Lisa Wilkinson is berated over 'pay parity' claims in unearthed footage from the 2018 Logies - as comedian Dave Hughes jokes she's earning 'double' than her co-hosts on The Project
An unearthed video of comedian Dave Hughes roasting Lisa Wilkinson about her pay disparity claims at the 2018 Logies has been unearthed, just days before her bombshell autobiography, It Wasn't Meant To Be Like, is set to be released.
In her book, the 61-year-old makes a series of claims about her former co-host Karl Stefanovic and how she left Channel Nine over a reported gender pay gap dispute.
At the awards ceremony, Hughes quipped that Lisa was earning 'double' than her co-hosts on The Project after moving to Channel 10.
Awkward: Lisa Wilkinson (pictured at the 2018 Logies alongside Waleed Aly, right) was at the centre of a joke about pay parity in a speech by comedian Dave Hughes - where he claimed she earned 'double' than her co-hosts on The Project
In his opening speech, Hughes addressed Wilkinson head-on as she sat with her Channel 10 colleagues - while her former Today show co-host Stefanovic, 47, sat on another table nearby.
'You left for pay parity. I know you weren’t getting pay parity, were you Lisa? No,' he said.
'...And you’re not getting pay parity at The Project either. Now you’re earning double!' he added, as she sat beside her co-host Waleed Aly.
'You left for pay parity. I know you weren’t getting pay parity, were you Lisa? No,' Hughes said. '...And you’re not getting pay parity at The Project either. Now you’re earning double!'
All smiles: As the audience let out a gasp, Lisa gave an awkward thumbs-up to the camera
As the audience let out a gasp, Lisa gave an awkward thumbs-up to the camera.
He ended the joke: 'Don’t blame me for that joke. Blame it on Carrie [Bickmore, Wilkinson's other co-host] and Waleed!'
The awkward giggling from the table may well have hinted to deeper tensions over pay on The Project, though they didn't comment on the joke at the time.
In August 2020, Network 10 refused to comment on rumours Lisa earns between $1million and $2.3million per year when approached by Daily Mail Australia.
The amount is which was said to dwarf the package of her co-hosts including Bickmore and Aly.
Close by: Lisa's former Today co-host Karl Stefanovic was sat at a table nearby at the event
In was reported in 2015 that Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore earned the same annual salary of $500,000.
The Queensland Times reported at the time that the pair had 'matching deals' with Channel 10, but this situation may have changed since.
A later report in The Daily Telegraph in 2019 claimed that Bickmore - who has been with the show since its inception - was earning an annual salary of $750,000.
Wilkinson was earning $780,000 a year on a two-year contract when she left Channel Nine 2017, according to The Australian.
Meanwhile, Stefanovic's three- to five-year contract was said to be worth between $2million and $3million annually, depending on the show's performance.
Pay: In August 2020, Network 10 refused to comment on rumours Lisa earns between $1million and $2.3million per year when approached by Daily Mail Australia
Wilkinson left the Today show in October 2017.
At the time it was widely reported the Nine Network was 'unable to meet her expectations' after she demanded equal pay with Stefanovic.
Nine's then-CEO Hugh Marks said she had asked for $2.3million per year, which would have surpassed Stefanovic's base annual salary of $2million.
He added that Wilkinson's other media deals, including with the now-defunct HuffPost Australia website, also affected her salary.
'The reason we walked away from Lisa is because we are not able to secure [other] rights with her,' Mr Marks said.
'She has a number of commercial rights with other parties. Her arrangement with the Huffington Post restricts our ability to engage with her digitally – we are restricted from engaging with her also on social media.
'I hate the fact we have to compare her with Karl, but with him we have all those rights. With Lisa we do not.'
Claims: Following her departure in 2017, Nine's then-CEO Hugh Marks said she had asked for $2.3 million per year, which would have surpassed her co-host Karl Stefanovic's base annual salary of $2 million
Over the weekend, Wilkinson told The Sunday Telegraph, the claims are 'completely untrue'.
'Hugh Marks said that during my Nine negotiations I demanded $2.3 million. That is completely untrue and that figure is not even remotely close to what I discussed with him,' she said.
She went on to say she wanted to 'get a more equal share of the greatly increased spoils of the Today show'.
'I simply asked that since Karl and I had recently taken the Today show to No.1 in 2016, that there be a more equal share of the greatly increased spoils of the show's success, especially once I knew the extent of the gender pay gap that existed between us,' she added.
Lisa Wilkinson's new book It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This will be released on Wednesday November 3.
'That is completely untrue': Lisa told The Sunday Telegraph , the claims are 'completely untrue, disparaging' and hurtful'
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