Equal Pay

SUZANNE SOMERS: THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

RIP Suzanne Somers. We were shocked like the rest of the world to hear about Suzanne’s passing today. Despite her curated image as a ditzy blonde, Suzanne was anything but, in fact, she was a feminist and trailblazer for equal pay for women. Back in 1980 Suzanne was starring on Three’s Company banking $30,000 an episode while her male costar, John Ritter was pocketing $150,000. Suzanne fought for equal pay but the network REFUSED and she left the hit show. Fast forward a decade – when Suzanne starred on Step By Step – she successfully negotiated equal pay to her male costar, Patrick Duffy. Suzanne also made millions on home shopping – selling everything from her Thighmasters to nutritional supplements and beauty products…

Photo: Three’s Company

JESSICA CHASTAIN: CALIFORNIA GIRL DOES THE RIGHT THING

We are SO proud of Jessica Chastain’s contribution to the women’s movement. Octavia Spencer revealed at a Sundance panel that Jessica fought to get her equal pay. Jessica and Octavia were planning to do a comedy together and Jessica didn’t realize that women of color had an even harder time negotiating equal pay. Jessica re-negotiated her deal AS A PAIR with Octavia and they were paid more money as a unit. Octavia got 5 times as much money as she originally asked for. Most Important: Jessica said “MEN SHOULD BE DOING THIS WITH FEMALE COSTARS!” Great idea! Did you hear that, Mark Wahlberg?

Photo Credit: BACKGRID-USA