Vanna White Reportedly Got a Pay Raise but Isn’t Done Negotiating
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
After more than four decades of revealing letters on Wheel of Fortune, Vanna White is now hoping to make a few more zeroes appear at the end of her paycheck.
The beloved game show co-host—arguably even more synonymous with Wheel of Fortune than longtime host Pat Sajak, who is retiring after this season—hasn’t received a pay raise in 18 years, according to Puck.
With her current contract ending at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, the 66-year-old has hired Bryan Freedman, a well-known and aggressive entertainment lawyer, to secure a salary increase. She currently makes $3 million a year for the syndicated version of the show, almost five times less than Sajak’s salary, according to Puck writer Matthew Belloni.
According to TMZ, negotiations between White and Sony are no hold because of the writer’s strike, but the two sides are currently very far apart. However, Freedman—who has represented such clients as Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr., and Mariah Carey—has secured White more money for her role on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
Freedman is expected to emphasize the pay discrepancy between White and Sajak during negotiations with Sony and might cite gender discrimination as a factor in White’s longtime lack of a pay bump, according to Puck.
“We can argue about what Vanna should be making after four decades of looking and acting fabulous on Wheel of Fortune,” Belloni wrote. “But like everything in Hollywood, the question is what should Vanna be making relative to both Sajak and the studio that produces the show? And 20 percent of her male co-host seems low to me.”
Where Vanna Makes Her Money
White first joined Wheel of Fortune in 1982, replacing model Susan Stafford as the show’s full-time letter-turner. Her popularity resulted in a wave of “Vannamania,” and she and Sajak have become one of the most iconic television duos of all-time.
Although White has reportedly not received a raise in 18 years, she has received bonuses over that time. In addition to the syndicated show, she also earns income from Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, which began airing on ABC in 2021. According to Puck, White previously earned $55,000 per episode for Celebrity Wheel, but TMZ has reported that her attorney negotiated that amount up to $100,000 per epsiode. In comparison, Puck reports Sajak earns $300,000 per episode on the spin-off, though TMZ states he earns more than $400,000.
Get the latest Vanna White news delivered straight to your inbox.
White also makes money from outside endorsements, as well as her real estate investment and Vanna’s Choice brand of yarn. In total, Celebrity Net Worth estimates she earns about $10 million per year, plus another $15 million for licensing her name and likeness to Wheel casino slot machines.
Belloni suggests White’s lack of a pay raise on the syndicated version of Wheel could stem from past discussions about removing her role from the show altogether. As far back as the 1990s, Sony had considered removing White to cut costs but ultimately decided against it out of fear of backlash from fans.
“Vanna—who, by all accounts, is super nice and doesn’t court conflict—has always felt vulnerable, and she’s bought into the idea that she’s lucky to have the job,” Belloni wrote for Puck. “She also had a lawyer, Joe Horacek, who didn’t do much to help dissuade her.”
Her Aggressive New Attorney
The hiring of Freedman marks a more aggressive negotiating tactic in terms of White’s salary. The co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Freedman & Taitelman law firm, Freedman is well-known for his tenacity in representing high-profile celebrity defendants, many of whom he has helped secure hefty payouts.
“Freedman is an expert in crisis litigation, the type that’s heavy in late-night phone calls and corporate drama,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter, which noted that Freedman represented Chris Cuomo following his termination from CNN, as well as Quentin Tarantino after the film director was sued by Miramax in a dispute over non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
After Chris Harrison, former host of The Bachelor, was forced out for defending a contestant accused of racism, Freedman reportedly negotiated a $10 million payout for him. Gabrielle Union also hired the lawyer when she was dismissed as a judge on America’s Got Talent, filing a discrimination suit against the show’s producers.
Additionally, Freedman represented Michael Jackson’s estate in a $100 million fight against the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland and defended television host Megyn Kelly after she was fired from NBC for her comments about blackface. Freedman reportedly helped force NBC to pay the full remainder of her $69 million contract.
More recently, Freedman was hired by both Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon after the two news anchors were fired on the same day from the Fox News and CNN networks, respectively.
Ryan Seacrest has been named Sajak’s successor as Wheel of Fortune host, and some reports suggest he could earn as much as $28 million a year for the gig. It remains to be seen how White’s salary will compare with that of her new co-host come next year, but Freedman will be an aggressive new advocate during salary negotiations.
You Might Also Like
