Kerry Washington has broken ground as the lead of the hit TV series Scandal, and now she has added more distinction to her success by making an appearance on Forbes‘ annual list of the highest-paid actors in television.
No black male actors even made the list this year and Washington, despite headlining one of the highest rated programs on ABC, ranks only 20th when it comes to her payday.
Washington earned just $3 million off the show, despite its reported $100 million in ad revenue generated by its average 8.3 million viewers a week.
Despite the show’s popularity and Washington’s big-screen success (as a supporting actor in the blockbuster Django Unchained), she still lags financially behind actresses like Lena Dunham (Girls), Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy) and Mariska Hartigay (Law & Order: SVU), just to name a few.
This year’s reigning female TV moneymaker (for the second year in a row) is Modern Family star Sophia Vegara, who earned a cool $30 million for her work on the hit comedy show.