The Kingdom and The Hilltop are standing together. Weeks after news broke that The Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan might leave the series behind, co-star Khary Payton has delivered a surprisingly frank message to AMC, calling on the network to “pay the woman.”

The trouble started when Cohan made herself available for new TV pilots, in what was seen as a negotiating tactic for AMC to re-up her contract for Season 9. Cohan has since signed to new ABC pilot Whiskey Cavalier; making at least some exit from The Walking Dead more likely. The actress was not specifically seeking pay parity with co-stars Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, but was reportedly unhappy with AMC’s offers regardless. That unhappiness now extends to co-star Khary Payton, who took to Instagram to suggest that AMC was indeed low-balling Cohan:

Pay the woman.

A post shared by Khary Payton (@kharypayton) on

Payton isn’t the first Walking Dead player to comment on the as-yet-unresolved dispute. Back in February, star Seth Gilliam indicated his support for Cohan keeping her salary bid competitive, but told TVGuide “I think it would be a loss for the show, but the show seems to find a way to go on [after] losing important characters and fantastic actors all throughout the years.” More recently, departing showrunner Scott Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter he was “pretty positive” a deal with Cohan would be struck without compromising her availability.

The ninth season has not yet gone into production, so stay tuned to see whether Maggie has a sudden departure from The Walking Dead.

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