Petition urges ‘The Crown’ star Matt Smith to donate pay disparity to Time’s Up

Days after news broke that The Crown actress Claire Foy was paid less than Matt Smith, a petition is calling on the actor to donate the extra salary he received from the Netflix show to the sexual misconduct defence initiative Time’s Up, which helps survivors of sexual harassment and abuse.

The petition urges Netflix and Smith to make up for the “sexiest pay gap,” and has already nearly reached its goal of 25,000 signatures.

The Care2Petition also urges Netflix and Smith to “show that they stand with women and do the right thing.”

READ MORE: Netflix paid ‘The Crown’s Queen Elizabeth, Claire Foy, less than costar Matt Smith

“Women in all industries are facing a struggle for pay equality,” the organizer of the petition, listed as Rebecca G, wrote in the description. “Women in the US typically earn 80 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts for full-time work. And the pay gap for women of colour is even more striking. Black women typically only make 63 cents for every dollar paid to their white male counterparts and Latina women only make 54 cents on average.”

“While it may be easy for some to dismiss gender pay disparity for already high-paid actors like Claire Foy, I believe that publicly addressing high-profile cases of sexism will also help create greater opportunities for all women — in all careers,” the petition reads.

Despite the fact that Foy played Queen Elizabeth, the very subject of Netflix series The Crown, she still earned less per episode than her counterpart, Smith, who played the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip.

The Crown executive producer Andy Harries, creative director Suzanne Mackie and production designer Martin Childs were speaking at a panel about the series at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem last Tuesday when the topic of pay was raised.

“The producers acknowledged that [Smith] did make more due to his Doctor Who fame, but that they would rectify that for the future,” wrote Variety reporter Debra Birnbaum in her conference coverage.

After the admission, Mackie added, “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen.”

READ MORE: Mark Wahlberg reportedly made $1.5M for ‘All the Money’ reshoot, Michelle Williams — less than $1K

The petition comes two months after a similar petition urged Mark Wahlberg to donate the US$1.5 million more that he made during the reshoots for All the Money in the World after news broke that his co-star Michelle Williams, received only US$1,000 for the same work.

Wahlberg agreed to donate the US$1.5 million he made for the reshoots to the sexual misconduct defence initiative and said he would make the donation in Williams’ name.

Pay gap between Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams sparks outrage in Hollywood

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Pay gap between Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams sparks outrage in Hollywood

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Critics’ Choice Awards: Olivia Munn, Niecy Nash criticize Mark Wahlberg over pay gap

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Michelle Williams earns 1% of Mark Wahlberg’s salary

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Mark Wahlberg Donates To Time’s Up

The agency William Morris Endeavor represents both actors and said it will donate an additional US$500,000, also in Williams’ name.

As of this writing, Smith and Netflix have not commented on the petition.

—With files from Chris Jancelewicz