No, Cynthia Erivo did not receive $14 million less than Ariana Grande for Wicked, but the pay disparity problem is real

As Taraji P. Henson told us almost a yr ago, Hollywood’s pay disparity problem persists, and actresses of color, no matter their size, often suffer the loss.

“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious in what I do (and) getting paid for a fraction of the cost,” an emotional Henson said during an interview with Gayle King in December 2023. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters talk over and over the same. You’ll get tired.”

This is a typical narrative that many Black women know all too well, so it’s no wonder that lots of them have gone berserk in the face of rampant and baseless rumors that Cynthia Erivo only made $1 million in comparison with Ariana Grande’s $15 million salary “Wicked”. But on Tuesday, those rumors turned out to be false when, in response to growing speculation on social media, a spokesman for Universal, the production studio behind the hit musical, released an announcement to The Hollywood Reporter and other media outlets addressing the controversy.

“Reports about Cynthia and Ariana’s pay disparity are completely false and based on online feed. “The women received equal pay for their work on ‘Wicked,'” reads the statement, which was reportedly confirmed by “multiple sources familiar with the situation.”

According to Deadlinethe rumor inexplicably originated in a Reddit thread. It’s unclear how much Wicked’s lead actresses actually earned for their work on the already highly acclaimed two-part film, which reportedly had a pre-release production budget of $320 million and is currently dominating the holiday box office. Nevertheless, the confusion surrounding alleged pay disparities, while unfounded, reflects the very real and chronic pay gap for Black women that is well documented in Hollywood and extends to countless other industries.

“People say, ‘You’re the black Meryl Streep… We love you. There is no one like you,” continued the EGOT winner. “OK, so if there’s no one like me, you think I’m like that, you pay me what I’m worth.”

That same yr, Octavia Spencer made headlines when she revealed that fellow actress Jessica Chastain helped her negotiate equal pay for a project they were working on together. As reported DiversityChastain, already a staunch supporter of eliminating the gender pay gap in Hollywood, was unaware of the equally persistent pay gap between white and non-white actresses until Spencer brought it to her attention.

“I told her my story and we were talking about numbers and (Chastain) was silent and she had no idea what it was like for women of color,” Spencer recalled during a panel at this yr’s Sundance Film Festival.

Moved into motion, Chastain helped Spencer negotiate “favored nations” agreement.under which each Oscar winners would receive comparable rates.

“She was underpaid for a long time. Once I discovered this, I realized I could link her contract to mine to display her quote” Chastain later tweeted in response to Spencer’s confession. “Men should start doing this with their girlfriends.”

Further detailing the issue, Spencer wrote on Twitter“I should explain that I earn five times my salary because Jessica was with me. I don’t know how much or if it cost her anything in terms of her rate, I just know she supported me and I’m eternally grateful.”

Gestures like Chastain’s are rare, and while privileged country contracts have gotten more common in Hollywood productions – potentially including Erivo and Grande’s deals in the case of “Wicked” – they’re still not an everyday occurrence. Nor do they compensate for a system wherein black talent is systematically devalued, as Henson, an Oscar and Emmy nominee and Golden Globe and SAG Award winner, noted when discussing her own experiences with pay disparities.

“I hear people say, ‘You work a lot,’” she continued. “I actually have to. Math is not math. When you begin working rather a lot, you already know you could have a team. There are big bills for what we do. We don’t do it alone… there’s a complete team behind us (and) they should become profitable.”

Discussing the indisputable fact that even actors earning a seemingly exorbitant Hollywood salary – resembling $10 million – typically earn a 3rd of that quantity after paying taxes and a band, Henson emphasized that a lower salary at the starting undermines any possibility of success.

“I’m only human and every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m back at the bottom like I never did what I just did,” she said. “And I’m tired.”

If established actresses struggle to receive their price, their experiences mirror those of infamous black women across industries. Despite enrolling in college at higher rateson average, black American women employed full-time they pay 69 cents on every dollar made by non-Hispanic white men – i Bend over estimates that the gap is barely larger for black women with bachelor’s degrees, who earn 36% less than equally educated white men, or 64 cents on the dollar. Latina and Native American women fare even worse at a price of 58 cents on the dollar.

Moreover, black women typically earn 12% less than their white counterparts. The disparities that too many ladies of color face are getting worse yearly due to initiatives like Black Women’s Equal Pay Day – and yet at the current rate of growth Pay equity is not expected to be achieved until 2227. Meanwhile, “a black woman starting her career today could lose $884,800 over a 40-year career if we don’t close this gap.” reports the National Women’s Law Center.

Given the real-world dynamics at play, the uproar over Erivo’s apparent pay disparity, nonetheless unfaithful, undoubtedly galvanized tens of millions of Black women who were still working twice as hard to earn a couple of third less. While Erivo may currently be “defying gravity” in the biggest fantasy film of the yr, we cannot deny the seriousness of the pay disparity and its repercussions on the careers, families, communities and mental health of Black women. To paraphrase Davis: pay us what we’re price.