The fallout from the 'pay gap' controversy surrounding 'The Crown' rages on - even though its stars have all moved on to other projects as Season 3 prepares to start shooting.
As you may remember, there was quite a kerfuffle after it was revealed that Claire Foy - who played Queen Elizabeth II in the series - was paid significantly less than her co-star, Matt Smith.
Foy said that she was 'embarrassed' when she found out the disparity in wages, but the issue was later resolved, with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings donating the difference in both stars' wages to the Time's Up movement, saying "nobody gets paid more than the Queen."
However, there have been rumours abounding that Foy got £200,000 in 'back pay' for her role after the controversy - which she has now publicly disputed.
She told Al Arabiya: “That was what was reported that I was back-paid. I’ve never mentioned anything about it and neither have the producers. The fact that that is ‘fact’ is—not quite correct.
“Yes it’s Netflix, but it’s a British production company. It happened at the same time as it was coming out with a lot of other people that there was a lot of pay inequality across the board—in the music industry, in journalism, in every industry. It’s across the board that it became part of a bigger conversation, which is an odd place to find yourself in."
She added that she had learned a lot from the experience, saying: “I realised early on that me being quiet about it or me not thinking about it in any way, and not associating myself with it, would be harmful to me and also lots of other people. It’s taught me a lot, and I’m still learning about it. I have not come out the other side and know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m still learning as much as anybody else is."
Foy's latest role is in 'The Girl in the Spider's Web'.
