So: to quiet things down, there’s sort of a resolution in the brouhaha over Mark Wahlberg’s pay discrepancy with Michelle Williams over the movie “All the Money in the World.”
It was revealed this week by USA Today that Wahlberg got $1 million bucks to come back for reshoots with Christopher Plummer. Michelle Williams got expenses and a bus token worth $1,000. It was outrageous (and a good scoop) especially in this moment when women are on the move for pay parity and the right to be treated without violence. (Is it really 2018? Not 1952?)
Now Wahlberg is donating back his fee plus $500,000. WME, the agency that reps Williams (but didn’t seem to have much regard for her) is also donating $500,000 to the newly formed TimesUp group to battle discrimination and sexual assault, help victims etc. Wahlberg said in a statement: “Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All The Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation. I 100% support the fight for fair pay and I’m donating the $1.5 million to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams’ name.”
— Mark Wahlberg (@mark_wahlberg) January 13, 2018
But what none of this addresses, of course, is Williams and what she was worth– that she wasn’t worth the same amount as Wahlberg in the minds of the filmmakers, studio, and agents. It seemed perfectly appropriate to pay Williams almost nothing despite her being a person just like Wahlberg, head of a house hold, multiple Oscar nominee, and lead actor in the movie.
You know what would have been better? If Wahlberg had kept his $1 mil and other $1 mil went straight to Williams. And by the way: her performance was worth it.
