Why Kate Winslet Found Conversations About Gender Pay Inequality in Hollywood ‘a Bit Vulgar’ Amid Jennifer Lawrence Complaints
Jennifer Lawrence has made some passionate comments about the salary discrepancy between her and some of her male co-stars. Although many actors took Lawrence’s side, Kate Winslet was someone who disapproved of publicly discussing their income in any capacity. In fact, the Titanic actor went so far as to call these types of conversations vulgar.
Why Kate Winslet didn’t like discussing Hollywood’s gender pay gap
Kate Winslet doesn’t believe it’s wise for stars to talk about their finances publicly. Unlike other celebrities who’ve spoken out about the issue, Winslet feels uncomfortable talking about those kinds of topics out in the open.
“I’m having such a problem with these conversations,” Winslet once said in an interview with BBC Newsbeat. “I understand why they are coming up but maybe it’s a British thing. I don’t like talking about money; it’s a bit vulgar isn’t it?’”
She later admitted that she believes those types of conversations shouldn’t be done in public. In the same year celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence were condemning this gender pay gap issue, Winslet just didn’t agree how actors could be so transparent about these situations.
“I’m quite surprised by these conversations to be honest, simply because it seems quite a strange thing to be discussing out in the open like that,” Winslet said. “I’m a very lucky woman and I’m quite happy with how things are ticking along.”
For Winslet, she’s also never felt discriminated against in the industry because of her gender.
“And if I’d ever been in that situation I would have either dealt with it or removed myself from it. I find all this quite uncomfortable,” she revealed. “I haven’t ever felt that I’ve really had to stick up for myself just because I’m a woman.”
Meanwhile, Winslet’s fellow actor in Jennifer Lawrence had no issue speaking publicly about her pay.
Jennifer Lawrence was vocal about equal pay for actors
Jennifer Lawrence was at one time extremely outspoken about her feelings towards being shortchanged compared to her male leads. Her feelings were ignited by the infamous sony hack scandal. The hack saw the e-mails between several Sony executives, employees, and actors illegally released to the general public.
Incidentally, the Sony hack also revealed how much certain actors got paid for certain films. It’s here that it was disclosed Lawrence got paid significantly less than her male co-stars in the Oscar-nominated film, American Hustle. The revelation motivated Lawrence to write a letter channeling her feelings on the matter.
“When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid…I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself,” Lawrence wrote.
She later added she didn’t request a bigger pay because she didn’t want to be perceived in a certain light by others.
“I didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled’….Could there be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesn’t ‘offend’ or ‘scare’ men?”
Lawrence garnered a lot of support for her comments. According to ABCNews, actors like Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner sided with Lawrence in her claims. Her Hunger Games co-star, Josh Hutcherson, supported her stance as well.
Kate Winslet also supported Jennifer Lawrence amid backlash about her comments
The Guardian asserted that Kate Winslet received a bit of a backlash about her comments on pay inequality. This prompted Winslet, who felt she was misinterpreted, to later clarify her comments on the topic.
“When you’re talking about specifics of pay that is a line of questioning I really had a hard time with,” Winslet confided. “so my remarks were in response to that but only that. Of course, we should be paid the same as boys. We want to stand alongside them.”
Winslet added that she, too, stood in solidarity with Lawrence after all.
“Hopefully these discussions will continue to support the efforts that are being made all over the world for the right to equal pay in this field and all other industries,”
