Who would have thought that the wage gap extends to Hollywood—but it does, and actor Bradley Cooper is taking action.
After learning about Amy Adams’ pay for the film American Hustle, Cooper has said that he’ll do his part in helping his female co-stars negotiate their pay for all projects going forward. “Usually, you don’t talk about the financial stuff. You have people. But you know what? It’s time to start doing that,” he told Reuters.
Jennifer Lawrence recently also spoke out about unfair pay in an essay in the Lena Dunham’s newsletter Lenny. In her essay, she wrote, “Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves. If anything, I’m sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share.”
The Sony hack made Lawrence aware of the issue, and several female costars jumped in to agree. Cooper also supports JLaw’s essay, saying that Lawrence’s popularity gave her a great platform to shed light on the issue.
We’re thrilled that Cooper is taking a stance on the national issue, and that his voice is supplementing the voices of the female stars who are hurt by the wage gap—and ultimately, we hope this leads to positive change.