Debra Messing calls out E! for pay inequality during interview with the network

Actress Debra Messing on Sunday expressed disappointment with E! News during an interview with the network on the Golden Globes red carpet after reports of a gender-related pay dispute at the network.

“We want diversity, we want intersectional gender parity, we want equal pay and, I mean, I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts,” Messing said, referencing former E! host Catt Sadler and explaining the goals of the “Time’s Up” initiative.

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Sadler, who had been with E! for more than a decade, announced on her personal blog last month that she left her position after learning that her male co-host’s salary was nearly double her own.

Sadler wrote that she requested pay that matched “what I know I deserve,” and was denied.

E! released a statement on Tuesday saying that it compensates employees fairly.

“So we stand with her,” Messing said Sunday of Sadler. “And that’s something that can change tomorrow. We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.”

Messing was one of numerous celebrities on Sunday who wore black to the awards show in a display of solidarity against the culture of sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry. Hollywood was rocked by sexual misconduct allegations in 2017 against Harvey Weinstein, Dustin Hoffman, Louis C.K. and others.

Many of the celebrities participating in the display of solidarity are part of the recently launched “Time’s Up” initiative, which is creating a $13 million legal defense fund to protect women in less privileged fields against sexual misconduct, and taking other steps to combat systemic sexual harassment.