Emmy Rossum breaks her silence on Shameless pay dispute as she insists she 'certainly didn't want' to impact her co-stars despite delaying the show's renewal with the row

Emmy Rossum has spoken out for the first time about her pay dispute around her role in Shameless, insisting she 'certainly didn't want' to impact her co-stars with the row.

The actress, 39, was embroiled in a row with bosses after asking to be on the same salary as her co-star William H. Macy, which caused a delay in a renewal for the show's eighth season.

Emmy shared that she'd requested pay increases on several occasions since the show's third season, but was frequently denied. 

When the dispute was made public, the actress said she was 'shook' to see the reaction, but it proved fruitful as just a day after the row was first reported, she got the pay increase she wanted.

Emmy explained: 'Well, when I started the show, it made a lot of sense that [William H.] Macy made a lot more money than me.'

'He was coming in much older, much more accomplished, tons more credits, and number one on the contract.'

'And then by season three, they approached us - we had a six-year contract - approached us to add another year. And I think my lawyers felt at that time that we had the receipts. 

'We could see the way the story lines were shaping. We knew about fan engagement and we felt that it made sense to ask for that. We didn't get it. And that's fine. We thought, ''We tried. We didn't get it.''

Emmy then revisited salary talks ahead of Shameless' eighth season in 2016, having expanded her role to directing episodes of the show.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she said: 'And we said, 'Let's go for it again.' It was kind of shut down pretty fast and they kind of lingered for a while. And then I wasn't sure if we were going to get it. 

'It's always scary asking for what you think you're worth, to say, 'I think this is what I'm worth.' You have to take up space in the room and it's their job to make the show for as little as possible to make the most profit. 

'Any business runs that. So, I can understand it from the other perspective, too,' she said. 'And I didn't know if they were going to come over to our side and do it or not, and we were getting kind of close to filming the next season.'

Sharing how the dispute was made public, Emmy said: 'And I was one day sitting—I was on a writer's retreat, and I was procrastinating, and I opened up Twitter, and it was a headline that we were in a stalemate, and I was shook. 

'It's a private business negotiation, and I never imagined it would become public. Not just for the public, but for the cast and crew. Everyone was doing their own negotiation. So, I certainly didn't want that.'

Emmy said she 'didn't say anything' to her co-stars about the reports, but just a day later the pay dispute was finally resolved.

She said: 'And the tide really shifted. People seemed to write other articles, immediately commenting on that, being quite surprised that I wasn't already being paid equal. 

'And it was resolved within a day. I was shocked, and quite frankly, very, very surprised that we actually got it.'

Emmy then reached an agreement with Warner Bros. TV, and she posted on Instagram confirming she would be back for Shameless' eighth season. 

She wrote on X at the time: 'Playing Fiona Gallagher has been one of the great privileges of my life. 

'I'm so happy to continue w my SHAMELESS family! Back to work in May!'

Emmy continued: 'I only desire to remain professional, and my focus is never on money.

'It's on what's fair and what's right, and I believe that people should be paid for their labour. It was really about being valued equally when I was doing equal work. 

'For me, it was as simple as that. I was very, very happy when we got it, and very, very happy for what it seemingly did for other women.' 

Emmy remained part of the Shameless cast until the end of its ninth season, and the show concluded after 11 seasons in 2021.

The actress married her husband Sam Esmail in 2017, after they met in 2012 on the set of his film, Comet, which he wrote and directed. The couple are parents to a son and a daughter.

'He sent a letter that accompanied the script,' Rossum told Vogue in 2017. 'It's not uncommon for a director to do that, especially for someone for whom it's their first feature, but the tone of the letter and the way he wrote it seemed immediately familiar. He was self-effacing, humble, and funny… I took an immediate liking to the tone and the person who was writing the letter.' 

The duo went public with their relationship in 2014, one year before he proposed by writing a mock column of The New York Times, based on their own love story.

'I realized that he had gone through this whole process of writing this whole story. Apparently he had called Daniel Jones at The New York Times and gotten their paper template and gotten the people there to print out a whole mock section on the bottom half,' she recalled. 'He had even put an ad for the Ralph Lauren Ricky Bag.'

They ultimately wed on May 28, 2017, at the Central Synagogue in New York City. 

Their reception was held at the Guggenheim Museum. 

While speaking of her first impression of Esmail, Rossum told Vogue: 'I just thought he was one of the more unique, kind, creative, brilliant people I'd ever met. Just somebody that I always wanted to be around.' 

As for how they manage their hectic schedules and dealing with long distance, at times, Rossum raved they always make sure to 'text multiple times a day' and 'send little videos back and forth on set.'

Since they always try to 'share as much of' their lives as possible, the actress said they 'don't feel that disconnect' when they are apart. 

'We are both equally committed to our art, as we always have been, and to each other,' Rossum explained during a chat with Extra. 

Previously, she was married to music executive Justin Siegel from 2008 to 2010. 

While speaking about their short-lived marriage in 2012, Rossum said: 'Everyone messes up in relationships and has peaks and valleys in their personal lives.' 

'When I realized it wasn’t the end of the world and I would keep on standing, I knew it was going to be OK,' she told InStyle Hair. 

Before settling down, the performer was romantically linked to her Shameless costar, Tyler Jacob Moore, Adam Duritz, Chris Evans, Milo Ventimiglia, Topher Grace and David Wildenstein.