Matt Smith Petitioned To Donate His ‘The Crown’ Pay To Time’s Up

Let’s hope actor Matt Smith has been wise with his financial choices lately because he might be making a big withdrawal from the bank soon. After the news broke last week Smith got more money to star as Prince Phillip in The Crown than they did to actress Claire Foy, who stars as Queen Elizabeth, well, the internet wasn’t having any of that. Which is why there is now a Care2 petition pressuring Smith to donate his pay disparity to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.

Even though Foy has collected SAG, Golden Globe, and Emmy nominations for her role, Smith was given a larger paycheck due to the fact that he’d had more experience after starring as The Doctor in Doctor Who for three seasons.

Executive Producer Suzanne Mackie has since claimed, “Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,” but the petition is urging both Smith and Netflix to “make up for this sexist pay gap by donating the difference in their paychecks” to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, an organization created to fight these types of situations across industries. This despite the fact that Netflix isn’t necessarily signing Smith’s paychecks: that would be Left Bank Pictures and Sony Pictures Television, who produce the series for Netflix.

The petition, which is just about 2,000 signatures away from its 25,000 goal, was inspired by the fact that Mark Wahlberg was also urged to donate the $1.5 million more that he made during reshoots of All the Money in the World, while his co-star Michelle Williams took home a paltry $1,000 for her work. Wahlberg and his agency WME ended up doing the right thing by donating $2 million to Time’s Up.

Where to watch The Crown