Mark Wahlberg Says There’s a ‘Long Way to Go’ for Equal Pay After Michelle Williams Controversy
Mark Wahlberg Says ‘Long Way to Go’ for Equal Pay
Mark Wahlberg has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to fighting for financial parity in Hollywood, but he knows the industry still has a long way to go before women and men are paid equally.
“We want to continue to make sure that everybody feels that we’re having equal opportunity and equal pay for everybody,” the actor, 46, told Extra at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Last year, following backlash after it was revealed he earned nearly $1.5 million more for reshoots on the film All the Money in the World than his female costar Michelle Williams, he donated that money to the Time’s Up legal defense fund.
“If there was a discrepancy in what we were doing in making the movie, we have a long way to go,” he told Extra. “We need to work together to make sure that everybody gets an equal opportunity out there.”
Wahlberg announced that he would donate his salary for the reshoots in January, saying 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 percent 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.”
William Morris Endeavor, the agency representing both Wahlberg and Williams, also made a $500,000 donation.
USA Today revealed the wage disparity for the reshoots on the Ridley Scott film, which were ordered after its original star Kevin Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer in the wake of harassment allegations.
Williams was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Gail Harris in the thriller.
After Wahlberg’s donation, she released a statement to PEOPLE thanking her fellow actresses as well as Wahlberg and the “powerful men in charge” for taking action.
“Today isn’t about me,” she said. “My fellow actresses stood by me and stood up for me, my activist friends taught me to use my voice, and the most powerful men in charge, they listened and they acted.
Wahlberg upcoming thriller Mile 22 hits theaters Aug. 3.