Fox wants the actors to take a 45 percent pay cut, amounting to the actors making $4 million and some change instead of $8 million each per year. Part-time resident and full-time friend of New Orleans Harry Shearer, who gives voice to Ned Flanders and Mr. Burns, released a (really long) statement Friday (Oct. 7), about the issue. To save the show, Shearer is offering to take an even bigger pay cut — 70 percent — but only if Fox parent News Corp. is willing to cough up some of the profits the show has and will continue to make in the future.
Here is the statement in its entirety:
“For many years now, the cast of ‘The Simpsons’ has been trying to get Fox to agree that, like so many other people who’ve contributed significantly to the show’s success, we be allowed a tiny share of the billions of dollars in profits the show has earned. Fox has consistently refused to even consider the matter. Instead, it’s paid us salaries that, while ridiculous by any normal standard, pale in comparison to what the show’s profit participants have been taking home.
"Now, as the show enters its twenty-third season, we are engaged in what will probably be our last contract negotiation with Fox. As you may have heard, the network has taken the position that ‘The Simpsons’ no longer makes enough money and that unless we in the cast accept a 45% pay cut, they are not going to bring the show back for a twenty-fourth season.
"Obviously, there are a lot more important things going on in the world right now, in the streets of New York and elsewhere. But given how many people seem to care about what happens to our show — and how much misinformation has been flying around — I thought it might make sense for at least one member of the cast to speak out directly. I should note that I am speaking only for myself, and not for any of the other actors on the show.
"Fox wants to cut our salaries in half because it says it can’t afford to continue making the show under what it calls the existing business model. Fox hasn’t explained what kind of new business model it has formulated to keep the show on the air, but clearly the less money they have to pay us in salary, the more they’re able to afford to continue broadcasting the show. And to this I say, fine — if pay cuts are what it will take to keep the show on the air, then cut my pay. In fact, to make it as easy as possible for Fox to keep new episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ coming, I’m willing to let them cut my salary not just 45% but more than 70% — down to half of what they said they would be willing to pay us. All I would ask in return is that I be allowed a small share of the eventual profits.
more at
http://www.nola.com/celebrities/index.ssf/2011/10/harry_shearer_offers_to_take_b.html I support the actors against a predatory employer using populist anti-rich sentiment to strong arm their workforce into pay cuts.