Question of the Week -- Will Publicizing Pay Differentials Change Hollywood?

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Over the weekend, while over a million women took to the streets for the Women’s March, one female comedian staged her own protest by publicizing the dollar figures she was recently offered from Netflix. Mo’Nique, an Academy Award-winning actress and comedian, announced that she was offered $500,000 for a comedy special from Netflix-which is less than 1/20 of the amount given to Amy Schumer and less than 1/40 the amount given to Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle. Wanda Sykes, another African-American female comedian then reported her own lowball offer from Netflix-$250,000.

The new organization Time’s Up is encouraging women in Hollywood and elsewhere to publicize information about their contract negotiations and salaries to make these kinds of disparities known. So far, there have been some notable successes, including Mark Wahlberg donating the $1.5 million he received (compared to the $1,000 for his co-star Michelle Williams) for reshoots of All the Money in the World to Time’s Up. Mo’Nique’s public shaming of Netflix, of course, adds the extra element that although a white actress (Schumer) was paid half of what two men received, Mo’Nique-an African-American woman-was offered a number that wasn’t even in the same ballpark as her white counterpart. Whether the simple act of publicizing these numbers is enough to start changing the culture remains to be seen.

What do you think? Will Publicizing Pay Differentials Change Hollywood?

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