Claire Foy is finally getting the financial windfall she deserves.
According to The Mail on Sunday, the actress is going to receive $275,000 in back pay for her work on Netflix's "The Crown." The payday comes more than a month after it was revealed that Claire's co-star Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip, made more than her, despite the fact she played the Queen.
"As the producers of 'The Crown' we are responsible for budgets and salaries. The actors are not aware of who gets what and cannot be held personally responsible for the pay of their colleagues," Left Bank Pictures, the production company behind "The Crown," told The Mail on Sunday in a new statement. "We are absolutely united with the fight for fair pay, free of gender bias and for a rebalancing of the industry's treatment of women in front of the camera and behind the scenes."
When the news was first revealed that Matt made more than Claire, the production company initially defended its action, saying Matt was more well-known than her. Later, the company apologized and admitted its lapse in judgement.
"No one gets paid more than the Queen," the statement said.
Around that time, Matt indicated that he, too, was frustrated that Claire's pay wasn't equal.
"I think actually she probably should've been paid that originally in the first place and I think everyone's taken a long hard look at themselves and gone 'Here's where we went wrong and can we go forward and make it right?'" he told Page Six last week. "The problem is it happened too late. She's the Queen for God's sake. It's ridiculous."
The $275,000 was designed to make up for the pay disparity between she and Matt.
"Claire is one of my best friends and I believe that we should be paid equally and fairly and there should be equality for all," Matt told The Hollywood Reporter last week. "I support her completely and I'm pleased that it was resolved and they made amends for it because that's what needed to happen. Going forward I think we should all bear in mind that we need strive to make this a better and more even playing field for everyone involved."
Claire spoke about the controversy that erupted over the pay dispute last week.
"Anything that I'm at the centre of like that is very very odd, and feels very, very out of ordinary," she told Entertainment Weekly. "But I'm not [surprised about the interest in the story] in the sense that it was a female-led drama. I'm not surprised that people saw [the story] and went: 'Oh, that's a bit odd.' But I know that Matt feels the same that I do, that it's odd to find yourself at the centre [of something] that you didn't particularly ask for."