It was the glaring wage gap between her and her fellow male co-stars (Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner) in American Hustle that really highlighted how big gender inequality is in Hollywood, and now Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out regarding the matter via Lena Dunham's recently launched news letter.
In the essay, entitled Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-stars? the actress says: "It's hard for me to speak about my experience as a working woman because I can safely say my problems aren't exactly relateable. When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d*cks, I didn't get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself... 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. (I told you it wasn't relatable, don't hate me)." She earned $54million last year, according to Forbes, so she's got a point.
She added: "I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled.' 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'."
As with all experiences, it's a learning curve, and she plans to approach things slightly differently next time she finds herself in the same position: "I'm over trying to find the 'adorable' way to state my opinion and still be likable!" F*ck that. I don't think I've ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It's just heard."
