The Mark Wahlberg defenders and apologists have been taking the line that he shouldn’t be taken to task for getting a big day for the “All The Money In The World” reshoots, while Michelle Williams got peanuts. In case you’re playing catchup, Marky Mark demanded $1.5 million for the ten days of work, while Williams received approximately $1,000 (nope, there’s not a zero missing — one thousand). Wahlburgers (that’s what I’ll call his fans) have said that he was simply a good negotiator, an argument that has always been problematic, and now new details reveal that this wasn’t just about being better at the bargaining table – it’s simply about being John Getty level greedy.
USA Today reveals, in a somewhat ironic twist, that Wahlberg essentially held Plummer’s casting for ransom in order to get a big payday for the “All The Money In The World” reshoots. The actor had the approval of the co-stars in the film, and he leveraged that contractual detail hard.
“What he said was, ‘I will not approve Christopher Plummer unless you pay me.’ And that’s how he (expletive) them,” a source told the paper.
Oh, and by the way, again to those saying Wahlberg’s agents simply worked better on his behalf — THR notes both Wahlberg and Williams are repped by the same agency, William Morris Endeavor. With the gender pay gap such a big conversation over the past year not just in Hollywood, but across many industries, it makes this all the more flabbergasting. Even more, both actors had reshoots as part of their contracts on the film. And again, for much of the press tour for “All The Money In The World,” the narrative has been about how the cast came together to do the right thing once Ridley Scott decided to oust the disgraced Kevin Spacey and replace him with Plummer.
“I said I’d be wherever they needed me, whenever they needed me. And they could have my salary, they could have my holiday, whatever they wanted. Because I appreciated so much that they were making this massive effort,” Williams previously told USA Today.
It’s an ugly look all around for Wahlberg, and even Scott is reportedly “betrayed” upon hearing this, as he was apparently out of the loop on the negotiations. There’s been no official comment from anyone involved with “All The Money In The World,” but with the outrage continuing to build, they can’t stay silent for much longer.