Jennifer Lawrence is commending Catt Sadler for opening up about why the longtime E! News host left the network after 12 years.
“Thank you Catt for sharing your story,” Lawrence, 27, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday, December 20, sharing Sadler’s lengthy blog post from the night before that detailed her difficult decision.
Us Weekly exclusively revealed on Tuesday that Sadler left E! over a pay dispute after learning that she was paid significantly less than cohost Jason Kennedy. In Sadler’s post on her website, thecattwalk.com, she elaborated on her decision to depart from the company.
Without naming Kennedy, Sadler explained that “there was a massive disparity in pay between my similarly situated male co-host and myself. More recently, when E reached out to renew and extend my deal, I learned that he wasn’t just making a little more than I was. In fact, he was making close to double my salary for the past several years.”
Although Sadler admitted that she wanted to stay at her job, she felt that the disparity was too significant and claimed the network wasn’t willing to meet her financial requests that she felt were deserved. “Information is power. Or it should be. We are living in a new era. The gender pay gap is shrinking, although admittedly we have a long way to go. And well, I learned this first hand,” she wrote. “My team and I asked for what I know I deserve and were denied repeatedly.”
Lawrence has been vocal about the gender pay gap in Hollywood. In a 2015 essay titled “Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?” written for Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter, Lawrence compared herself to former costars Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner,noting that they made more “powerful deals” than she did prior to filming.
The actress explained the eye-opening reason that she didn’t ask for more money in her negotiations. “I didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled,'” she wrote. “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.'”
“I’m over trying to find the ‘adorable’ way to state my opinion and still be likable!” she continued. “F—K 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.”
Jessica Chastain, who has also been a longtime advocate of workplace equality, also publicly showed support for Sadler. “WOW this is so disappointing,” Chastain, 40, tweeted on Wednesday. “When are companies like @e_entertainment going to understand that women should be paid fairly. 1/2 of her male counterpart is not appropriate.”
