Apple is paying Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston "upward of $1.25 million" a piece for each episode of their upcoming morning talk show drama series, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The show, which is based on Brian Stelter's non-fiction book "Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV" explores the drama-filled lives of the men and women who star on morning talk shows.
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Witherspoon and Aniston's $1.25 million salary per episode includes fees for executive producing and points on the show's backend, as both are serving as executive producers on the series. Apple has already ordered 20 episodes of the show, split into two seasons.
Witherspoon's high salary on Apple's new television show drove up the price of her salary on the second season of HBO's "Little Big Lies," for which she will receive $1 million per episode.
One Hollywood agent told The Hollywood Reporter that if HBO matches Apple's price, "it inflates the whole ecosystem of TV actor salaries." HBO programming president Casey Bloys wasn't as concerned, though.
"It's not a shock to anybody that having a second season of an ongoing series is easier to have with those deals in place," HBO programming president Casey Bloys tells THR. "Every outlet has to make their own decisions about economics that make sense for them. I'm not going to shake my fist and say, 'Darn it, Apple!' If that's what made sense for them for that show, God bless."
In addition to the morning show drama, Apple is working on two other TV shows with Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company with Witherspoon serving a executive producer. One is "Are You Sleeping," a psychological thriller starring Octavia Spencer, while the other is an untitled comedy series starring Kristen Wiig.
Top Rated Comments
I have yet to hear a single person say, "You have to check out this awesome show on Apple Music!" (which sounds like a stupid thing to say, to begin with.) People have told me I have to check out a cool new show on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video more times than I can count, but I've never heard anyone get excited about an Apple-exclusive show. Maybe this will be the show that turns the tide, but I'm not optimistic.
Personally, I don't think it anyone's business how much someone makes, but when they feel they have to make it public, people feel the need to judge. Considering it takes me 10 years to make as much money as each of them will make in a week, I can't say it's deserving. But then neither are sports salaries--9 figure salary for a pitcher on a baseball team?