Tiffany Haddish Reveals She Tries to Get Paid 'the Guy Fee' on Her Films: 'Don't Settle for Less'
Tiffany Haddish isn’t afraid to talk money — and she’s revealing how she ensures she receives equal pay to her male costars.
“I think the reason why, a lot of times, we don’t get paid the same as men do is because we don’t talk about [money],” the 38-year-old actress told Variety. “I think we do need to talk about it because I sure get in there and I’m like, ‘Hey, Kate Hudson. How much do they pay you for that? What kind of perks do you get for that?'”
“You know what they say? ‘A closed mouth don’t get fed.’ And a lot of the times we don’t open our mouths because we don’t even really know what we’re supposed to get,” Haddish continued. “So, that’s why I do the research. I ask around. I’ve made friends with line producers that cut those checks, production managers so I can be like, ‘So, on average, how much does a girl get paid for? How much does a guy get paid?‘”
“Okay, I’m gonna ask for the guy fee on this one,” she added.
Haddish spent three years in foster care during her youth. She explained her strong work ethic came from “being homeless and hungry.”
“When you get tired of washing your ass in the sink, you will be like, ‘You know what, I’m going to make sure this never happens again.’ I see my grandma work all the time, my aunties, all the people that’s ever been around me in my life, they work their asses off,” Haddish said.
“I figured out the method to the madness is know your worth, don’t settle for less,” she added. “If you’ve got to be hungry, oh well — somebody will come along that pays you what you [sic] worth.”
When asked if winning the Emmy for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for Saturday Night Live was her proudest moment, Haddish didn’t hesitate to speak her mind.
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“Can I be honest? Not that much! Because I didn’t get a check with it,” she said. “When people really want those Oscars so bad and those Emmys and everything so bad, I thought it was because they give you a check.”
“Like they come out with the award and they hand you a check!” the Night School actress said. “I’ve been watching sports and NASCAR, horse races, championships, football games, they get a trophy, a ring, and a bonus check. But when you win an Emmy, they give you a gift bag of a bunch of things that you probably not going to really use.”
She added, “I like the trophy a lot, don’t get me wrong, but they could have put a check in there!”
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“I care about being able to take care of my grandma, take care of my mama, my niece, my sister, and my brother, and if I ever have children take care of them, create some generational wealth,” Haddish explained. “And I think the only way to do that is to have some money so you can buy some land and things like that, and then buy a studio.”
“Yeah, I need checks! I don’t think anybody’s obligated to give me anything. I only think I deserve what I work for and that’s that,” she said.
