentler TMZ. Specially regarding this story. Many celebs and innocent people could have been at risk from that whack job.

Posted at 11:52PM on Mar 26th 2009 by airproguyrick

22. Why does TMZ follow this socialist horsecrap that it's wrong for anyone to make money?

Hey, Shawn is a super lovely girl and deserves all the cash she can scoop up. Screw people trying to kill the idea of Capitalism. Nothing wrong with people getting PAID.

Make your own.

Posted at 3:17AM on Mar 27th 2009 by Cartman

23. ??

Posted at 3:36AM on Mar 27th 2009 by dena al

24. I head the pervt is actually her bastard brother who staged the whole thing so the lesbian rumors about Shawn will go away!!!

Posted at 6:23AM on Mar 27th 2009 by in the know

25. I had no idea they got paid that much. It makes the show less appealing to me. Seems like they are dancing for money and not the challenge/fun of it. Now I understand why the Bach girl was able to quit her job (who by the way should not be on the show because she has an unfair advantage due to her dance training.) 0

Posted at 8:42AM on Mar 27th 2009 by shoo

26. By Obama's standard she qulifies as the wealthy, so the Governemnt should tax her at 40% so that would leave her with what ? $219,000. WOW share the wealth baby, too bad we won't actually get any of the real money, only Governemnt spending. And if she gets hurt she will probably loose more than that.

Posted at 10:06AM on Mar 27th 2009 by Shadowwolf

27. "Shawn deserves to make money after the 13 years of hard work she put in. If .01% of the population could work as hard and for as long as she did they would deserve that money too. People don't realize how hard gymnastics is on the body and mind, she deserves everything."
You're forgetting it's a sport. A completely self-centred activity that doesn't even have any teamwork involved. Yeah, she's spent over a decade honing her skills, who cares? What is it actually doing for the world? It's completely self-serving, it's all about ones self and perfecting their own body. That's why I hate the olympics. Why are we making such a big deal over a person who can flip through the air really well, or jump over a pole, or dive into some water. What are they doing for our planet? There are police officers and doctors and child care workers out there - where is their "olympics"? I really don't care about someone who can dive into a pool better than I can dive into a pool. The world is not a better place because of her, and don't give me any of that "inspiration" crap either because she's only inspiring people to think that spending decades making yourself into a really good gymnast actually benefits us in some way. When was the last time Shawn Johnson had to wash dishes all day at a crummy truck stop or shovel asphalt in the hot sun or clean up a park. There are people out there who actually work hard jobs that do something for society and they are much more deserving of the gobs of money she gets. Athletes don't make me "believe in myself" - the people who make me believe in myself are the regular folks I see everyday who find ways to get by and who make the world a better place.

Posted at 9:17AM on Mar 27th 2009 by tons

28. GOOD FOR HER, SHE SEEMS LIKE A VERY SWEET YOUNG LADY. IT IS NICE TO SEE A GOOD GIRL COME OUT ON TOP!.

Posted at 9:54AM on Mar 27th 2009 by V

29. you guys are the cheesiest bunch of ankle biters ever. Keep up the good work.

Posted at 9:34AM on Mar 27th 2009 by artie help

30. I think it's a shame in our economy that stars still get paid enormous amounts of cash just to do things like dance. That money could be put to such better use than this.

Posted at 11:33AM on Mar 27th 2009 by jen

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