“I was never paid very well on that show. They paid me the same as I had earned on another series about eight years earlier. I received four Emmy nominations and they never gave me a raise. They usually do”: Holland Taylor reveals why she decided not to renew her contract on ‘Two and a Half Men’ after six seasons.

Four Emmy nominations and not a single raise. That’s how Holland Taylor remembers her years on Two and a Half Men.

The 83-year-old American actress, remembered for playing Evelyn Harper, Charlie and Alan’s mother, revealed that during her six years under contract, she never received a pay raise, despite the show’s success.

“I was never paid very well on that show. They paid me the same as I had earned on another series about eight years earlier. I received four Emmy nominations and they never gave me a raise. They usually do”, she confessed on the Alchemy with Anthony Mason podcast in October 2026.

When her contract ended after the sixth season, she decided not to renew it. She said the producers were surprised and assured her they couldn’t pay her more, but she explained that she wasn’t looking to negotiate.

From then on, she began appearing only as a guest star and agreed to return when she truly wanted to.

Although she said she enjoyed many aspects of the show, she also acknowledged that those in charge were not particularly considerate of her.

It was a decision that allowed her to take back control of her time and set her own terms for continuing to play one of comedy’s most memorable characters.