Last week, Puck broke the news about Vanna White attempting to renegotiate her salary on Wheel of Fortune. That news came out before Ryan Seacrest was named as Pat Sajak’s replacement on WoF, and I can only imagine what kind of money Sony Entertainment is throwing at Seacrest to take over. As it turns out, Vanna White hasn’t had a par raise in 18 years – she’s been making $3 million a year since 2005, and she’s only pointing that out now, in the year of our lord Beyonce 2023. As I argued, Vanna has a higher Q score than Pat Sajak, and I would think that she’s much more popular than Ryan Seacrest. Vanna is practically an American institution, an unproblematic fave in a sea of television’s worst monsters. But Sajak’s exit combined with Seacrest’s hiring has got me worried… worried that Sony won’t give Vanna a raise, worried that they’ll find a way to push out Vanna. Well, she’s not going quietly:

Vanna White has got Sony spinning these days because she won’t continue on “Wheel of Fortune” unless she makes at least half of what Pat Sajak has been making … sources tell TMZ. Sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations say Vanna is clear — she’s the cohost of the long-running show, so the pay disparity between her and Pat needs to be squarely addressed. Point of fact … they’re introduced this way on ‘Wheel’ — “Here are the stars of our show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White.”

So they’re introduced as equals, but their salaries are anything but. We’ve confirmed Vanna’s salary — $3 million a year. And get this — we’ve confirmed that’s what she’s made for the last 18 YEARS. She has not gotten a single pay increase in all that time.

Pat reportedly makes around $15 million a year. Vanna isn’t asking for that, but we’re told her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, is demanding half the amount Pat makes. One source connected to Vanna put it this way … “After 41 years as a model employee and more the face of that show than him [Pat], asking for 50% of what he makes seems like a no-brainer.”

Sony, we’re told, is not on board, at least not yet. One source with direct knowledge described the negotiations as “very difficult.” Our sources also say Vanna feels like the issue is bigger than her. As one source says, “She feels like it’s a statement for all women.”

We’re told Vanna wants to stay on the show, but if she doesn’t get what she believes is “a minimum of what is fair,” that’s a real possibility.

Sony may be in a tough spot here because Vanna provides continuity when Ryan Seacrest takes over for Pat a year from September. It’s pretty clear … they don’t want to lose Pat and Vanna at the same time.

[From TMZ]

Like… what are Sony executives thinking? Sony also owns Jeopardy, and Sony completely mishandled every part of hiring a new Jeopardy host, to the point where it was a months-long debacle. Sony should be BEGGING Vanna to stay, they should be throwing money at her and acquiescing to her every request/demand, lest they find themselves in yet another PR disaster. Think of how it will look if they play hardball with Vanna White and she ends up walking away. Think of how it will look if they outright fire her for asking for a pay raise after 18 years! She would sue their asses. And what’s crazy is that in the scope of pay grades for American television, Vanna isn’t even asking for that much!! She’s only asking for half of Sajak was making – so she’d like to make about $7.5 million a year? PAY HER.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.