Following the controversy on Mark Wahlberg's considerably higher payout than his co-star Michelle Williams in filming reshoots for All the Money in the World, Wahlberg has decided to donate his earnings to the Time's Up movement.
The decision comes at the wake of heavy criticism over Wahlberg's steep salary, which wasn't in itself a phenomenally radical payout — big shot Hollywood stars get paid eight figures, typically — but compared to Williams's reported $80-per-day salary, it was an appalling discrepancy.
"Over the last few days my reshoot fee for All the Money in the World has become an important topic of conversation," said Wahlberg, as People reports "I 100 percent support the fight for fair pay and I'm donating the $1.5 million to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams' name."
In addition to Wahlberg's $1.5 million donation, his agency, William Morris Endeavor, will also be making a $500,000 donation to the movement.
"WME is donating an additional $500,000 to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund in Michelle Williams' name, following our $1 million pledge to the organization earlier this month," said the agency. "It's crucial that this conversation continues within our community and we are committed to being part of the solution."
Time's Up was founded recently as a movement that works to prevent sexual harassment from taking place in different industries, spurred in large part by the #MeToo movement and the many allegations against now-disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.
"[Time's Up] is a unified call for change from women in entertainment for women everywhere. From movie sets to farm fields to boardrooms alike, we envision nationwide leadership that reflects the world in which we live," the website reads. "No more silence. No more waiting. No more tolerance for discrimination, harassment or abuse."
Controversy over Wahlberg's significantly higher salary than Williams's began shortly after rumors about it spread, causing many to claim it as an evidence of the gender pay disparity happening in Hollywood, in which women are paid less than men even if they play lead parts.
However, it remains undetermined exactly how much Wahlberg and Williams were paid each for the actual shooting of the film — the fees in question were only for the film's reshoots, as director Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer after the actor was hit with multiple sexual assault allegations.
Both Williams and Plummer were nominated at the 2018 Golden Globes for their performances in the film, as was Scott for directing.
