Quibi staff are seething on the savanna after Reese Witherspoon was paid $6 million to narrate a nature show on the troubled platform where her husband works.
Witherspoon voices the show “Fierce Queens,” which gives a feminist slant to nature docs by exploring heroic female animals including cheetahs, hyenas and ant queens, telling viewers: “Imagine a world where females call all the shots.”
But Page Six is told that the show, produced by the BBC’s Natural History Unit, has been one of the weakest performers on Quibi, as one source said: “Quibi may have to implement cutbacks, and people are fuming that stars like Reese got paid millions.”
Witherspoon’s husband, Jim Toth, recently left his high-profile gig at CAA after 23 years to work at Jeffrey Katzenberg’s startup as head of content acquisition and talent.
A huge roster of stars — from J.Lo to LeBron James — were hired to make content. But after launching a service that offers supershort programming, aimed at commuters and people on the go, Quibi’s “quick bites” have been a bad fit for viewers stuck in lockdown.
The source told us that Quibi has already cut overtime for its lowest-level staffers and quietly let go of others, adding: “The mood is dark.”
It’s now fallen out of Apple’s Top 200 apps, while Sensor Tower, which measures apps’ performance, now has it at 1,007.
Hypebeast reported Tuesday that with over $1.7 billion in funding, Quibi has no shortage of cash, but its subscription service and ad revenue are crucial to continuing to make content. And, more worryingly, most subscribers are coming to the end of their 90-day free trials.
As of May, one month after launch, it recorded more than 3.5 million app downloads and 1.3 million active users, disappointing figures for co-founder and former Disney studio boss Katzenberg. “It’s not up to what we wanted,” he said in May. “It’s not close to what we wanted.”
A Quibi spokesperson called Witherspoon’s salary “inaccurate,” saying: “We are pleased with the performance of ‘Fierce Queens’ … We are grateful for Reese’s continued support of Quibi.”
“And in regard to tightening our belt, our senior leadership team has volunteered to take a 10 percent pay cut because it’s the right thing to do. We are excited about the future. As we shared in our most recent company meeting, the best is yet to come. We are confident in Quibi and the work that we are creating every day.”
Reps for Witherspoon were unavailable for comment.