Many of the female stars who attended the Golden Globes in LA Sunday wore black to promote equality and to protest sexual harassment and abuse.
And Will & Grace star Debra Messing not only wore black, but she also put her money where her mouth is when it came time to be interviews on the red carpet during E!’s pre-show.
The entertainment television network came under fire recently after Catt Sadler quit her job with E! after learning she was paid less than her male counterpart on E! News.
‘I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts. I miss Catt Sadler and so we stand with her,’ Messing, 49, told reporter Giuliana Rancic live on air.
Taking no prisoners: Debra Messing called out E! for its gender pay disparity while being interviewed live on E! by Giuliana Rancic on the Golden Globes red carpet Sunday
‘Time is up. We want diversity. We want intersectional gender parity, we want equal pay,’ Messing told Rancic.
She added: ‘We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.’
Much of the red carpet banter between celebrities and reporters revolved around the protest with the stars sharing their views about the way women are treated in Hollywood.
‘Time is up. We want diversity,’ Messing told Rancic. ‘We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men’
‘I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts. I miss Catt Sadler and so we stand with her,’ the actress, 49, said live on air
What began as a reaction to the Harvey Weinstein scandal epitomized by the #MeToo movement has morphed into a broader discussion about not only sexual assault and harassment but also wage disparity and the lack of opportunities for women.
Wearing black to the Globes was the initiative of Times Up, that is calling for equity, parity and safety for all workers ‘across all industries’ and ‘inclusion for women and marginalized people’.
Twitter was quick to praise Messing for taking on E! live on air.
‘LOL shout out to Debra messing for telling Giuliana that the network she works for is sexist and enables the pay gap,’ @ReelTalker tweeted.
‘Probably not what Giuliana was expecting,’ another Twitter user opined.
Others praised the actress for exposing the ‘pure hypocrisy’ of the network which was ‘fawning over Hollywood for wearing black.’
Twitter immediately applauded Messing for speaking out
Some users pointed out the awkwardness that those at E! likely felt about what Messing had to say
Others praised Messing as the Golden Globes became dominated by the Time’s Up movement
Sadler left E! after 12 years when she failed to negotiate a pay deal that was on a par with what her co-host Jason Kennedy was paid.
She explained in a blog post on December 19: ‘When E! reached out to renew and extend my deal, I learned that he wasn’t just making a little more than I was. In fact, he was making close to double my salary for the past several years.’
‘My team and I asked for what I know I deserve and were denied repeatedly.,’ she said.
An E! spokesperson said at the time that gender inequality was not the cause and that E! ‘compensates employees fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender.’
Messing wore a black outfit designed by Christian Siriano for the annual awards show hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Beverly Hilton Hotel
E!s Catt Sadler left the network after 12 years after learning that her co-host Jason Kennedy, pictured with her in November, earned almost double what she was paid