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Oprah Winfrey tops Forbes list of highest-paid women in entertainment again

 
Published Oct. 2, 2012

The Forbes list of highest paid women in entertainment is out again, and yet again Oprah Winfrey tops the list by a wide margin. Didn't we just write up one of these? Anyway, the best news is that she possibly may be giving up her crown next year, because the Oprah Winfrey Network is the biggest money suck since Florida started requiring homeowners insurance.

Forbes says O made $165 million between May 2011 and May 2012, a drop in the bucket when you have a net worth in the neighborhood of $2.7 billion. She's not taking a salary at OWN and doesn't have her syndicated talk show anymore, but she does produce shows for Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray, and has a satellite radio station and O magazine, so she's pretty solid.

In a distant second is Britney Spears at $58 million, which may increase as she works on The X Factor longer. Taylor Swift is third with $57 million (and a lot of ex-boyfriends to write songs about), making her the youngest on the list at 22 years old. Rihanna and Ellen DeGeneres are tied for fourth with $53 million apiece -- Rihanna for her ubiquitous pop music and Ellen for becoming the new queen of daytime talk shows.

Lady Gaga comes up with $52 million and an extra 25 pounds; That's tied with Jennifer Lopez, who is dabbling in plenty of TV after American Idol. Model Gisele Bundchen wrangled $45 million, mostly for endorsements in Brazil. That's as much as Katy Perry, who also managed to dump a bad investment by splitting from Russell Brand last year. They share that spot with Judge Judy Sheindlin, who wins her own $45 million judgment by being Baby Boomers' favorite daytime syndicated show. Take that, DeGeneres.

[Photo: Getty Images]

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