Jersey Shore's salary disagreement situation is over.
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MTV has confirmed the reality show's cast have signed new contracts for Jersey Shore's third season, which was supposed to begin filming earlier this week but had been delayed due to a brief cast member strike, E! News reported Tuesday.
"MTV is pleased that the Jersey Shore cast are returning to Seaside Heights to continue production on Season 3," the network said in a Tuesday evening statement.
"Not only have they become a part of the MTV family, but fans worldwide have fallen in love with them"
The contract dispute -- the cast's second in the last seven months -- began on Sunday when all five cast members who had been scheduled to begin filming "at home" pre-departure footage told the show's crews the cast was going on strike until they got a new contract for the show's third season, which had originally been announced as the second half of Jersey Shore's second season but MTV has now decided to bill as Season 3.
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According to a Sunday report by TMZ, the cast felt they had "been tricked" because they believed their Season 2 contracts -- which they landed after negotiating en masse earlier this year and was reportedly paying them each $10,000 per episode -- were only supposed to cover their activities in Miami, where they filmed what was originally set to be the first half of Jersey Shore's second season in April and May.
While the new contract details have not been disclosed, Jersey Shore's cast presumably ended up with another round of significant raises.
On Monday, The Hollywood Reporter had reported that the cast had initially asked the network for $30,000 per episode and MTV had made a "close" counteroffer that "at least a couple [of] key" cast members were expected to accept by the end of the day.
Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino -- who MTV had, according to a leaked July 13 offer letter, already been willing to pay between $27,500 and $45,000 per episode in a fourth-season option -- was apparently the first cast member to agree to a new deal.
"Mike decided in order to get Season 3 done he was going to have to lead the pack and wants to encourage the rest of his cast to follow his lead," his manager told TMZ late Monday night.
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However the third season will apparently be missing one Jersey Shore cast member despite the contract settlement. Angelina Pivarnick -- who briefly appeared in Jersey Shore's first season before quitting but returned to participate in Season 2 -- will not be part of the third season, according to TMZ.
MTV will premiere Jersey Shore's second season on Thursday, July 29 at 10PM ET/PT.
About The Author: Steven Rogers