It was revealed in March that Claire Foy, who played the lead-role of Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, was actually paid less than her on-screen husband, Matt Smith. Now, the production company behind the show seems to be righting the wrong.
According to the Daily Mail, Foy is going to receive $275,000 in back pay from Left Bank Pictures to make up for the wage disparity.
“As the producers of The Crown we are responsible for budgets and salaries. The actors are not aware of who gets what and cannot be held personally responsible for the pay of their colleagues,” Left Bank Pictures told the Daily Mail. “We are absolutely united with the fight for fair pay, free of gender bias and for a rebalancing of the industry’s treatment of women in front of the camera and behind the scenes.”
It was producers of the show that initially revealed the pay disparity between Foy and Smith. Suzanne Mackie and Andy Harries said that Smith received a bigger paycheck because he had a higher profile coming off of the show Doctor Who. Smith himself condemned the difference in salary.
“I think actually [Foy] probably should’ve been paid that originally in the first place and I think everyone’s taken a long, hard look at themselves and gone, ‘Here’s where we went wrong and can we go forward and make it right?'” Smith said. “The problem is it happened too late. She’s the Queen, for God’s sake. It’s ridiculous.”
Page Six reported that the company later apologized, and said that going forward, “no one gets paid more than the Queen.”