Showtime’s quirky dramedy Shameless has halted production ahead of its eighth season due to a pay dispute — one that we actually, totally agree with. Emmy Rossum, who stars on the show as the Gallagher family’s unlikely matriarch, Fiona, is demanding equal pay to her co-star William H. Macy, who plays Frank.
Macy reportedly got a raise after negotiations for the shows yet-to-be-announced eighth season even though he was already being paid way more than the rest of the cast. In turn, Rossum has demanded equal pay to Macy plus back pay for the all the episodes she was making less.
THR has reported that if Rossum succeeds in getting equal pay (which would be crazy if she doesn’t. Hello, it’s 2016 and she’s basically the star of the show!), it’s likely that the cast will follow suit. If she doesn’t get equal pay, she’ll likely leave and the show will face cancellation. Shameless without Emmy Rossum would be like a PB&J sandwich without bread. It can’t possibly work, and Variety has suggested that the network would nix the show rather than continuing without her.
