Omari Hardwick on ‘Power’ Pay: “I Never Made What I Should Have Made”

Omari Hardwick is getting candid about his financial journey in Hollywood. And he is not holding back.

In an interview on The Pivot Podcast, the ‘Power’ star opened up about his pay on the wildy popular show – which has birthed many a spin-off.

Full story below…

Musing on how much he was compensated for his lead role as Ghost and the pay he’s received across his career more broadly, Hardwick said frankly:

“I still haven’t made what I should have made. I still haven’t made the money. I never made what I should have made. Never. It’s happening now, finally.”

The actor then asked hosts Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor, and Ryan Clark what they thought he made as anchor of the STARZ smash, the latter replied:

“Angela Bassett makes $250,000 [an episode] on 911. She’s the highest-paid a week. So, you had to make at least [$150,000].”

Hardwick replied:

“You got it right. The first time I have ever disclosed it. But I was also the face of the network. Angela is not the face of the network. She is one of the best actresses to grace the planet, but she is not the face of that network. It’s metrics.”

The 48-year-old went on to make comparisons to sports negotiations and how raises are ultimately statistics-based – intimating that aspects of that ought to be the same in entertainment but isn’t. Speaking frankly, he admitted:

“Starz, I’m still super humble. 50 [Cent] and Courtney [Kemp, the creator of the show] I’ll thank you forever, but all of them know, [I] really didn’t make no money.”

Looking at the bigger picture, Hardwick says he’s made peace with his trajectory because “it’s truly a marathon [not a sprint].”

He concluded:

“There are way more avenues now — and 50 and Courtney and Starz did give me a beautiful lob — … but this man who played that man absolutely has been hired now more by the Netflix family than I have by Starz. Starz, I had six and half years, but I’ve almost done freakin’ six movies in only two years with Netflix.”

Peep the full interview: