Emmy Rossum was ‘shook’ when “Shameless” pay dispute went public
Emmy Rossum was ‘shook’ when “Shameless” pay dispute went public
Derek LawrenceWed, July 8, 2026 at 9:19 PM UTC
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Emmy Rossum on ‘Shameless’Credit: Paul Sarkis/ShowtimeKey Points -
Shameless star Emmy Rossum was ‘“shook” when her equal pay dispute became public knowledge.
The actress sought to be paid the same amount as costar William H. Macy.
The matter was quickly resolved after the initial headlines.
Shameless star Emmy Rossum admits to being “shook” when her push for equal pay with costar William H. Macy went public.
Back in 2016, ahead of season 8 of the beloved Showtime series, news broke that the actress and the network were in a standoff over her salary demands.
“I was on a writer’s retreat, and I was procrastinating, and I opened up Twitter, and it was a headline that we were in a stalemate, and I was shook,” she told Alex Cooper on the new episode of Call Her Daddy. “It’s a private business negotiation, and I never imagined it would become public. Not just for the public, but for the cast and crew. Everyone was doing their own negotiation. So I certainly didn’t want that. I didn’t say anything.”
But it turned out that the matter going public worked in Rossum’s favor, and the headlines would soon be that she struck a new deal.
“The tide really shifted,” she explained. “People seemed to write other articles, like immediately commenting on that, being quite surprised that I wasn’t already being paid equal. And it was resolved within a day. I was shocked, and quite frankly, very, very surprised that we actually got it.”
William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum on ‘Shameless’Credit: Jordin Althaus/Showtime
For nine seasons, Rossum starred on Shameless as Fiona, the fierce and loyal eldest sibling of the chaotic Gallagher family. Ahead of being cast, Rossum had a nice collection of film credits, between Mystic River, The Day After Tomorrow, and The Phantom of the Opera. But the résumés of Rossum and her fellow younger castmates paled in comparison to their onscreen father played by Macy.
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The Oscar-nominated actor starred as Gallagher patriarch Frank, and Rossum concedes that, at the start of the show, it “made a lot of sense” for Macy to earn “a lot more money than me.” Then, as the series, went on, Fiona became, at minimum, the co-lead of Shameless, and so Rossum first pushed for a raise in season 3, believing she had the “receipts” and “fan engagement” to prove her worth.
That request was denied, and then, before the negotiation leaked to the public ahead of season 8, Rossum said that her latest quest for a pay increase was “shut down pretty fast.” It got to the point that she “wasn’t sure if we were going to get it.”
“I only desire to remain professional, and my focus is never on money, it’s on what’s fair and what’s right, and I believe that people should be paid for their labor,” she added. “It was really about being valued equally when I was doing equal work. For me, it was as simple as that. I was very, very happy when we got it, and very, very happy for what it seemingly did for other women.”
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Rossum stayed on Shameless for another two years after winning her equal pay battle, walking away at the end of season 9, while the show continued through season 11.
“I will never be saying goodbye to Fiona,” she told Entertainment Weekly upon announcing her exit.. “Fiona is a part of me and has been like every character is a part of you and you are a little bit part of them. My Shameless family is really my second family and I’ve spent so much time with them — 10,000 hours — that it really feels like we’ve all grown up together. I feel incredibly proud of everything we have created. I’m just filled with gratitude for everyone’s hard work.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
