Here's a riddle for your Friday morning: Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are clearly the stars of the new hit show, Grace and Frankie. The series is named after their characters. And yet, Tomlin and Fonda are reportedly being paid the same amount as co-stars Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen, who are both supporting actors on the show. What is going on here?
"That doesn't make us happy," Fonda said at a recent Netflix press event. "No. The show is not 'Sol and Robert'," Tomlin added. "It's 'Grace and Frankie.'" The actresses aren't the only ones ticked off, either. Fans responded to news about this pay inequality by petitioning Netflix to remedy the situation post haste.
"In 1980, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda co-starred in 'Nine to Five, a comedy about three women who turn the tables on their sexist, bigoted boss, which showed sexism in the workplace in a bold new light," the petition reads.
"Now, ironically, Tomlin and Fonda have revealed at a press event that despite their new Netflix show "Grace and Frankie" being directly centered around their two characters, they are being paid the same as the male supporting actors who play their ex-husbands.This just goes to show that gender pay disparity is everywhere. But changes are being made incrementally in Hollywood. When Charlize Theron found out she was making less than her male counterpart in "Snow White and the Huntsman," she demanded the difference be remedied and WON."
The hope is to galvanize enough support that Netflix pays its leading ladies what they rightfully deserve. Wage equality doesn't mean that everyone gets paid the same amount: It means that people are paid what's fair for their experience, skills, and contribution — and that's clearly not happening in this case.
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