Emmy Rossum revealed on “Call Her Daddy” that her years-long fight for equal pay on Showtime’s “Shameless” only ended because her contract negotiations became public in 2016. The leak resulted in overwhelming public support for Rossum, so much so that her pay dispute was “resolved in one day” after spending more than five years fighting for her worth.

“Shameless,” which aired for 11 seasons on Showtime between 2011 and 2021, starred Rossum as Fiona Gallagher, the headstrong daughter of William H. Macy’s alcoholic slacker Frank. Macy was the big name among the cast when the show started, so it “made a lot of sense” for him to make “a lot more money than I did” in the beginning, Rossum told “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper. Rossum had not yet been proven as a television star when she landed the role, having appeared in hit films such as “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Mystique River” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Fiona, however, quickly became the breakout character of “Shameless,” with Rossum emerging as Macy’s co-star. The first time he advocated for getting paid more was in Season 3 because his team felt there were enough “receipts” and “fan engagement” on their side. She was immediately denied, explaining: “We didn’t get it… and that’s okay. We tried and we didn’t get it.”

“It’s always scary to ask what you think you’re worth,” Rossum said. “Your job is to make the program for the lowest possible cost for the highest profit. That’s any business. I can understand it from another perspective too.”

Rossum’s salary battle continued over the years and reached its breaking point before season 8. At the time, Rossum was indisputably the co-leader of the show in the eyes of fans. Some would say she was the true lead, as Fiona had more screen time than Frank in many episodes. Rossum and his team fought again for a salary increase. That request was “closed pretty quickly,” causing a stalemate between Rossum and the studio. She “wasn’t sure if we were going to get it” at this point in the negotiation process. Then, news of their salary dispute became public in late 2016.

“I was at a writers’ retreat and I was procrastinating, and I opened Twitter and a headline came up saying we were at a stalemate, and I was shocked,” Rossum told Cooper. “It’s a private business negotiation, and I never imagined it would be made public. Not only to the public, but also to the cast and crew. Everyone was doing their own negotiation. So I certainly didn’t want that… I didn’t say anything.”

“After the first headline or article, I thought, what’s going to happen? And the tide really turned,” he continued. “People seemed to write other articles, immediately commenting on it, being quite surprised that they weren’t paying me the same. And it was resolved within a day. I was surprised and, frankly, very surprised that we actually got it done.”

Rossum ended up returning for the eighth season of “Shameless” and continued with the series for the next season. Her departure after season 9 had nothing to do with resentment over the years-long salary dispute or “a common misconception” that she wanted to start a family and have babies. Rossum was developing Peacock’s “Angelyne” and founded a production company and simply wanted to be more in charge of her career.

Amid the impasse over the salary dispute, Macy came out in favor of Rossum. He told TMZ at the time that “it’s about time she gets paid what she’s worth on ‘Shameless,'” adding, “She works as hard as I do. She deserves it all.” The duo appeared together at Vulture Fest in 2017 after Rossum’s pay battle was resolved, and Rossum made it clear that she always “felt very supported” by Macy during their fight. Macy said it was a “no brainer” and “it’s something the country needs to fix. You arrive earlier, you work harder. It’s really just a silly argument… Who is the center of the show? It’s Fiona. Of course they should pay him.”

“I just want to remain professional, and my focus is never on money, but on what is fair and right, and I believe that people should be paid for their work,” Rossum told Cooper while recalling the dispute. “It was really about being valued equally when doing the same 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 apparently did for other women.”

Rossum stayed on “Shameless” for another two years after winning her equal pay battle, walking away at the end of Season 9, while the show continued into Season 11.

Watch Rossum’s full interview about “Call Her Daddy” in the video below.