Roseanne Demanding Pay Raise To $1 Million Per Episode?

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Is Roseanne demanding a massive pay raise? Following the success of the rebooted “Roseanne,” new reports claim she is seeking as much as $1 million per an episode. But a rep for the actress and comedienne tells Gossip Cop the stories are “not true.”

The allegations come from RadarOnline and the National Enquirer, and both reports feature the same basic premise. In the online version, it’s asserted Roseanne “had no idea” the revival of her ABC sitcom “would be such a huge success,” but “now that she’s right back under the spotlight,” she’s “demanding a lot more money.” A so-called “source” is quoted as saying Roseanne “wasn’t particularly excited about the return of her show,” and claims she’d be “happy at home, tweeting away from the comfort of her couch” if co-star Sara Gilbert hadn’t proposed bringing the series back.

However, “all that has changed now that the show is a monster hit,” alleges the site. Contends the supposed snitch, “Roseanne wants a big, fat paycheck. She wants as much as $1 million dollars [sic] per episode!” Absurdly, the piece ends with the blog asking readers, “Will the 65-year-old get a raise following her return to the big screen?” It’s not up to random people on the internet to figure out whether or not such a raise will happen. Also, television is considered the “small” screen, not “big.”

As for the print edition of this narrative, that article doesn’t mention a $1 million payday or give any figure at all. But it does cite a purported “TV exec,” who asserts, “Budgets are being kept very tight. Gone are the days of first-class travel and big expense accounts.” Then, in slightly different phrasing than what appears online, this same alleged tipster claims, “But now that the show is a monster hit, Roseanne wants a big, fat check.”

For context, it’s worth noting that the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” ranks as the highest paid American television stars currently on TV, with a salary of $900,00 per an episode. So, at least according to the RadarOnline spin, Roseanne supposedly wants more than that. To be fair, the show’s success is indisputable. In addition to the “Roseanne” ratings holding steady, Deadline reported this week that revival is now “the #1 program on broadcast TV in total viewers,” surpassing “The Big Bang Theory” and other top series.

But that doesn’t mean Roseanne is now looking for a substantial pay increase to $1 million for each episode. And according to her spokesperson, who tells Gossip Cop these claims are “not true,” she’s not. Tellingly, amid this false insistence that she wants more money, neither publication even bothers to provide what Roseanne is being paid in the first place. For the record, Variety reported last year in a feature on TV star salaries that Roseanne would be getting $250,000 per episode, the same as co-star John Goodman.

It should also be noted that “Roseanne” was renewed for another season nearly a month ago already. For that to have happened, the cast’s salaries for the new batch of episodes had to be locked in already. Raises are negotiated before show renewals, not after. So in addition to being untrue, the timing of these reports about demanding a raise don’t even make sense.