The pay disparity report involving Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams has been a swirling controversy lately, and now it’s claimed that Wahlberg’s rep’s told movie producers that he “never” works for free.
According to TMZ, sources close to the production claim that after Kevin Spacey was dropped from All the Money in the World, Ridley Scott spoke to Wahlberg in person about doing re-shoots with a new actor.
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The actor agreed, but money was not discussed between the two men, the sources claim.
Once the film’s producers and Wahlberg’s reps began speaking, the agents allegedly demanded the fee he received, threatening that he’d refuse to shoot if they didn’t pay up.
Scott later publicly said that everyone (him, Williams and Wahlberg) did the re-shoots for free, and the sources claim that at the time of his statment he had been told that was the case.
He is reportedly very angry about how the situation has turned out.
Once the news came out that Williams was paid less than $1,000 for re-shoots on All The Money In The World, whereas Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million, many celebrities spoke out in support of her on Twitter.
One of Williams’ close friends, Busy Phillipps, tweeted out, “UNACCEPTABLE. UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TO SAY THE LEAST,” and later followed-up with, “SHAMEFUL IS CORRECT.”
Molly’s Game star Jessica Chastain was one of the first to address the alleged pay disparity, asking on Twitter, “I heard for the reshoot she got $80 a day compared to his MILLIONS. Would anyone like to clarify?”
“I really hope that with everything coming to light, she was paid fairly. She’s a brilliant actress and is wonderful in the film,” she then added.
However, Chastain did not stop there, later coming back to say, “Please go see Michelle’s performance in All The Money in The World. She’s a brilliant Oscar nominated Golden Globe winning actress. She has been in the industry for 20 yrs. She deserves more than 1% of her male costar’s salary.”
Other celebrities such as Amber Tamblyn, Judd Apatow and Jesse Tyler Ferguson also took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the situation, with Apatow writing, “This is so messed up that it is almost hard to believe. Almost. This is how this business works. I wonder if the studio or Wahlberg will do something to make the situation less insane.”
At this time neither Williams nor Wahlberg appear to have addressed or confirmed the allegation.
