Francois Duhamel / Sony PicturesThe cast of David O'Russell's "American Hustle" from L to R: Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Jennifer Lawrence.
In the latest leaked Sony emails, it is revealed that Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were paid less than their male co-stars in 2013's "American Hustle," which was co-financed by Sony arm Columbia Pictures.
Francois Duhamel/Columbia PicturesJennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams earned less than their male co-stars on the backend of the Oscar-nominated "Hustle."Despite both actresses being nominated for Oscars for their roles in the film, director David O'Russell and actors Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner all earned more on the movie's back-end compensation.
In a Sony email unearthed by The Daily Beast from December 2013, Andrew Gumpert, President of Business Affairs for Columbia Pictures, wrote to Sony co-chair Amy Pascal and Doug Belgrad, President of SPE Motion Picture Group, about the back-end compensation - known as "points" - that each actor would receive after the movie's release:
Got a steve warren/gretchen rush call that it's unfair the male actors get 9% in the pool and jennifer is only at 7pts. You may recall Jennifer was at 5 (amy was and is at 7) and WE anted in 2 extra points for Jennifer to get her up to 7. If anyone needs to top jennifer up it's megan [producer Megan Ellison]. BUT I think amy and Jennifer are tied so upping JL, ups AA.
Gumpert added, "The current talent deals are: O'Russell: 9%; Cooper: 9%; Bale: 9%; Renner: 9%; Lawrence: 7%; Adams: 7%."
Pascal's email response to the news of Lawrence making less than her male colleagues was: "there is truth here." This, despite the fact that "Hustle" was green-lit after "The Hunger Games" became a hit, The Daily Beast points out.
"American Hustle" went on to earn over $251 million worldwide, but "The Hunger Games" is a billion dollar franchise with Lawrence at the center. While it's unknown what Lawrence earned up front for "Hustle," the 24-year-old took took home $10 million for the "Hunger Games" second installment, "Catching Fire." The Hollywood Reporter notes that the figure "is a combination of salary, bonuses and escalators."
The recent leaks have also revealed the bigger issue of a major pay gap between male and female Sony staffers.
According to a spreadsheet listing top exec salaries, Hannah Minghella, who serves as co-president of production at Sony's Columbia Pictures division, makes about $1 million less per year ($1.5 million) than her male counterpart with the same job, Columbia Pictures co-president of production Michael De Luca ($2.4 million).
According to the spreadsheet, which lists the salaries of 6,000 employees, 17 of the employees were making $1 million or more, but only one of those is a woman.
The spreadsheet also showed that the top salaried Sony executives were 88% white and 94% male.
The leaks are the latest in a series by a mysterious group calling themselves "Guardians of Peace" (GOP), who have been demanding Sony not release the upcoming comedy "The Interview," which has also been denounced by North Korea.