3 Golden Globes Wage Gap Stories You Might Have Missed

From Oprah ovations to a #blackout on the red carpet, the 2018 Golden Globe Awards was a show for the record books, possibly marking a sea change in Hollywood.

This year’s Golden Globes was about more than cheering on our favorite shows (or lamenting snubs to movies we thought rocked). It was also a chance for women to speak out on wage inequality in the entertainment industry.

Here are a few of the stories you might have missed:

1. E! News Controversy

If you were watching the red carpet arrivals, you saw a lot of women wearing black dresses in solidarity with the #MeToo movement and pins for the Time’s Up campaign.

Per the Time’s Up site:

Powered by women, TIME’S UP addresses the systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace that have kept underrepresented groups from reaching their full potential. We partner with leading advocates for equality and safety to improve laws, employment agreements, and corporate policies; help change the face of corporate boardrooms and the C-suite; and enable more women and men to access our legal system to hold wrongdoers accountable.

Red carpet walkers weren’t content to keep their protest sartorial. Presenters, stars and guests spoke up. For example, Debra Messing called out E! News directly for its wage gap issues which led longtime host Catt Sadler to quit, after she learned her male co-host was being paid twice her salary (even though they had the same number of years experience on the network).

From Oprah ovations to a #blackout on the red carpet, the #GoldenGlobes marked a sea change in Hollywood.

Click to tweet

2. Monica Ramirez Came With Laura Dern

Many of the evening’s celebrities arrived with “regular people” in tow as their guests. These women weren’t just everyday Janes — they were all activists in their own right.

Laura Dern (who won a Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Big Little Lies last night and gave an amazing speech) brought Monica Ramirez, Board President of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. Ramirez is known for her fight for wage equality and fair treatment for women who work long hours as farm workers and who experience sexual harassment and worse.

3. Presenting Awards and Calling Out the #WageGap

In announcing the best actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy award, Jessica Chastain commented on the state of the pay gap in Hollywood.

“I’m so happy to announce that the winner of this category will also receive the 23 percent of her salary that went missing in the wage gap,” Chastain said. “It’s not a problem as we saved so much money kicking people out of Hollywood this year.”

Later on, presenters Susan Sarandon and Gena Davis remarked that the winners of the best actor in a motion picture category should help fix the inequality issue. Davis said, “And the men, yeah, these five nominees have agreed to give half of their salary back so the women can make more than them!”

Want to learn more about pay equity? Check out PayScale’s study on the gender pay gap.