Orange Is The New Black Star Kimiko Glenn Reveals Netflix Only Paid Her $27 For A Whole YEAR!

Kimiko Glenn is opening up about her Orange Is the New Black pay amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike — and it’s starting to sound like copper is the new green. (In other words, gurl got PENNIES instead of dollars!)

As you’ve probably heard, the Screen Actors Guild AND the Writers Guild of America have gone on strike, shutting down Hollywood as the talent both in front of and behind the camera advocate for fair pay and better working conditions. The biggest issue is the changing landscape in the wake of streaming and digital. Before you assume all actors are too well-paid to complain, just listen to what the OITNB star actually got paid despite dedicating YEARS of her life to the acclaimed streaming hit.

Over the weekend, the 34-year-old shared a SHOCKING look at the amount of money she’s received in residual checks. The way TV used to work, you’d get paid a certain amount for your work on the show, but the real money was if the show was a HIT. Because every time it aired afterward, you got paid a small amount again. So guest appearances on Friends and Seinfeld were a much bigger payday than, say, Veronica’s Closet, even at SAG minimums.

But residuals in the age of streaming don’t work the same. After all, shows don’t “air” on streaming services, they’re just there all the time, available to watch. So now, in theory, they’re based on how much a given production is streamed… and boy, you’re not prepared. When you think of OITNB, some phrases that come to mind probably include bingeable and highly popular, right? Heck, it was one of Netflix‘s first really brand-defining originals. But according to Kimiko, she’s only received a total of $27.30 in residuals for her work on the show this year!

In a Saturday TikTok, she showed her “Foreign Royalty Statement” from SAG-AFTRA, jokingly exclaiming, “God, I’m about to be so rich!” before revealed her net gross of under $30 as she screamed, “WHAT?” Watch the full clip (below):

@itskimiko

why #sagaftra is striking #sagaftrastrong #sagaftrastrike #sagstrike

♬ original sound – kimiko

That’s for every episode, all year.

Users of the video sharing app quickly began commenting on the clip, one in particular joking that the check is “barely enough to pay for a Netflix subscription” — it’s actually NOT enough. Remember, this is $27 for the full year!

That led Kimiko to follow up with another TikTok answering some of the confusion. She attested:

“Piggybacking on that Orange Is the New Black residual post, I remember a lot of comments back when I posted it that were like, ‘guys, guys, guys, they got paid up front.’ First of all, whether or not we got paid up front, that s**t lives — my tits live on in perpetuity. I deserve to get paid for as many f**king streams as that s**t gets.”

Preach it, gurl!

But she also explained that the upfront pay was NOT the millions people assume. For the extremely long hours that go into filming a TV show they actually got very little, so much so they had to keep their day jobs:

“Second of all, we did not get paid very well. Ever. And when I say, ‘Did not get paid very well,’ you would die. People were bartenders still. People had their second jobs still. They were f**king famous as s**t, like, internationally famous, couldn’t go outside, but had to keep their second jobs because they couldn’t afford to not. We couldn’t afford cabs to set!”

DAMN! That’s really shocking stuff… OITNB was seriously, like, crème de la crème for streaming at its height! For the actors on the show to have needed a second job just to afford to keep the lights on is pretty wild. And of course now they need first AND second jobs because $27/year may as well be NOTHING. Watch her full clip (below):

@itskimiko

@The New Yorker released an article the other day describing many of our cast’s experience on #orangeisthenewblack and the details will astound you. go to my IG for the link ???????? #sagaftra #sagaftrastrike #sagstrike #sagaftrastrong

♬ original sound – kimiko

Kimiko didn’t spill on which stars exactly she was referring to, but the cast was pretty stacked — Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and more. We’re guessing it was all the new actors, the ones who hadn’t done stuff before Netflix, who had to work other jobs. Remember, not every actor is a movie star! There are dozens, if not hundreds of actors, in every show and movie. Most are just working schlubs trying to get by. And they can’t with these wages!

She added in a final follow up that reality is “so not” what it seems at the luxurious awards shows when everyone is in their best attire, and that “most actors have a hard time” even affording to go to those! Watch (below):