‘Wheel of Fortune’ Vanna White sets demands to sort salary increment troubles post Pat Sajak’s retirement news
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The popular game show ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has been under a lot of speculation following longtime host Pat Sajak's retirement news and after the show’s producer announced ‘American Idol’ host Ryan Seacrest as his successor. While Vanna White has been in association with the show for more than 40 years now, she has been stressing out the bosses at ABC for her compensation increment demands.
It all started back in June after the game show announced Ryan Seacrest will take over for Pat Sajak at the end of next season in June 2024. The show's team took to social media and posted a glammed-up photo of the host captioning it, “It’s official! Starting in 2024, Ryan Seacrest will take the stage as the new host of Wheel of Fortune. We're so excited - Welcome Ryan!” Although the new host shared a sensitive statement on his social media confirming that Vanna White will remain on the show, it was White who stirred up the heat after reportedly demanding a salary raise from ‘Wheel of Fortune’ executive producers.
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What are Vanna White’s demands?
The ‘Wheel of Fortune’ letter presenter has set forth her demands that have to be met for her to continue on the show. She has notably got things heated up with the producers at ABC after Sajak announced his retirement. Vanna has been asking for a raise in her compensation and wants to earn at least equal compensation to what the retiring ‘Wheel of Fortune’ host must’ve gotten. According to a report by People, the 68-year-old wants to host the game and receive fair compensation. Over the past 18 years, she has consistently earned an annual salary of about $3 million with no pay increases. With Pat Sajak set to depart the show next season, Vanna is urging the TV network's executives to redirect the budget that would have gone towards Pat's income to raise her wages. Currently, Pat earns $15 million per year to host ‘Wheel of Fortune’.
A source shared with People that, “50 percent of Pat's salary is so outrageous that no one in their right mind could say that it’s fair. The negotiation is asking for much more than 50 percent of his salary. It's asking for the same pay — if not more.” Vanna is seeking more than 50 percent of Pat's salary, considering it fair given her significant contribution to the show's popularity and status as a staple in American culture. Despite her long-standing dedication to the show as Pat's right-hand woman since 1982, Vanna had not felt confident enough to assert her worth until now. The source revealed that she was discouraged from negotiating in the past, “Vanna was told, 'If you fight this, you will lose your job. You're lucky to have the job.' And when people tell you that for so long, you believe it.”
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Vanna White’s salary heat
Salary negotiations for Vanna White have reportedly turned contentious, beginning in June and causing tensions with the executive producers. Vanna's lawyer, Bryan Friedman, requested that a third party assess Pat and Vanna's contributions to the syndicated show to determine a “fair figure.” However, a Sony executive rejected this request, as the studio doesn't want to use Pat's salary as a benchmark for comparison. Negotiations for the syndicated program have hit a snag due to the Writers Guild of America strike. An insider warned that the situation might escalate adding, “It's gonna get ugly if they [Sony] don't get more serious.” On the other hand, for her contract on ‘Celebrity Wheel of Fortune’, Vanna was reportedly expected to receive a "meaningful bump" and make around $100,000 per episode, but People's inside source denied this, saying the information was "not correct at all."
According to The US Sun, sources close to the situation stated that negotiations have been “very difficult” because Vanna sees this as “a statement for all women” and is advocating for a “minimum of what is fair.” “After 41 years as a model employee and more the face of that show than him [Pat], asking for 50 percent of what he makes seems like a no-brainer.”