Gwyneth Paltrow: ‘Nobody is worth the money Robert Downey Jr. is worth’

[closeupready]

Sorry, Goop, he is, obviously. He makes top dollar because his films do, too, for everyone else. She obviously isn't as bankable as he is. Simple economics.

There's also a small irony in her recipes calling for $50/oz. Manuka honey and such. How is anyone other than Robert Downey, Jr. expected to pay for Manuka honey if they aren't being paid like Downey?

Gwyneth Paltrow is calling out the wage disparity between the sexes in Hollywood, insisting no one is worth the salary her “Iron Man” co-star Robert Downey Jr. takes home.

The Oscar winner has joined Patricia Arquette, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon, among others, who have voiced their concerns about the fair pay issue in Hollywood as leading men continue to pick up much bigger paychecks than their female co-stars.

Paltrow tells Variety, “Your salary is a way to quantify what you’re worth. If men are being paid a lot more for doing the same thing, it feels s—.”
-----------------------
According to editors at Forbes magazine, the actress earned $9 million over the past year, while Downey, Jr. raked in $80 million, making him the world’s highest-paid actor.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/people/2015/10/07/gwyneth-paltrow-nobody-is-worth-the-money-robert-downey-jr-is-worth/

[valerief]

1. If she were talking about REAL people, I'd say bravo, but she's quibbling about multi-millionaires.

[daleanime]

2. I know, it's right in principle....

but hard to comprehend with some much principle involved.

[valerief]

4. Of course, it's right in principle, but do you really care if megarich actress A gets as much

money as megarich actor B?

People need money to survive, not to outdo each other.

[daleanime]

6. Which is basically what I was saying....

I was just trying to be clever using two separate definitions of 'principle' in one sentence.

[closeupready]

3. Yes. That's an important distinction. She strikes me as

someone who has lived a life of luxury which she was born into, and didn't really have to struggle, like interestingly Downey did. So she says these really stupid things that you'd never hear Obama say.

I mean, I'd want to know of her, she was born into an entertainment industry family, and why doesn't EVERY child deserve to be born into families with such business connections, leading to $9M/year film careers that are basically part-time cameos.

[bettyellen]

13. Downey's dad was a respected director- not commercial but avant garde. So he had a great start too.

I agree with the issue- a pay disparity is what it is. Symptomatic of valuing what men do much higher, simply out of tradition. but she is a poor spokeswoman for everything. born with a solver spoon and a foot in her mouth.

[yeoman6987]

33. She acts like she doesn't have an agent who brings her scripts to do for a price.

She easily could request more if she wanted to. Plus how many movies did Robert do compared to her? The other thing is she likes to do independent films which don't pay as much. One other thing.....can she open a film? That is pretty important. If this was Sandra bullock, Jennifer Lawrence or Melissa McCarthy, I would sympathize with them. They open movies on their own.

[Rex]

5. 'Your salary is a way to quantify what you’re worth'

To completely materialistic people, yes that is true. They define worth my superficial means only.

[ryan_cats]

22. It works for me.

It works for me.
As a quantifiable number it is a great indicator as it's hard to measure someone's compassion, or concern for the rabble and their commitment to talking about doing something to feign concern about the children unless I take them at face value, which I of course do not.

[demmiblue]

7. I not a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow, but she is right about pay inequity.

Even when a female actor is a huge draw, like Jennifer Lawrence, they are still paid less than their male co-stars.

All the rest is a bunch of goop.

[PoliticAverse]

8. Sounds like Lawrence needs a better agent. n/t

[demmiblue]

10. It is not about agents.

Even though women like her are paid millions, their experiences reflect what happens to all women on an everyday basis, especially minority women. Should they get agents?

[PoliticAverse]

11. Probably. Agents for regular people exist in the form known as 'unions'.

But Lawrence is one person negotiating in a competitive 'star' environment. She needs someone
that knows how much she is worth to a film production and can make the case that paying
her more is in their interest.

[LanternWaste]

36. What something may sound like does not particularly indicate what something is...

What something may sound like does not particularly indicate what something is... our biases often compel us to reach into the 'it does not follow' fallacy to better validate themselves.

[madville]

19. Lawrence is the #2 highest paid actor the last year

She made 52 million the last year compared to Downey's 80 million. She was paid more than every other male actor on earth.

[smirkymonkey]

32. I agree, it's bullshit. As much as Gwyneth drives me crazy, she has a point.

Women at every level get screwed.

