We might love female comedians, but Hollywood doesn’t pay them like we do. Forbes’ list of highest paid comedians doesn’t include a single woman in the Top 10 and Jerry Seinfeld topped the list.
Forbes’ list includes comedians who made at least $7.5 million between June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015.
Seinfeld topped the list with $36 million, thanks to the money he takes in from Seinfeld in syndication. He also still tours and produces Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee for Sony’s Crackle online channel.
Kevin Hart made the list at No. 2 with $28.5 million, thanks to his tours and hit films like The Wedding Ringer and Get Hard. Former Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari is also on the list with $9.5 million.
But most will notice that there are no women on the list. There’s no Amy Schumer, no Amy Poehler, no Tina Fey and no Mindy Kaling, despite their popularity. Of course, comedy has been dominated by men for decades. Forbes even pointed out that only three women have won the Grammy for Best Comedy Album since 1959 (Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Kathy Griffin).
This could change soon if Schumer can get the pay day she deserves for her next movie. She’s set to make Mother/Daughter for Fox and The Hollywood Reporter has reported that she negotiated a huge raise from this year’s Trainwreck.
THR’s sources say that she signed for between $4 million and $5 million to star in that film. By comparison, she only signed with Universal for $300,000 to make Trainwreck, although she probably earned a bit more when the film made over $130 million worldwide. She also signed book deal reportedly worth $8 million.
Here’s Forbes’ top 10:
- Jerry Seinfeld - $36 million
- Kevin Hart - $28.5 million
- Terry Fator - $21.5 million
- Jeff Dunham - $19 million
- Russell Peters - $19 million
- Aziz Ansari - $9.5 million
- Louis C.K. - $9 million
- Gabriel Iglesias - $8.5 million
- John Bishop - $8 million
- Dave Chappelle - $7.5 million