What is the net worth of John Edward?
John Edward is a television personality, author, and self-proclaimed psychic medium who has a net worth of $20 million. He achieved both fame and controversy in the early 2000s when the Sci-Fi Channel began airing his show “Crossing Over with John Edward,” which featured psychic readings to his studio audience. Edward gained further notoriety for his show ‘John Edward Cross Country’ on We TV.
Youth and education
John Edward was born on October 19, 1969 in Glen Cove, New York, the only son of an Italian-American mother and an Irish-American father. He was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Edward had a turning point in his early life at the age of 15 when a New Jersey psychic convinced him that he could be a medium himself. The woman allegedly told him that he would eventually become world-renowned for his psychic selling abilities and that she would share the gift through books, television and lectures.
For his higher education, Edward went to Long Island University to pursue a degree in health administration. During this time, he worked as a phlebotomist.
Career breakthrough
Edward had a breakthrough in 1998 with the release of his first book, One Last Time, which focuses on his psychic abilities. To promote the book, he went on “Larry King Live.” Edward’s appearance on the show was so popular that the volume of phone calls received was enough to overload the switchboard.
“The Crossing with John Edward”
Edward achieved his greatest notoriety as the producer and host of the television series Crossing Over with John Edward, which aired on the Sci-Fi Channel from 2001 to 2004. On the show, Edward provided psychic readings to a live studio audience, quizzing a particular audience member with information they claimed was sent by their dead friends or relatives. Presumably no information was given to Edward before the show; however, audience members were allowed to add details to his questions and statements. In some cases, Edward conducted private readings away from his studio audience to go into more detail about someone’s situation. Visually,
Aborted 9/11 Special
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Edward began filming at least one special where he would meet with the relatives of the various victims, with the goal of serving as a medium between them and their lost loved ones. Studios USA, the distributor of Edward’s show, plans to air the special in November, but news of the show quickly caused a stir nationally. The Sci-Fi Channel and the production office of “Crossing Over with John Edward” have both been inundated with livid emails and phone calls criticizing the special as insensitive and exploitative. Although Studios USA’s president of in-house television, Steve Rosenberg, initially ignored the rejection, he eventually relented and canceled the special.
“John Edward Cross Country”
Edward attracted further controversy for his next show, “John Edward Cross Country”, which aired from 2006 to 2008 on We TV. Like his previous show, the program featured psychic readings, only this time Edward went to visit his subjects and their families after performing the readings to see how the experience affected their lives. Edward ended up traveling across the United States for the show’s first season, giving readings in large public venues.
Other Appearances
Beyond his own shows, Edward has made a multitude of media appearances on other programs. He has appeared on such talk shows as ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, ‘Maury’, ‘Oprah’, ‘The View’, ‘The Tony Danza Show’, ‘The Wayne Brady Show’ and ‘Dr. Phil”. Edward has also made appearances on “20/20,” “Dateline,” “Entertainment Tonight,” “Fox and Friends” and “The Crier Report.” Additionally, he made appearances on the sitcom “Will & Grace”; the reality series “Keeping up with the Kardashians”; the superhero series “Smallville”; and police procedural series Law & Order.
Skill skepticism
Edward’s alleged psychic abilities were met with extreme skepticism. Critics argue that he is simply using the time-worn mentalistic techniques of hot and cold reading, which involve the use of broad general knowledge that could apply to almost anyone being read. Studying a particular reading from Edward’s show, illusionist James Randi found that only 3 out of 23 statements made by Edward were confirmed by the read subject as correct. Meanwhile, James Underdown of the Independent Investigative Group suggested that the show’s editing could contribute to the appearance of Edward’s accuracy.
immobility
In April 2019, John Edward paid $5.5 million for a large mansion in the LA suburb of Encino. The nearly all-terrain property features a 7,800-square-foot mansion with 8 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms. John put this house on the market in April 2022 for $9.5 million.
