She deserves every coin!
Angela Bassett is officially one of the highest-paid Black women in broadcast television history after her “9-1-1” salary raise, Shadow And Act reports.
Bassett is a legendary actress with a career in film and television spanning more than 30 years. For the last three years, Bassett has starred in Fox’s hit show “9-1-1,” centered around the job of first responders. Creator Ryan Murphy crafted the project with Bassett specifically in mind, and she came on to help develop. Bassett now serves as the series lead, executive producer, and executive producer of the spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star. Recently, the cast received pay raises, with Bassett now set to make more than $450,000 an episode next season, making history as one of the highest-paid Black women in television history.
In addition to her raise, Bassett’s fellow castmates have also received 25 percent raises, including Peter Krause, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Oliver Stark, Ryan Guzman, and Rockmond Dunbar. They are making at least $80,000 an episode, with Krause and Hewitt being the second-highest-paid after Bassett with around $300k per episode. Negotiations began after cast members noticed a bias in the pay increases. Stark was the only actor gaining a 130 percent increase in his episodic salary last year, while his non-white cast members only received a 25 percent overall raise during the same time. This season the show is being more transparent and fair in its compensation process.
Bassett joins a list of Black actresses raking in their worth on television, including Scandal’s Kerry Washington, Grey’s Anatomy’s Chandra Wilson, and How To Get Away With Murder’s Viola Davis.
The veteran actresses are setting a new norm for pay for Black women in Hollywood and shining a light on pay disparities, helping to push the conversation forward and demand pay equity for women of color.
Congratulations, Ms.Bassett! Because of you, we can!
Photo Courtesy of FOX/Mathieu Young