Salma Hayek Urges Male Stars to Take Pay Cuts for Equality

A day after joining dozens of other female movie makers, including Jane Fonda and Cate Blanchett, at a demonstration at the Cannes Film Festival in support of the struggle for women’s rights, Salma Hayek told a conference:
“The actors have to say: ‘OK, time’s up. I had a good run but now it’s also time to be generous with the actresses in the films.’
“We all have to be part of the adjustment. That’s one idea. I’m going to be hated for it. I hope I can get a job after this!”
The Mexican-born actor, a leading voice in the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, stated the male stars who are being paid highly need to make sacrifices.
“It is not just the producers” who have to change if the huge pay gap is to be closed. “It is actors too,” she said.
“Time’s up. You had a good run, but it is time now to be generous with the actresses,” she told a Women in Motion talk at the festival.
Hayek was among 82 women who took part in a red carpet protest on Saturday.
“We are 82 women, representing the number of female directors who have climbed these stairs since the first edition of the Cannes film festival in 1946. In the same period, 1,688 male directors have climbed these very same stairs,” said Blanchett, reading out a collective statement alongside the veteran documentary-maker Agnès Varda. “The prestigious Palme d’Or has been bestowed upon 71 male directors, too numerous to mention by name, but only two female directors.”
> Shiuly Rina