There was quite a bit of controversy generated when it was revealed that Mark Wahlberg had been paid 1500 times more than his co-star Michelle Williams for re-shooting 'All the Money in the World'.
As you may recall, parts of the film needed to be re-shot with Christopher Plummer replacing the disgraced Kevin Spacey in Ridley Scott's John Paul Getty biopic - yet Wahlberg earned $1.5 million while Williams was paid an $80 per diem which amounted to less than $1,000. The outcry was such that Wahlberg eventually announced that he was donating his fee for the re-shoot to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, saying that he "100% supports the fight for fair pay."
Now, Wahlberg has addressed the situation for the first time publicly, describing the whole thing as 'awkward'.
He told Entertainment Tonight: "It didn’t take much to make the decision [to donate the money]. It was just the right thing to do, you know? And Michelle is a fantastic actress.
"It’s not me who decides who gets paid what. Your value’s based on what the marketplace dictates, and with that particular situation, it was very awkward. It was like, you know what, we’ll donate that and they need the rest of the money that I got paid to do it too, because I – like everybody else – did the movie to make the movie with Ridley Scott."
He added: "I took a substantial pay cut."
