Inside the $80k Off Campus pay dispute as showrunner responds to allegations

While most of the Off Campus chat has focused on who’s dating who in recent weeks, talks have turned to an alleged pay disparity between the lead stars – and now the showrunner has spoken on the issue. 

Off Campus has been nothing short of a global phenomenon, with the Prime Video series making stars out of its cast, including Hannah and Garrett actors Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli.

It didn’t take long for the streamer to greenlight season two, which will adapt the third book in Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus saga to center on Mika Abdalla’s Allie Hayes and Stephen Kalyn’s Dean Di Laurentis.

Last month, the show ran into controversy thanks to a now-viral clip from the In the Vault podcast, in which co-host Ali Rose Gray claimed to know the salary for the main cast members. 

What was said about the Off Campus page gap

According to her account, male lead Belmont Cameli got paid $30,000 per episode, amounting to approximately $260,000 for the first season. But Gray alleged that female lead Ella Bright made the same as Mika Abdalla: $20,000 per episode, or $160,000 total.

 

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The podcast host said, “That’s an $80,000 difference,” while fellow co-host Shane Sutherland replied, “They should be getting the same pay.”

The video sparked plenty of backlash, with one viewer writing, “Of course. She’s a woman. Women always get paid significantly less than their male actor counterparts. I’m not surprised by this.”

Another said, “Good freaking lord how is this STILL HAPPENING.” But others jumped in to defend the series, arguing that the pay is related to experience. 

However, it appears both sides of the argument are incorrect. 

Showrunner shuts down the allegations

More recently, Off Campus showrunner Louisa Levy decided to set the record straight and took to the comments section to shut down the allegations. 

“Check your sources,” Levy wrote. “These numbers are far from correct. While this is absolutely an issue in the industry, as a female showrunner I fight for gender pay parity in my cast.”

Outside of the leads’ supposed wages, Gray listed other cast members, including Josh Houston. “He’s a supporting actor. He got $25,000 per episode, which equates to $200,000 for the season,” she said. 

She also alleged Stephen Kalyn and John Logan actor Antonio Cipriano each got $15,000 per episode, or $120,000 for season one.

Although Levy didn’t specifically say whether any of these figures are more accurate than others, she did suggest that overall they’re “far from correct.”

The official wages of each cast member haven’t been revealed, but clearly the showrunner wanted to make it clear that there’s no gender pay gap when it comes to Off Campus. 

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Featured image credit: Prime Video