Angela Bassett Makes History As TV’s Highest Paid Actress
Angela Bassett has spent decades commanding the screen, and her work on 9-1-1 has earned her a historic television payday.
In 2021, Bassett negotiated a salary of more than $450,000 per episode to star as LAPD officer Athena Grant on the hit first-responder drama. At the time, news reports described the deal as one of the highest salaries for any actor on network television and potentially the highest ever for a woman of color on a broadcast drama series.
Bassett’s compensation extends beyond acting. She helped develop 9-1-1 with creator Ryan Murphy and also serves as an executive producer, responsibilities that were included in her groundbreaking deal. The series debuted on Fox in 2018 before moving to ABC in 2024.
The milestone was particularly significant when compared with the salaries of other acclaimed Black actresses in network television. Kerry Washington reportedly earned around $250,000 per episode by the end of Scandal, while Viola Davis earned approximately $250,000 per episode during earlier seasons of How to Get Away With Murder, with later estimates placing her higher.
Bassett’s television success is just one chapter in a career spanning more than three decades. She earned Academy Award nominations for portraying Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It and Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and received an Honorary Oscar in 2024.
Her 9-1-1 salary has resurfaced online in 2026, but the historic deal itself dates back five years. More recent estimates continue to use $450,000-plus figures because an updated per-episode salary has not been publicly confirmed.
