LEAKED: Jennifer Lawrence Got Paid Less Than Her 'American Hustle' Male Co-Stars
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.
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.