Abigail Breslin, who played Olive in Little Miss Sunshine, and who is also starring in Cameron Diaz’s new flick My Sister’s Keeper, receives THIRTEEN DOLLARS a week from her parents for her allowance. It was just announced that she actually got a dollar raise from last month due to her thirteenth birthday. WOW.
Kudos to her parents for teaching their child star the importance of the almighty dollar, but this pre-pubescent pulls in two million dollars a flick now. She has been in show business since she was FIVE, and was ranked eighth in Forbes magazine list of “Young Hollywood’s Top-Earning Stars.
I’m sorry… I think thirteen dollars a week for a thirteen year old girl is beyond SKIMPY.
And let’s hope she doesn’t fall into the exploited child star category. Oh Hai Kate Gosselin!
Wasn’t it McCaulay Culkin’s parents that were sued for taking his money way back when?

Now I am not insinuating that Abigail’s parents are guilty of the same at all, but thirteen dollars a week is beyond TIGHT WAD status.
I am glad that Abigail’s parents give her chores to do, as I think it is important that her parents keep their daughter’s reality in check in her journey into the evils of Hollywood. But if Abigail keeps on bringing in the BIG bucks, her life is going to change drastically.
Of course there are big stars who have never really flaunted their wealth, like Paul Newman (miss you Paul!) and Woody Allen, just to name a few. But we all know they still received the best seats in the restaurants.

Many child stars end up too pampered and do not have a grasp on reality, especially if the money starts to dry up. This can be very harmful in many ways. Stardom can be very fleeting.

To quote Joni Mitchell from one of her songs, sums it up nicely:
“They toss around your latest golden egg…. speculation, well who’s to know… if the next one in the nest will glitter for them so.”

How true.
Take for instance child star What you talkin’ about Willis?  Gary Coleman who filed for bankruptcy back in 1999 and then did TV commercials for Orkin Pest Control and CashCall and is now a security guard. 

Or perhaps Christopher Atkins of  Blue Lagoon’s fame who now builds swimming pools for a living. Just to name a very few. 
Not that there is anything wrong with these jobs or earning a good honest buck, but  these jobs are a far cry from what these stars were accustomed to AND even more so, the way they were treated. When you are used to having everything handed to you on a silver platter, and  you have the paps all up in your business 24/7 and then the fame is gone, it can become a harsh reality and can lead to a downward spiral of depression, drugs, alcohol use or even worse.

Scott Baio, a child star himself and known for his role as Chachi on Happy Days, hosted a show a little while back which dealt with that very problem. The show is called Confessions of a Teen Idol. 
It had eight male teen idols from the 1980s and 1990s on the show, and they all spoke of the harsh reality of their fleeting stardom, and how they deal with it in their lives today. Trying to get that stardom back, can be a very long and sometimes degrading road. Many times that stardom status is never recaptured and it leaves the former star with a very big bruised ego. Baio’s show was very telling of the struggle that these former stars went through and are still going through today. I wish them luck with either recapturing their fame, or learning how to deal with not getting the best seats in the restaurants any more.

So back to Abigail.
I think if your daughter is pulling in over two millions a flick, and you are only paying her $13.00 a week, I find this to be a very unrealistic allowance. After all, Abigail is thirteen years old, not FIVE.
Perhaps her parents are trying to give their daughter what they consider a sense of normalcy. Hopefully Abigail will take her parents lessons with her, as she gets into the scary teen years. But being THIS strict with a child star who has oodles of cash can totally backfire. Especially when they start to become of age and are able to come and go as they please and have access to their own money. Some child stars tend to go a little wild.
Hello Olson twins, Lindsey Lohan Britney Spears and so on and so on.

Britney Having A Good Ol' Time

So to the parents of Abigail……
Teaching your child the worth of a dollar and having her do chores is a good thing. But don’t be too doting and stop being such WADS and open up HER wallet a little. How about at least $20.00 a week?
If you keep the reins on her too tight, you may be inadvertently creating a wild child.
Once she gets a little freedom,spreads her wings, and hits the ATM, she may just fly the coup in a blaze of glory in a convertible full of designer clothes, a boy you can’t stand and a little chihuahua named Olive.
We all know the effect that money can have on young stars. Let’s hope Abigail can survive her parent’s stinginess and Hollywood.

Famous For Being Famous And Definitely NOT Hot

Source: Queen