'Angel' star claims unfair treatment from CBS
October 7, 1997
Web posted at: 4:08 a.m. EDT (0808 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Della Reese, who plays an angel in the CBS series "Touched by an Angel," says she has gotten less than reverent treatment from the network.
"I can't get any kind of understanding from anybody," Reese said in a news conference Monday.
The issue, Reese says, is inequality in pay raises. She says she was offered substantially less than the 100% raise that co-star Roma Downey got this season.
"It was twelve and a half percent they offered me," Reese said. "But for year number one and number two and number three, whatever Roma received, I received equal parts. This year, I did not."
The 65-year-old Reese says that she's "trying to avoid" concluding racial or age discrimination was a factor in the network's offer. "I was black when they hired me," she says. "They knew how old I was when they hired me."
Reese also complained that the network refuses to negotiate directly with her or her husband-manager, Franklin Lett. Instead, she says, CBS insists on talking to her representatives at the William Morris Agency.
"William Morris has a lot of clients that work for CBS," Reese said. "So they're not going to jump out of a window for me.
In a written statement, CBS said "we are frankly puzzled by Della Reese's comments, and by her decision to make her negotiations public." The statement added that CBS has honored Reese's requests for a shorter work schedule to devote more time to her ministry.
Reese, an ordained minister, founded Understanding Principles for Better Living, a nondenominational church in Los Angeles. Monday's press conference was held at the church.
In the press conference, Reese called on her fans to "know what's happening to me, and rally to me, and say to CBS, 'We will not accept your treating her that way.'"
Despite the dispute, Reese says she will be back on the "Angel" set in Utah Tuesday morning, and that she will have the respect of her co-stars whether she gets the raise she wants or not.
Correspondent Jim Moret and Reuters contributed to this report.