By Lucas Manfredi

Entertainment stocks took a beating in 2022 as economic uncertainty prompted consumers to tighten their belts and reevaluate streaming subscriptions and nights out to the movies. But even as shares broadly declined, some of Hollywood’s top executives ended up with considerable pay bumps.

Public companies report executive pay annually, with most companies filing proxy statements in March or April ahead of annual shareholder meetings. The timing of the disclosures this year couldn’t be worse in terms of public perception: Major media companies have been undergoing layoffs as Wall Street scrutinizes their plans to get money-losing streaming divisions to profitability. And the Writers Guild of America, which went on strike on May 2 for the first time since November 2007 after it was unable to reach a deal in contract negotiations with the studios, began circulating an infographic slamming the executives’ 2021 pay.