E!, the perpetually excited basic cable channel I largely avoid outside of KUWTK and awards show pre-shows, has lost one of its most popular hosts, Catt Sadler, thanks to a battle over “the gender pay gap.” In a post on her blog published Tuesday night, Sadler reveals that she opted out of renewing her contract after being refused an equal salary to her co-host Jason Kennedy, who has been at the network for roughly the same amount of time.
“Information is supposed to be power,” she says of learning that Kennedy made double her own salary, “and when my team began negotiations knowing what we knew, that was the barometer in which I expected to be paid, based on the law and based on what I know to be fair... not only did [E!] refuse to pay me as much as my male counterpart, but they didn’t come close — nowhere close, not even remotely close.”
Sadler calls their counteroffer “almost insulting,” and says it made her feel “very small and under-appreciated and undervalued.” It did not, however, change her opinion of Kennedy, whom she still considers one of her best friends. “He has been such a champion for me in every sense,” she writes. “But it’s not his decision.”
When asked for comment, E! gave People the longform equivalent of the yellow waving emoji:
E! compensates employees fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender. We appreciate Catt Sadler’s many contributions at E! News and wish her all the best following her decision to leave the network.
“Know your worth,” she tells women in her blog post. “How can we make it better for the next generation of girls if we do not stand for what is fair and just today?”
Eva Longoria is pregnant for the first time! Her husband Jose Baston is the father! It’s a boy! They’re both excited! That’s all there is to say but I think it’s worthy of a mention above the bullets!
[TMZ]
I do love how hard it is for this couple to keep anything to themselves.
[People]
BONUS:
[People]
- For a split second I thought these photos of Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges fighting were legit and not just acting. [Just Jared]
- This headline about Rosario Dawson is the opening line of a poem. [Page Six]
- Leo hooking up with someone shouldn’t be news, and I shouldn’t be linking to it, but here I am. [Us Weekly]
- There she is! [People]