“The year that didn’t kill me.” That is the first line of a powerful blog entry former E! News co-host Catt Sadler penned while reflecting on 2017.
Last year, Sadler finalized her divorce from entrepreneur Rhys David Thomas. Her grandfather died. A close relative went to rehab. And Sadler’s oldest son Austin, 16, was diagnosed with ADD. (The 43-year-old shares boys Austin and Arion, 12, with her ex-husband Kyle Boyd.)
“Professionally, I got another show — amazing — but that meant starting my work day three hours earlier each morning; exhaustion was a familiar feeling,” wrote the former E! News cohost. “Negotiations began. Negotiations stagnated. Negotiations collapsed. I would decide to leave my job after 12 years.”
Us Weekly exclusively revealed in December 2017 that Sadler was resigning after learning that her cohost Jason Kennedy was making double her salary. According to a source, Sadler was earning “about $600,000 per year,” while Kennedy, 43, was raking in “around $1 million, a year, maybe $1.2 million at most.”
Sadler noted in her post that she’s “genuinely at peace” with her decision and relishing life with her children and a new “love,” who she does not name. “I have a new best friend who makes me laugh every day,” Sadler gushed. “He lights up my life. He is also sober and his commitment to healthy living astonishes me. He teaches me. I am growing.”
(E! previously told Us in a statement: “E! compensates employees fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender. We appreciate Catt Sadler’s many contributions at E! News and wish her all the best following her decision to leave the network.”)
The single mom signed off with a inspirational message about gender equality. “In the last few weeks everyone from the gal at the ATT store to people passing in the street to the hundreds of letters I’ve received from around the world — people want a voice,” Sadler wrote. “Women are frustrated. Women and girls need somebody to shout for them, to kick and scream, to make it better. We need each other. We need to band together. We need to lock in as sisters and make our voices heard. This will be my cause, I promise. SO yeah, this year didn’t kill me. It made me stronger.”
