Longtime TV host Vanna White has had enough and is talking to her lawyers. A report Wednesday says it has been almost two decades since she had a wage rise and she won’t continue on “Wheel of Fortune” unless she gets close to at least half of what Pat Sajak has been making.
TMZ reports negotiations are currently underway to remedy the gap between the two co-hosts because their salaries are anything but aligned.
In 2016, Forbes reported that Sajak earned $15 million a year from the show while White reportedly makes $3 million.
Sajak has hosted “Wheel of Fortune” alongside White since the show’s debut in 1983.
A source told TMZ, “After 41 years as a model employee and more the face of that show than him [Pat], asking for 50% of what he makes seems like a no-brainer” while another claiming direct knowledge described the negotiations as “very difficult.”
Longtime TV host Vanna White says it has been almost two decades since she had a wage rise and she won’t continue on “Wheel of Fortune” unless she gets close to at least half of what Pat Sajak has been making, a report Wednesday details. (Herb Ball/NBCU Photo Bank/Steve Granitz/WireImage/Eric McCandless/ABC/Getty Images)
TMZ reports money is important to Vanna but so is what it represents because, “She feels like it’s a statement for all women.”
Vanna wants to stay on the show after Sajak leaves next year, but if she doesn’t get what she believes is “a minimum of what is fair,” there’s a possibility she will walk too, TMZ concludes.
The news comes as the show announced Ryan Seacrest would take over for Sajak after some thought White could make the transition as host, as Breitbart News reported.
Seacrest recently left co-hosting “Live! with Kelly and Ryan” in New York and has moved back to Los Angeles.
He previously hosted the singing reality competition “American Idol.”