Bradley Cooper Pledges Transparency About His Own Salary to Help Female Co-Stars Negotiate

In an interview with Reuters, Bradley Cooper was asked how he felt about his American Hustle co-star Jennifer Lawrence’s open letter admonishing Hollywood for its sexism and gender wage gap.

Cooper, who earlier this year made Forbes’ list of highest-paid actors, encouraged stars of all genders to take parity into their own hands by openly discussing the compensation they’re receiving for projects:

I don’t know where it’s changing otherwise but that’s something that I could do. Usually you don’t talk about the financial stuff, you have people. But you know what? It’s time to start doing that.

Speaking specifically of the leaked discrepancy between his and Amy Adams’ pay in American Hustle, Cooper explained “She worked everyday on that movie and got paid nothing. It’s really horrible actually, it’s almost embarrassing.”

It’s worth noting that unfair reimbursement isn’t the only ’embarrassing’ aspect of sexism in Hollywood–more obviously, many of Cooper’s female costars play characters far older than themselves, and are given less screen-time than their male peers.

Good on ya for helping to initiate change, Coop. Good on ya.

(via Jezebel)

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