Debra Messing condemns gender pay gap at E! during E! News red carpet interview

Debra Messing may not have been nominated at the 75th Golden Globe Awards but she sure left her mark thanks to a red carpet interview.

The Will & Grace star was being interviewed by an E! presenter Guiliana Rancic when she highlighted the alleged gender pay gap at the NBC-owned network.

“I am wearing black to thank and honour all of the brave whistleblowers who came forward to share their stories of harassment and assault and discrimination,” Messing said.

“I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts. So we stand with Catt Sadler and that’s something that can change tomorrow. We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.”

Catt Sadler recently quit her job as an E! News anchor after learning of the disparity between her wage and her male co-host’s, Jason Kennedy.

He was reportedly on $1 million a year while she was on $600,000, though the network maintains that the difference was due to seniority not gender.

Catt posted about her decision to leave the network on her personal blog: “The gender pay gap is shrinking, although admittedly we have a long way to go. And well, I learned this first hand.

“My team and I asked for what I know I deserve and were denied repeatedly. I have two decades experience in broadcasting and started at the network the very same year as my close friend and colleague that I adore…But how can I operate with integrity and stay on at E if they’re not willing to pay me the same as him?”

The gender pay gap has been a hot topic in Hollywood for years though it came to the forefront in 2014 when Sony’s leaked emails revealed stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were getting paid far less than their male counterparts.

Last year, figures revealed that the highest paid women in Hollywood were still earning significantly less than the highest paid men. From June 2016-2017, Emma Stone earned $26 million making her the highest paid woman but she still ranked 15th on the list behind 14 men.

Wahlberg topped the list with $68 million, $42 million more than Stone.

Now the women of Hollywood have banded together to start the Time’s Up movement which will battle workplace sexual assault, harassment and inequality, including the gender pay gap.

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