‘The Walking Dead’: Norman Reedus Debunks $20 Million Raise

The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus says reports of him pulling a $20 million raise to takeover as lead in the wake of Andrew Lincoln‘s exit are “bogus.”

“I got a lot of heat saying, ‘Oh, you’re gonna be the new leader,’ and there was a bogus story — a contract money story that hit the press — that was a fake story. It wasn’t even true,” Reedus told MTV at San Diego Comic-Con.

“Bummer,” joked Reedus’ co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who is back in The Walking Dead Season Nine as a revamped Negan.

“But you know, the thing is, I got heat saying, ‘You’re gonna be the new leader!’ Like, no one’s ever mentioned the word ‘leader’ to me,” Reedus said. “The show’s adapted and no one would ever take Rick Grimes‘ place, it’s not possible. But the show itself — people are doing other things and moving forward, it works. I’m telling you, it works.”

After it was learned the long-serving Walking Dead leading man was exiting the show this upcoming season, reports surfaced Reedus was negotiating a deal in the neighborhood of $20 million with producers and network AMC. US Weekly lead the charge on reports Reedus was pulling a major multi-million deal to step up as new lead.

The Hollywood Reporter later added Reedus’ deal wasn’t finalized.

Reedus also used his platform at Comic-Con to similarly shut down rumors he was taking over as new leading man: the longtime Daryl Dixon star will receive top billing once Lincoln is gone, but Rick’s duties as lead will be divvied up and carried by The Walking Dead‘s expansive cast instead of any one person.

“That’s an internet story that’s not true that somebody made up and they ran with it — some of those people can put something on social media and it turns into media outlet stories, which blows me away, but that’s not a true story,” Reedus told TV Line. “Rick is the quarterback of this football team, he’s always been, he always will be.”

The Walking Dead returns Sunday, October 7th on AMC.