Jim Parsons is now the highest-paid LGBT actor on television. How have others stacked up?
August 07 2014 6:34 AM EST
May 26 2023 2:55 PM EST
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The stars of the hit CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory have negotiated one of the biggest per-episode hauls in television in recent years, making Jim Parsons the highest-paid gay actor on television.
Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons have come to an agreement on a new three-year contract that would extend the CBS series into 10 seasons and earn each actor $1 million for each of the next three seasons' 72 episodes. The contract, which also includes back-end deals and signing bonuses, would earn each star up to $90 million over the course of three years, Out reports.
But how does that compare to some of the other LGBT TV stars in recent history? Here's what 11 of them earned.
Matt Bomer, White Collar
$125,000 per episode
David Hyde Pierce, Frasier
$750,000 per episode
Chris Colfer, Glee
$45,000 per episode
Ellen DeGeneres, The Ellen DeGeneres Show plus all other deals
$56 million in 2013
Rachel Maddow, The Rachel Maddow Show
$7 million per year
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
$225,000 per episode
Jane Lynch, Glee
$80,000 per episode
Cynthia Nixon, Sex and the City
$325,000 per episode
Anna Paquin, True Blood
$275,000 per episode
Raven-Symone, That's So Raven
$35,000 per episode
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
$175,000 per episode
Additional reporting by Lynn de la Cruz