‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Push Sony to Keep Vanna White on the Show
You can buy vowels, but you can’t buy the kind of support Vanna White is getting from Wheel of Fortune fans as Sony Pictures Television execs reportedly weigh her future on the long-running game show.
Last week, Puck News reported (per Parade) that White is negotiating her Wheel of Fortune contract ahead of host Pat Sajak’s imminent departure and that she has hired celebrity litigator Bryan Freedman, who is pushing for White’s first raise in 18 years.
The site also reported that White makes about $3 million a year for her role on the show and that Sajak makes nearly five times that amount. And Freedman is “hitting the pay discrepancy issue hard with Sony, as well as possible gender discrimination with respect to White’s salary,” Puck News added.
Christopher Willard/ABC
But Sony executives have proposed eliminating White’s position, according to Puck News, and that chatter has fans’ head spinning.
“Why?” asked Twitter user @DeborahFranko. “Do they not have enough money to pay her? They’d better keep her as long as she wants to keep doing her job!”
“That’s not the way to keep viewers after your well-known host retires,” tweeted @vizslaangel.
“Take away the key part of the show? Sounds like a great idea lol,” added @wrestling_tko.
And @magpepper tweeted, “Vanna is more important to the show than Pat Sajak. This feels wildly disrespectful.”
Meanwhile, other Twitter users are rooting for White to get a pay raise after all these years.
“Vanna White, dating back to the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, has been just as much an integral reason to any success Wheel of Fortune has had as Pat Sajak, probably even more so, arguably,” tweeted @KevDGrussing. “The fact she hasn’t gotten a raise in damn near 20 years and earns five times lessthan Pat is insanity.”
And @Staccato_Lo wrote, “We can have the conversation all day about someone turning letters for $3 million, but for her to never have a raise for 18 years is ridiculous. Vanna White is an icon and her name is synonymous with Wheel of Fortune. Pay that lady!”
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She is now an integral, rooted part of the show. Losing both Pat and Vanna. in one year ?..Might as well shut down the show, completely.. When I was younger, 1985 or so, I would have fired both Pat and Vanna--but they have become Icon's like Mission Impossible-- and an uproar occurred, whenever they changed characters. I personally watch the show just occasionally. However, the changes made in the past 15 years, have made the show more interesting to a major cross-section of Americans. ( More tricks/ risks/ strategy and curves in the rules) Keep her and pay her $5-7 M. She has been loyal and has endeared herself to generations, now. Only fools would fire her now. She is "the Show".
They must make a Sh__-pot of money from that show, in order to pay Pat $15 M . Pat is starting to say lots of dumb things ( Arrogant Smart-aleck stuff) that is going to get him fired. Pat is fried. Let him go.
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A lot of people in the TV Insider comment section are really up in arms about Vanna White just waving and touching a screen. Since when did people suddenly get a strong opinion about how Wheel of Fortune is run? I could say that Pat Sajak just stands and talks but that would be belittling his role in the show. It's a shame that this isn't recognized when it comes to Vanna.
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Pat runs the show. It’s a heck of a lot more than what Vanna does.
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Someone else, you made a couple of assertions in your response to me. Thank you for responding to my post as well! I noticed that even though you stated “Pat runs the show”, you provide no explanation as to how he does this. Is there any evidence to support your claim?
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I thought it was pretty evident what that meant. Didn’t realize I needed to spell is out for you.
He sets the tone. He explains the rules. He does the interviews. He runs each of the puzzles. He goes in and out of the commercials. He does the bonus round. He talks throughout the whole show. He’s the host. Oh and he’s also an Executive Producer of the show.
Vanna walks on stage. Walks to her post. Then touches screens that light up for her. And says goodbye at the end. She has an obsolete position. Just as they light up the screen for her to touch, they just as easily can just show the letter.
An actual host is needed. A waver and screen tapper isn’t.
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Someone else, thank you for responding back! I read your post and you have some good arguments to support your claim. A couple of your statements that stood out to me were “He sets the tone” and “He runs each of the puzzles”. I know your position on Vanna but it could also be argued that she additionally sets the tone and has a contributory role to the tone and the puzzles. You are correct - Vanna’s central job is tapping a space to reveal a letter but it provides a personal touch to the puzzle itself. Imagine if every time a contestant asks for a letter, the camera goes to a puzzle that just reveals itself. Another statement that caught my attention was “He goes in and out of the commercials”. I never knew Pat appeared in a lot of commercials - the money he’s bringing in from them must be why this is his last year as host. Thank you for continuing the discourse - discussing our views in a healthy manner despite our disagreements is a key component of American democracy!
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If the person that replaced Pat Sajak's is paid more than 3 million a year, then she should at least match his/her salary.
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Things change.
How long is she supposed to do the show?
If she hasn't had a raise in all this time, that's her fault for not saying something earlier.
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Needs to change. Give it to some one that will have a the same blessings of just touching the screen and making 3 million. Sorry time to change
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