Actor Tim Roth has said that the BBC should raise women’s wages to the level of their male counterparts, rather than dropping men’s wages.
Roth warned the BBC not to drop men’s wages as it could lead to actors looking elsewhere.
The actor’s comments come after top earner’s salaries at the BBC were announced, revealing a large gender pay gap. Only a third of women appeared on the top earner’s list.
Claudia Winkleman is the highest paid woman, earning £450,000; while Chris Evans is the highest paid man, earning £2.2 million.
The list comprises of 96 stars who earn over £150,000 a year. Of the 96, 62 are male and just 34 are female.
Within the top ten highest-earning stars, only three are women – Winkleman; newsreader Fiona Bruce, who earns over £350,000; and Alex Jones, who earns over £400,000.
Speaking at the launch of his new show, Tin Star, Roth said, “It would be too easy for them [the BBC] to just drop the pay and then say they’ve created parity.”
“You want to watch out with moves like that, from any organisation that does such extraordinary work, that they don’t drop all rates down to the women’s level.”
“That’s bulls**t.”
He continued, “They need to raise everybody’s pay to the men’s level because, if there is a disparity, then everybody should travel first class.”
“The BBC need to sort out that issue or people will just get up and go somewhere else.”
It has already been reported that some male presenters could face a pay cut in a bid to close the gender pay gap. The organisation’s highest paid stars could be asked to take a pay cut, as the BBC pledges to close their gender pay gap.
John Humphrys and Andrew Marr have already seen their earnings cut.
Despite his views on gender parity, Roth did say that the BBC should not have had to share the salaries of its top stars. He said, “The BBC should not have beem forced to do that.”
