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Jennifer Lawrence Slams Gender Pay Gap: 'I'm Still Not Going to Get Paid as Much' The Oscar-winning actress spoke about the pay disparity in Hollywood during a recent interview with Vogue.

By Emily Rella

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

The pay disparity between men and women is ongoing – with data from the Economic Policy Institute showing that the wage gap was still a 22.1% difference in 2021.

In Hollywood, several female actors have been vocal about how much less they were paid than their male colleagues for equal roles in films or on television.

Never one to shy away from voicing her opinion, Jennifer Lawrence recently spoke to Vogue (and serves as the October issue cover model) about the pay gap she still faces in the industry.

"It doesn't matter how much I do," Lawrence said bluntly. "I'm still not going to get paid as much as that guy, because of my vagina."

While Lawrence was speaking somewhat generally, she could have been pinpointing specific projects.

In leaked emails from Sony obtained by The Daily Beast, it was revealed that in the 2013 hit American Hustle (which garnered over $251 million worldwide), Lawrence only took home 7% of the movie's profits while her male counterparts took home 9%.

"I didn't get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn't want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don't need," Lawrence wrote of the leak in a 2017 essay for Lenny Letter. " I would be lying if I didn't say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled.' At the time, 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."

It was also revealed by Vanity Fair late last year that she was compensated $5 million less than co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, a total which meant that Lawrence was paid 83 cents for every dollar that DiCaprio made.

"It's extremely uncomfortable to inquire about equal pay. And if you do question something that appears unequal, you're told it's not gender disparity but they can't tell you what exactly it is," she said at the time.

Recent research suggests that the average gender pay gap in Hollywood is around $1 million per project.

Jennifer Lawrence's net worth is an estimated $160 million.

Emily Rella

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

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