[progressoid]

60. Yup. n/t

[edhopper]

9. He made the first Marvel Super Hero film

(that is movies by the current Marvel Studio) and it was a big hit. They gave him a very big contract for future movies. As they continued to make movies they tied the actors to longer term contracts for less money. He makes more than the other Avengers actors.

Right place, right time.

I guarantee he didn't make mega bucks for The Judge

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

43. He also got paid less than Terrance Howard for the first IM film n/m

[edhopper]

44. Did not know that

Is that why they got rid of Howard for Cheadle?

[reddread]

46. probably because he was a woman beater

with some other issues packed in as well.
at least according to the gossip around here.

[edhopper]

59. Have you heard about the new book on your avatar

not flattering and says he was not kind to women as well.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/lou-reed-monster-man-new-book-article-1.2392998

[reddread]

61. i seem to remember a book by victor bockris

waaay back when.
salacious, unpleasant way to make money Im sure.

He's just lucky I let him have Laurie.

now I see the publicity for this one.
that money was just sitting there.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

50. One of many reasons. n/m

[Angleae]

65. Minor correction: The first successful Marvel super hero film

There were a couple of Hulk moves earlier in the 2000s that ended up losing money not to mention a Captain America movie in 1990 that totally bombed.

[edhopper]

78. I am talking about the current movies

done by the Marvel Studio. Not just movies about Marvel characters.

Both Hulk movies made around $250 million, so they were successful or not, depending on the accounting involved.

[hfojvt]

83. lots of comic movies pre-dated Iron Man

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_Marvel_Comics

[Angleae]

84. Except Marvel doesn't own the movie rights to most of their own characters.

Marvel doesn't own the movie rights to Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four and aren't likely to ever get them back.

[pnwmom]

12. You want to explain why Jennifer Lawrence made a lot less than her male co-stars

in American Hustle?

You really believe that the star of Hunger Games was less bankable than the men?

They paid her less because they could. As a young woman, she didn't know how much she was worth. But if simple economics were involved, she'd have been paid more than any of them men in that movie.

[AZ Progressive]

16. Actors are supposed to bring in audiences, and are paid accordingly

She has to be able to bring a large enough audience to justify the pay.

From all that I know, the problem is that women just don't bring in as large audiences as men in movies. That might be from sexism (from both women and men), but companies want money, and why is it their fault that audiences are sexist?

[pnwmom]

23. She brought in GIGANTIC audiences for Hunger Games. She was THE STAR.

And Hunger Games is a billion dollar enterprise.

It's ridiculous to pretend that she wouldn't have justified a higher salary than Christian Bales -- IF the salaries were based on economics, uninfluenced by sexism.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchises/

[madville]

25. She did pretty good the last year

Downey made 80 million and was #1, Jennifer Lawrence made 52 million and Jackie Chan was next at 50 million. So she did out earn every other man on earth at least, Downey is the only other person that made more in the last year.

[pnwmom]

27. Jennifer Lawrence is the center of a billion dollar franchise. And even for her second

Hunger Games movie she was only paid $10 million. She's finally getting paid what she's worth.

[madville]

30. Look at the last Iron Man and Hunger Games

Iron Man 3 made 1.2 Billion worldwide while Hunger Games Cathibg Fire made around 800 Million.

Downey making 80 million as a lead and her making 52 million are proportional by those box office numbers.

[NobodyHere]

45. She agreed to work for less than her male co-stars in American Hustle

And it's not like she's in some "must work or my children will starve" situation.

[pnwmom]

47. No, she didn't. They keep salaries secret so she specifically did NOT agree

to make less than they did.

She had to negotiate that salary in a vacuum and, as she has said, she didn't know how hard to push.

[NobodyHere]

49. If she worked for 10 million

Then she agreed to work for 10 million.

(I'm making up the exact number)

[closeupready]

51. She agreed with them that she was worth $3 million.

(or whatever her American Hustle contract stipulated as her financial compensation.)

[bettyellen]

57. but she really couldn't know (same problem for many women w/ Ledbetter) until later...

and the tough thing is, women already know that this is how it works. most employers plan to pay us less.
I have heard a few say it outright, but I don't think most bosses are stupid enough to behest about it anymore.
I remember when I was hiring they told me to throw out all the resumes from men, because they were going to pay peanuts.
so I could only afford to hire a woman.

[closeupready]

58. That's interesting.

Was it that blatant, and how big was the organization you hired for?

