You can buy vowels, but you can’t buy the kind of support Vanna White is getting from Wheel of Fortune fans as Sony Pictures Television execs reportedly weigh her future on the long-running game show.
Last week, Puck News reported (per Parade) that White is negotiating her Wheel of Fortune contract ahead of host Pat Sajak’s imminent departure and that she has hired celebrity litigator Bryan Freedman, who is pushing for White’s first raise in 18 years.
The site also reported that White makes about $3 million a year for her role on the show and that Sajak makes nearly five times that amount. And Freedman is “hitting the pay discrepancy issue hard with Sony, as well as possible gender discrimination with respect to White’s salary,” Puck News added.
Christopher Willard/ABC
But Sony executives have proposed eliminating White’s position, according to Puck News, and that chatter has fans’ head spinning.
“Why?” asked Twitter user @DeborahFranko. “Do they not have enough money to pay her? They’d better keep her as long as she wants to keep doing her job!”
“That’s not the way to keep viewers after your well-known host retires,” tweeted @vizslaangel.
“Take away the key part of the show? Sounds like a great idea lol,” added @wrestling_tko.
And @magpepper tweeted, “Vanna is more important to the show than Pat Sajak. This feels wildly disrespectful.”
Meanwhile, other Twitter users are rooting for White to get a pay raise after all these years.
“Vanna White, dating back to the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, has been just as much an integral reason to any success Wheel of Fortune has had as Pat Sajak, probably even more so, arguably,” tweeted @KevDGrussing. “The fact she hasn’t gotten a raise in damn near 20 years and earns five times lessthan Pat is insanity.”
And @Staccato_Lo wrote, “We can have the conversation all day about someone turning letters for $3 million, but for her to never have a raise for 18 years is ridiculous. Vanna White is an icon and her name is synonymous with Wheel of Fortune. Pay that lady!”
Wheel of Fortune, Weeknights, Check your local listings
