Sydney Sweeney's Mysterious SNL Salary Caused More Confusion Around Her Growing Net Worth

Summary

• Hosts on Saturday Night Live get paid way less than people think.
• Sydney Sweeney hosted Saturday Night Live on March 2nd, 2024.
• Sydney Sweeney opened up about her financial struggles, causing scandal.

Thanks to Sydney Sweeney's successful acting career, she was chosen to host Saturday Night Live for the first time in 2024. One of the reasons that is so exciting for actors like Sweeney is that the show has launched many careers. In fact, a slew of SNL alumni have gone on to be extremely rich movie stars which gives the show a lot of power.

Since SNL has made so many stars, the people behind the show have tried to get performers to sign terrible deals. Similarly, even though fans may think that SNL hosts like Sydney Sweeney get paid a lot, that isn't the case.

This article will look at how much celebrities like Sweeney get paid to host Saturday Night Live. Following that, the article will look at Sweeney's past comments about her salaries and what her financial situation seems to be like.

Sydney Sweeney Didn't Get Paid Much To Host Saturday Night Live

On March 2nd, 2024, Sydney Sweeney hosted Saturday Night Live which is a huge deal for her career. Unfortunately for Sweeney and SNL's other hosts, however, hosting the sketch comedy show isn't a big deal for their bank accounts.

It has long been known that SNL hosts like Sweeney don't go on the show for money. That is a really good thing considering that Justin Timberlake once revealed hosts only get paid $5,000 to take over the show for a week. Timberlake revealed that figure while talking to Entertainment Tonight in 2009.

"This was my third time to host and obviously I've done some appearances here and there when I'm in town. I really do adore the cast and the writers and everyone there. And it's … you know … it's a great opportunity for an entertainer like myself to... it's the best minimum… It's the best five grand you can make on television. It's awesome."

Given that Timberlake revealed that figure in 2009, Sweeney may have been paid more than $5,000 to host Saturday Night Live. However, based on what is known about the show's history, SNL hosts like Sweeney almost certainly still get paid very little.

Which stars have hosted Saturday Night Live the most times, according to The Wrap?

In 1977, Lorne Michaels announced that fans could try to win the chance to host SNL. At that time, Michaels announced what the winner of the contest would be paid to host SNL.

"The lucky winner will be flown to New York, put up at the swank Essex House Hotel, and get to meet and work with the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. And you'll be paid the same $3,000 we pay any other host — or even the Beatles if only they'd show up."

Considering that SNL hosts got paid $3,000 in 1977 and $5,000 in 2009, that means it took 42 years to get a $2,000 raise. At that rate, NBC wouldn't have given SNL hosts a raise at all in the fifteen years since 2009. While that is uncertain, it seems very likely that SNL hosts like Sweeney still get paid four figures for the gig.

Sydney Sweeney Revealed Her Money Troubles

From the outside looking in, it seems like every famous actor must be rich unless they've made terrible financial decisions. While there is no doubt that famous actors get paid more than the vast majority of people, there are financial realities most regular people don't know about. In 2022, Sydney Sweeney controversially spoke about her financial problems.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney told the publication that she couldn't afford to take a lengthy break from acting.

“If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that. I don’t have someone supporting me, I don’t have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help.”

Sweeney then went on to explain that, according to her, most famous actors don't get the kind of money that movie stars used to.

“They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals.”

In the past, there have been reports about how much the cast of Euphoria got paid. According to Life & Style Magazine, which cited World Celebs, Sweeney was one of the show's highest-paid cast members at an estimated $350,000 per episode.

Since Euphoria's second season went on for eight episodes, that would mean that Sweeney received $2.8 million for those episodes if that report was accurate. While that is a lot of money, Sweeney explained to The Hollywood Reporter that lots of people get part of her salary.

“The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.”

With those remarks in mind, it makes sense that Sweeney isn't as rich as many people may assume. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sweeney's fortune is worth an estimated $10 million as of February 2024.

After Sweeney spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about her financial situation, there was a backlash from people who thought she was complaining. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Seija Rankin who spoke to Sweeney, that isn't what the actor was doing. In Rankin's piece about Sweeney, she clarified that Sweeney only wanted to reveal the realities of Hollywood.