[bettyellen]

62. Fairly small place, family owned. Maybe 75 employees? When I quit they hired a dude with no experience at all....

because they thought he was really cool. Young, handsome, charming and oozing confidence. My boss loved gossiping with him. I had about 15 years experience (he had co-managed a pizzeria which failed, and had nothing to do with our industry) and they paid him almost as much as me. He absolutely was just winging it- couldn't tell when projects were easy and profitable or risky and time consuming. No clue at all about what the people he managed did all day, or when things were unnecessarily expensive. He planned to cajole and flirt good work out of people, LOL.

When I asked about why he'd command that salary w/ no experience- they said he needed more money to date because he was looking for a wife. Wish I was kidding. In reality, the boss just loved hanging out with him. It took him about six months of screw ups for them to dump him and hire someone who knew something about the business. That's when people talk about meritocracies or how businesses make the smartest decisions I have to laugh. People hire people who are "their kind" or "they'd like to have a beer with" more often than they hire actual talent or skill. It wasn't until I worked at a much larger place before I saw women with actually good jobs, actually managing men too. In smaller companies, that was unheard of, and I'm taking NYC, 15-25 years ago. Corporate companies having diversity pushed on them has made a huge difference.

[AZ Progressive]

14. Robert Downey Jr is an interesting actor, and from all the Iron Man and Avengers movies...

making a ton of money, there's no doubt that he deserves all that money.

[Enrique]

15. then how does she justify her own relatively astronomical salary

compared to people that aren't in the entertainment business?

I'm not taking issue with challenging the pay disparity, I'm taking issue with this idea: "Your salary is a way to quantify what you’re worth".

[AZ Progressive]

20. She's still a 1%er

She has to be thankful for that.

Googling Gwyneth Paltrow, she's worth $140 million. How can anyone complain about that?

[Shoulders of Giants]

17. You're right its simple economics.

But simple economics allows a man to make hundreds of millions from superhero movies while hundreds of millions of children go to bed hungry every night. Therefore, simple economics is evil.

[AZ Progressive]

21. Our Society has made money making a game, unfortunately

So the most money goes to the best game players, even if they have handicaps.

[AZ Progressive]

18. Kaley Cuoco makes $1 million per episode on Big Bang Theory now, and she's not even...

the main pull of the show (which is Jim Parson's Sheldon character.) Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco get paid the same amount even though Jim Parsons is the big star of the show (and really the main character) while Galecki and Cuoco really just play the main supporting characters.

Sometimes what is unfair is not unfavorable.

[AZ Progressive]

24. Gwyneth Paltrow is not the one to talk about this. She's worth $140 million and Downey: $220 ml

She's just complaining she's not as rich as Robert Downey, but she is still very rich.

[pnwmom]

26. Downey made 80 million just last year. She made a tenth of that. n/t

[Frank Cannon]

29. It's disingenuous to suggest that Downey is not the draw for those movies.

No one's running to see Ironman to check out what Pepper Potts is up to. Plus she's usually only in those movies for less than five minutes.

[sub.theory]

28. She's always been breathtakingly out of touch

She's been wealthy her whole life. I admit I don't think too much of her either, because she has such an arrogant, holier-than-thou way about her, despite being hopelessly out of touch about life outside the world of the rich and famous.

[roamer65]

31. I have zero sympathy for anyone making more than $250k a year complaining...

about not being paid enough money.

$9 million is more than most people will make in a lifetime.

Sounds to me like Paltrow and Downey need to be taxed a helluva lot more.

[melman]

34. '' Downey, Jr. "

I hate it when they do that. His last name is Downey, not Downey Jr!

[closeupready]

53. Inform IMDB then because they claim he's Downey Jr., too!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000375/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

[PoliticAverse]

35. Jennifer Lawrence - "Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?"

https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLawrence/posts/10153012783811793:0

[WinkyDink]

38. "Because you can't carry a movie on your own yet."

[AZ Progressive]

67. She carried two blockbusters, Hunger Games and Catching Fire

I believe two of the biggest movies any woman has led since Sound of Music.

[Orrex]

76. Oh, come on.

They only made $1.5 billion. That would barely even buy a fleet of lear jets.

[Dr. Strange]

80. And as a result, she's the second highest earner in Hollywood...

behind only Robert Downey Jr.

You don't make the big money until you prove your worth. Which is why Lawrence was paid "only" $500,000 for the first Hunger Games movie, unlike Downey who was paid "only" $500,000 for the first Iron Man movie.

[WinkyDink]

37. But it is not "doing the same thing." Acting is not quantifiable in that way.

[bigwillq]

39. Gwen is not worth the money she makes.

I think she's awful.

[Skittles]

64. she is so freaking out of touch

hearing someone who has never had to worry about money whine about money

[Ex Lurker]

71. She really is

If she had never worked a day in her life she could have lived off mommy and daddy's trust fund.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

66. She was great in "There's Something About Mary."

Or was that Cameron Diaz?

