Plane Hero Made $18K for Interviews

Jasper Schuringa, the Northwest Airlines passenger who reportedly restrained the Nigerian man who attempted to blow up the plane, is talking—for cash. On Saturday, the Dutch filmmaker gave an uncomfortable interview on CNN, which paid Schuringa a $10,000 licensing fee for a cellphone picture of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. By paying for the image, the network was able to say they technically did not pay for the interview—while Schuringa was able to get the money he wanted. Gawker's Foster Kamer reports that the photo's print rights went to the New York Post for $5,000, and that ABC News paid $3,000 for a second photo. Every organization that paid for a photo also scored an interview. A leaked email correspondence reveals that Schuringa's ad hoc publicist, a friend who runs a gossip Web site, has been running aggressive pay negotiations for the hero.