Last week the television world got rocked when Pat Sajak, the longtime host of Wheel of Fortune, would be retiring from the show. Soon after, news broke that “Wheel” would be replacing the legendary host with megastar Ryan Seacrest, but that doesn’t appear to be sitting well with the other star of “America’s Game.”
Vanna White is lawyering up.
The New York Post writes that White has begun “negotiating her contract to stay on the beloved game show past the 2023-24 season, Puck News reported Thursday.
The legendary letter turner — and her ‘aggressive’ legal representative — are angling for a Pat Sajak-sized paycheck, too, as the longtime host is set to retire at the end of the upcoming Season 41, according to the outlet.
Puck also claims that White, 66, makes $3 million per season — and has for 18 years, receiving bonuses not raises during that time.
She appears to have hired Bryan Freedman, who represented embattled short-lived ‘Jeopardy!’ host Mike Richards, with Puck reporting Freedman is ‘hitting the pay discrepancy issue hard with Sony, as well as possible gender discrimination with respect to White’s salary.'”
Sajak was reported to be making nearly $15 million dollars a year hosting the show while working less than two months to record a year’s worth of episodes.
“The selection of a star like Mr. Seacrest by Sony Pictures Television, the studio behind the show, is a big bet on “Wheel of Fortune.” The show has demonstrated remarkable durability even as traditional television has declined in the wake of streaming entertainment,” noted The New York Times.
The swift decision by Sony executives, made just two weeks after Mr. Sajak announced he would step down next year, also suggests that they are hoping to avoid the succession fiasco that nearly overwhelmed their other hit game show, ‘Jeopardy!’
‘I’m truly humbled to be stepping into the footsteps of the legendary Pat Sajak,’ Mr. Seacrest said in a statement. ‘I can’t wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White.’”
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