Wheel of Fortune’s Vanna White throws a merciless dig at Pat Sajak in her ‘ugly’ battle with executives over a $15 million salary
In a resurfaced interview, VANNA White slammed Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak.
Vanna, 66, claimed she works more on the show than Pat, 76.
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In a reappeared esquire In a 2019 interview, the WoF star spoke about how difficult her job is compared to being a presenter.
She said she “walked thousands of miles” in her heels while Pat stood behind his podium.
The keeper of the puzzle board even admitted that she works “a lot harder” than Pat.
She said: “I’ve walked thousands of miles. And he didn’t have to do that. In my heels, no less.”
Still, the game show star doesn’t think she’s any more important than her longtime friend, and she doesn’t want to be the host.
She said: “I’m no better than anyone else. I mean, yeah, I’m running the show, which is kind of scary. But I don’t see it as some kind of empowerment.
“I think I’m the same for everyone. We have 150 employees and crew members. I’m not the only one up there. We are 150 people who put the whole show together.
“So we all have our roles to play.”
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WILL BE PAID
Vanna has set the conditions that must be met for her to continue the game show franchise.
Vanna stressed to Big Bosses at ABC that after Pat’s retirement in 2024, she wants compensation equal to the Wheel of Fortune host’s compensation.
In order for Vanna to participate in fair play, she must make fair profits, People reported.
For the past 18 years, Vanna has only earned an annual salary of around $3 million with no salary increases on her earnings.
Vanna wants the TV network executives to use the money from the budget that would be earmarked for Pat’s earnings to increase her salary after his departure next season.
“50 percent of Pat’s salary is so outrageous that no one in their right mind could say it’s fair,” a source told People.
“Far more than 50 percent of his salary is being demanded in the negotiations. They ask for the same salary – if not more.”
Pat currently makes $15 million a year and Vanna has been Pat’s right-hand man on the show since 1982.
SHE DESERVES IT
Though Vanna was instrumental in the show’s popularity and becoming an integral part of American culture, until now she’s never felt confident enough to insist on being paid for her worth.
“Vanna was told, ‘If you fight this, you’ll lose your job. You’re lucky to have the job.’ “And when people tell you that for so long, you believe it,” the source revealed.
Vanna’s salary negotiations with executive producers, which began in June, are reportedly going awry.
Sources say Vanna’s attorney, Bryan Friedman, is negotiating two deals: one for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and one for the long-running syndicated show TMZ.
Friedman has reportedly asked a Sony executive to hire a third party to assess Pat and Vanna’s roles in the syndicated show to come up with a “fair number.”
A source claimed an executive turned down his application because the studio didn’t want to use Pat’s salary for comparison.
Negotiations for the syndicated program were reportedly halted due to the Writers Guild of America strike.
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