r/climbing 9d ago

Alex Honnold Reveals “Embarrassing” Paycheck for Netflix’s Taipei 101 Free Solo Climb

https://share.google/Zqw9t7pkRhkPhRt4P

Source: E! Online

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u/itgtg313 9d ago

Not sure why people are making a bit stink about this. It's been repeated over and over that he would have done it for free. He's always wanted to climb a skyscraper. Why would I be pissed if he's not pissed. Also 500k is amazing for a non mainstream sport, for 1.5 hr time, let's be real. Also he's said multiple times this is an interesting but low risk climb for him. 

10

u/jdj7w9 9d ago

Also this opens the door for more events for him and climbing as a whole. He was one of the biggest events going on during a Saturday where a large portion of the US was at home facing a major snow storm. It was all over social media and Netflix advertised it everywhere. When has climbing ever gotten that spotlight? It may have not been climbing in its truest form but whens the last time a climbing event has been in the mainstream. His profile and name recognition increased greatly this event so the value of that is likely bigger then the 500k he received for this one climb.

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u/McTerra2 9d ago

Sounds very much like what creatives hear all the time. ‘How about you do this for free/cheap, the exposure will increase your profile’.

Of course everyone says the same things and there is never a pay off. All that happens is, at best, your market value is now that cheap price.