Claire Foy receives $275,000 back pay after The Crown pay gap controversy

The actress has reportedly received backpay as compensation.

Earlier this year, producers on the Netflix show The Crown confirmed that Claire Foy was paid much less than Matt Smith for her part in the hit show, despite playing the lead role in the show. Producers initially defended the decision, noting Smith’s “higher profile” thanks to his work on Doctor Who. However, unsurprisingly, that excuse didn’t fly with fans and the story became much bigger than producers expected it to. After months of pressure from fans, Netflix has finally given Claire Foy backpay to the tune of $275,000 (€229,000) to compensate for the roughly €11,000 extra per episode her co-star Matt Smith earned during the first two seasons of the show. Foy was reported to have earned €33,000 per hour-long episode at the beginning of the show’s run, however, Matt Smith’s salary was never revealed. In the wake of the revelations of the large pay gap between the pair, a petition was launched asking Smith to donate his earnings to the Time’s Up movement and was signed by over 25,000 people. Speaking in the weeks after the news broke, Foy said: “I’m surprised because I’m at the centre of it,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “Anything that I’m at the centre of like that is very, very odd, and feels very, very out of the ordinary.” And the reports that Foy has been given backpay has gone down well with followers who praised the decision online today.

boom. https://t.co/FHZxu390UT

— deray (@deray) April 30, 2018

YES GIVE CLAIRE FOY HER MONEY

— emily nielsen (@eknielsen) April 30, 2018

It’s what she deserves ?? https://t.co/n23p3UoCNr

— Yaritza (@YaritzaSMendez) April 30, 2018

This is the correct way to handle this situation. https://t.co/M625NzIsyt

— Sarah (@Cinesnark) April 30, 2018

Good! I only watched it because of her and she was fucking brilliant. https://t.co/cC1xxGmfEv

— kath ?❄️ (@KathyBurke) April 29, 2018

About freaking time. #EqualPay https://t.co/bokPacbN6P

— Portia Mount (@bossmomonline) April 30, 2018