Several reports Wednesday stated that Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for the All The Money In The World reshoot, while his co-star Michelle Williams was paid less than $1,000. The apparent wage gap sparked outrage, especially at a time when everyone is looking to Hollywood to lead the fight against sexism. But a new report inUSA Today suggests that the situation was perhaps even worse than originally thought: the actor allegedly refused to work with Christopher Plummer, who was brought on to replace Kevin Spacey, unless Wahlberg was paid over a million dollars.
According to two sources who spoke to USA Today, Wahlberg had co-star approval written into his contract for All The Money In The World. "What he said was, 'I will not approve Christopher Plummer unless you pay me.' And that's how he (expletive) them," one of the sources said. Director Ridley Scott had previously said that no one had been paid anything for the reshoots.
"The whole reshoot was—in normal terms — expensive but not as expensive as you think. Because all of them, everyone did it for nothing," Scott toldUSA Today in December. "I wouldn't get paid, I refused to get paid."
Yet another source claims Wahlberg’s lawyer rejected Plummer’s involvement in a letter to the movie’s financiers until Wahlberg got the additional money that he was demanding.
Director Ridley Scott has admitted he made the decision to replace Spacey with Plummer in “a heartbeat.” Spacey was set to star in the movie alongside Williams and Wahlberg, but after a series of disturbing sexual assault allegations were made against him—and after he failed to take full responsibility for his own actions—Scott underwent an impressive reshooting process in order to ensure that the movie would be able to keep its original release date.
Wahlberg and Williams are both represented by the same talent agency, WME.
The actors union SAG-AFTRA responded to the initial reports of the pay inequality between Wahlberg and Williams by stating that they “are unambiguously in favor of pay equity between men and women in this industry and support every action to move in this direction.”
"At the same time, performers at this level negotiate their above-scale rates through their agents. As it relates to this matter, you should talk to their representatives," the statement continued.
