Update 21 March: The makers of Netflix show The Crown have apologised to its stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith after it emerged that she was paid less than him.

Left Bank Pictures, the production company for the show, said the actors 'have found themselves at the centre of a media storm this week through no fault of their own'.

A statement said: 'We want to apologise to both Claire Foy and to Matt Smith, brilliant actors and friends.'


A petition is calling on actor Matt Smith to take action after he was paid more for his role as Prince Philip than his co-star Claire Foy earned as Queen Elizabeth on The Crown.

The Hollywood Reporter reports the petition urges Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Smith to 'show that they stand with women and do the right thing', while asking the former Doctor Who star and streaming company to donate the difference in Smith's pay to the Time's Up Legal Defence Fund.

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The Crown petition — which has over 22,000 signatures of its goal of 25,000 — comes a week after the show's producers revealed Foy earned less than male co-star Smith for the first two seasons of the Netflix hit, despite being in the titular role.

The reason for the pay disparity was justified due to Smith's experience starring as The Doctor on Doctor Who.

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Foy, who before The Crown appeared in the BBC's Wolf Hall, was reportedly paid $40,000 (£28,000) per episode for the first two series, which portrayed the monarch in the 1950s and 1960s.

However, it is unclear what Smith was paid.

'Going forward, no one gets paid more than the Queen,' Left Bank creative director and executive producer Suzanne Mackie said at the INTV Conference in Jerusalem.

The Crown is one of the most expensive television shows ever produced, costing about $130m (£93m) for the first season alone.

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In January, a similar petition urged urged actor Mark Wahlberg to donate the $1.5 million more that he made during reshoots for All the Money in the World after news broke that his co-star, Michelle Williams, received a mere $1,000 for the same work.

As a result, Wahlberg and his agency, WME, donated $2 million to the Time's Up fund.

The news of Smith's petition comes a day after director Steven Spielberg said the Time's Up movement is 'more important than any of us can ever really realise' at last night's Rakuten TV Empire Awards.

The Oscar-winning director was handed the Legend Of Our Lifetime Award and praised the initiative fighting sexual harassment, describing it as a 'watershed moment' for the entertainment industry.

Sign the petition here.

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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.