Bradley Cooper Responds to Jennifer Lawrence’s Pay Gap Article, Says It’s Important for Women to Stick Up for Themselves
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, two thespians who should be paid the same amount. Photo: Getty
Jennifer Lawrence’s essay on Lena Dunham’s newsletter website Lenny about getting paid less than her male coworkers has caused quite a stir. In the piece, she discusses the infamous Sony leak that revealed she and her female costar Amy Adams were paid less than their male counterparts for their roles in American Hustle. It was further proof of the pervasive issue of pay inequality, which doesn’t just affect regular women – it’s also a problem for those who are already privileged and rich.
In the piece, Lawrence mentions that while the compensation was unfair, she felt she should have been more diligent about making sure she was being paid the same rate as everyone else.“I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself,” she wrote. “I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need.”
Lawrence added that part of the reason she didn’t try for more money was because she “didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled.’ At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being “difficult” or ‘spoiled.’”
One of Lawrence’s Hustle costars, Bradley Cooper, has come out to show his support for Lawrence’s position. In an interview with E!’s Catt Sadler, Cooper admitted that he hadn’t yet read the piece, but did express the importance of knowing one’s worth.
“One thing I could say is that’s interesting because if you think that you only deserve a certain amount and that’s not correct, it’s about changing that mindset and sticking up for yourself the way that Sienna [Miller] did,” he said.
Miller, who co-stars with Cooper in the upcoming Burnt, was there, too. She explained that she turned down a job because she found out she was being paid drastically less than her male costar. "I was offered less than half of what the other man was offered and it was just the two of us,“ she explained. ”[I did] what we have to start doing, unfortunately, at the expense of our creative dreams.“
Good for Miller. The point, however, is that she shouldn’t have to fight. And while Lawrence should probably stop worrying about being like-able, she should also be mad at Sony—very mad. Negotiation skills are valuable, but women shouldn’t have to rely on them in order to be paid as much as men. Why is Lawrence blaming herself for something that isn’t actually her fault? Why should she have to put in twice the effort to be compensated for what she’s actually worth? Why should she feel bad for making such demands? It’s not bratty or spoiled that she, a woman who is just as accomplished and talented as the men she works with, expects to be given the kind of respect she deserves.
The responsibility should not lie with her or any woman, but with whoever’s cutting the checks. It is up to the people in power to offer fair wages from the start. The men (and occasional women) who are at the top of a Hollywood studio, making the deals and deciding how much everyone is getting paid, should be conscious of these issues and value their hires enough to give them the respect they deserve.
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