Gender pay inequity is not just a problem in corporate America — the hugest female Hollywood stars feel the pinch, too, and the hacked Sony emails prove it.
The Sony leak has revealed some real gems, including one exec calling Angelina Jolie a “minimally talented spoiled brat” and Kevin Hart a “whore,” plus lots of racist jokes about President Obama. The latest has us scratching our heads yet again: Jennifer Lawrence was paid less for her role in American Hustle than her male costars, despite the fact that she was a bigger box office draw because of her Hunger Games fame.
A little background: Actors often negotiate back-end deals on movies, called points, in lieu of or in addition to a lump sum. In an email from Andrew Gumpert, President of Business Affairs and Administration for Columbia Pictures, to Angelina Jolie’s pal Amy Pascal and to Doug Belgrad, President of SPE Motion Picture Group, the three discuss the fact that Lawrence is getting two points less than her male counterparts.
(The Daily Beast explains: “The ‘Amy’ referred to is Amy Adams, ‘O’Russell’ is director David O. Russell, ‘Renner’ is Jeremy Renner, and ‘Megan’ is Megan Ellison, head of Annapurna Pictures, which co-financed Hustle.”)
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Gumpert wrote, “Got a steve warren/gretchen rush call that it’s unfair the male actors get 9 per cent in the pool and jennifer is only at 7pts. You may recall Jennifer was at 5 (amy was and is at 7) and WE anted in 2 extra points for Jennifer to get her up to 7. If anyone needs to top jennifer up it’s megan. BUT I think amy and Jennifer are tied so upping JL, ups AA.”
“The current talent deals are: O’Russell: 9 per cent; Cooper: 9 per cent; Bale: 9 per cent; Renner: 9 per cent; Lawrence: 7 per cent; Adams: 7 per cent.”
Pascal’s response? “There is truth here.”
But Lawrence remained at 7 points, potentially costing her millions of dollars. So much for women helping each other out.
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