Jennifer Lawrence has broken her silence on the gender pay gap in Hollywood. Emails leaked from Sony in 2014 revealed that the actress earned less than her male co-stars for American Hustle, but she has insisted she wasn't "mad" at anyone but herself over the discrepancy.
"When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d***s, I didn't get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself," Jennifer explained. "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."
Jennifer said she wasn't mad at Sony for the gender pay gap
The Oscar-winning actress wrote about her experiences for the newsletter set up by Girls creator Lena Dunham and her writing partner Jenni Konner.
The post, entitled Why Do I Make Less Than My Co-Stars?, continues: "But if I'm honest with myself, 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 realised every man I was working with definitely didn't worry about being 'difficult' or 'spoiled.'"
Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were paid less than their male co-stars for American Hustle
Jennifer continued to cite Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale as actors who had succeeded in negotiating "powerful deals" for themselves, adding: "If anything, I'm sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share."
The actress, who has recently been named the highest-paid actress in the world by Forbes magazine, was one of several Hollywood stars who was caught up in the Sony hacking scandal in 2014. Other actresses to be affected include Amy Adams, who also received a lower salary for American Hustle, and Angelina Jolie, who was the subject of a tense email exchange between Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal and fellow Sony executive Scott Rudin.