Here's How Mark Wahlberg Spent the $1.5M He Made (that Michelle Williams Didn't)

On Monday (Feb. 5) during a MAKERS conference event in L.A., Tina Tchen, the powerhouse lawyer spearheading the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, announced that the Hollywood-centric anti-harassment initiative has received nearly $20 million in donations. Among those donations? One for the sum of $1.5 million, donated by none other than Wahlberg, in Williams’ name.

Wahlberg announced his intention to donate following public outcry over the $1.5 million in reshoot fees he received for “All the Money in the World,” which was originally set to also star Kevin Spacey. Following multiple allegations of sexual harassment against Spacey, director Ridley Scott decided to pull the disgraced actor from the nearly completed film, resulting in 10 days of reshoot scenes for the remaining cast and Spacey’s replacement, Christopher Plummer. In a show of support, many key players, including Williams, refused to be paid for the additional work. Wahlberg, though, felt differently.

As reported USA Today, Wahlberg’s team not only insisted that he be paid for the reshoots, they also negotiated the hefty package of $1.5 million. Williams, on the other hand, opted to receive the minimum reimbursement: an $80 per diem coming out to less than $1,000.

At the time, Wahlberg — who, coincidentally, was named Forbes’ highest paid actor in 2017 — wasn’t Hollywood’s only leading man to show less-than-satisfactory support for the movement against harassment. At the Golden Globes, just two days before USA Today’s story broke, not one man referenced #MeToo or Time’s Up in their acceptance speech. And two of those men, Aziz Ansari and James Franco, faced their own harassment allegations in the days following the awards show.

Thankfully, Wahlberg’s follow-up move points to a better example of male allyship. When announcing his intent to donate, the actor said he “100% support(s) the fight for fair pay," and Williams called the impact of his example “indelible.”

“If we truly envision an equal word, it takes equal effort and sacrifice,” she said in a statement. “Today is one of the most indelible days of my life because of Mark Wahlberg, WME and a community of women and men who share in this accomplishment."