Survey says…!
New York, the magazine that almost unmasked JT Leroy but didn’t, revisits another one of its stories. “The first Brangelina baby photos hit the streets today,” New York’s Web site announces. “In April, New York imagined the moment. Did we get it right?”
The new item then painstakingly reviews how New York‘s predictions about the Pitt-Jolie baby media circus stack up to the facts—and how the magazine’s mocked-up celebrity baby photos compare to the real thing. So: Did they get it right?
New York: One fake photo shows a fake Angelina Jolie changing a diaper, with the baby’s baby-penis in full view, as parents and baby lie on a bed.
Reality: One real photo shows the baby sleeping, fully clothed, as the parents lie on the bed with it. (New York‘s retroactive take: “virtually identical.”)
Verdict: WRONG
New York: A fake photo shows a fake Angelina Jolie, in sunglasses, breast-feeding the baby.
Reality: No real photo shows breast-feeding.
Verdict: WRONG
New York: A fake photo shows a fake Brad Pitt, in sunglasses, holding the baby down by his lap.
Reality: A real photo shows Brad Pitt with no sunglasses, pressing the baby to his face.
Verdict: WRONG
New York: “We called People the odds-on favorite'” to get the first baby photos.
Reality: People got the U.S. rights, though Hello! published the UK photos sooner.
Verdict: CORRECT
New York: “We predicted the photos ‘could fetch $5 million.'”
Reality: U.S. photo rights plus U.K. photo rights came to $7.6 million.
Verdict: WRONG
New York: “We predicted the money would go to Yéle Haiti, a Brangelina-favored charity to fund development in Haiti.”
Reality: Charity not yet specified.
Verdict: UNKNOWN
New York: For the baby’s birthplace, “We hedged our bets with “probably Paris…”
Reality: Namibia
Verdict: WRONG
New York: “…but possibly Los Angeles…”
Reality: Namibia
Verdict: WRONG
New York: “…or maybe even Addis Ababa.”
Reality: Namibia
Verdict: WRONG
TOTALS: 1 CORRECT, 7 WRONG, 1 UNKNOWN
BONUS ROUND: New York did not revisit the following predictions, also made in the original article:
New York: Jolie may have booked a hospital room in Berlin.
Reality: Namibia
Verdict: WRONG
New York: Jolie may have booked a hospital room in London.
Reality: Namibia
Verdict: WRONG
New York: Birth could come “as soon as the first week of May.”
Reality: Baby was born May 27
Verdict: WRONG
New York Baby will be born by C-section.
Reality: Baby born via C-section.
Verdict: CORRECT
New York: Baby will be a boy.
Reality: Baby is a girl.
Verdict: WRONG
BONUS ROUND: 1 CORRECT, 4 WRONG
GRAND TOTALS: 2 CORRECT, 11 WRONG, 1 UNKNOWN