[EX500rider]

68. Cameron Diaz

[Gidney N Cloyd]

72. Same difference.

[EX500rider]

87. Goodness gracious no! lol

Annie
Sex Tape
The Other Woman
The Counselor
In a World...
Gambit
A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
What to Expect When You're Expecting
Bad Teacher
The Green Hornet
Knight and Day
Shrek Forever After
The Box
My Sister's Keeper
What Happens in Vegas
Shrek the Third
The Holiday
In Her Shoes
Shrek 2
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Gangs of New York
Minority Report
My Father's House
The Sweetest Thing
Vanilla Sky
Shrek
The Invisible Circus
Charlie's Angels
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her
Any Given Sunday
Being John Malkovich
Man Woman Film
Very Bad Things
There's Something About Mary
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Life Less Ordinary
My Best Friend's Wedding
Keys to Tulsa
Head Above Water
Feeling Minnesota
She's the One
The Last Supper
The Mask

[Gidney N Cloyd]

88. Lemme come clean here... :-)

I actually do know the difference between the two actresses. I'm just being snarky about Gwyneth's semi-remarkable career. She's okay but I'm betting she probably gets mostly parts Diaz (and Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, etc.) turn down.

[LittleBlue]

40. That's way oversimplified. He gets paid a fortune for Iron Man because nobody else can play it

Like Johnny Depp made Jack Sparrow his own, RDJ made Iron Man his franchise. Fans won't accept anyone else playing those characters, which gives him ultimate leverage over the studios if he threatens to walk. Not just from Iron Man, he is also top billing in Avengers, which makes $1bn-$2bn per movie.


That's why those two are way ahead of their coworkers in earnings.

[reddread]

48. you will be looking at a new Iron Man soon enough

I can only imagine RD Jr was mortified by the pile of crap they passed off as IM3
that director should be hunted and killed for reals.

[LittleBlue]

54. Very true. Gave up on most of these movies myself

The unending sequels and reboots are tiresome.

[Eleanors38]

41. Well, I'll settle for the diff between what they make an hour. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

42. There are also a ton of great actors who take less than anyone

Does anyone think guys like Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, and Toby Jones make even 5 million a picture?

And as far as Meryl Streep goes, if she took 50 milllion a picture, her films wouldn't get made. They are not box office gold, they are made to get critical acclaim and win Oscars.

Meanwhile, Gweneth is a horrible actress. Besides Iron Man, I don't even know what she's doing and couldn't care less. She's always been a whiny little brat and comes off as full of herself in every interview. She's not a star anymore and she's realizing it.

Actresses are going to start negotiating harder, and that's the advantage here.

[Monk06]

52. Downey came back from a flat on his ass bankrupt drug addict who was box office poison after being

fired from Ally McBeal. He deserves every penny he is paid for that accomplishment. Where was Paltrow when Downey was here?

[U4ikLefty]

69. People talked lot of crap about him at the time.

I remember when he was arrested in that motel room & it brought to mind his role in Less Than Zero.

I'm glad he made it out of that hell.

[randome]

55. If she's making a point about the disparity between male and female stars, so be it.

But when it comes from someone who promotes 'vagina steaming', I'd prefer that she simply go away and retire to her own mansion.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[Mendocino]

56. {o}=+

In the reply title is the tiniest violin in the world playing for all the poor poor celebrities.

[Throd]

63. The people who signed his contract think he is.

[CBGLuthier]

70. William Friedkin made the movie Sorcerer with Roy Scheider because he could not meet Steve McQueen's

demands to include his wife and other concessions.

Now, I love the movie and think Roy Scheider was great in the role but to this day Friedkin laments not getting McQueen and undervaluing how much one Steve McQueen close-up is to selling a movie.


Sorry but simple economics rule these movies. When Paltrow starts making mega blockbusters that pull in billions world wide she too will be paid huge sums. I am more concerned about the disparity for female vs. male directors than I am actors.

[meaculpa2011]

73. Sorcerer was a terrific movie and...

Roy Scheider was great.

Steve McQueen was transcendent and would have elevated the film to "classic" status.

Actors are a dime a dozen. Whiny actors with super rich show-biz parents are a dime a gross, and I'm probably underestimating.

Movie stars are very, very rare.

Female director, like female actors, negotiate their own deals. You want more. Demand more.

[kwassa]

74. I just saw "Bullit" again a couple weeks ago ....

I last saw it several decades ago.

it still holds up as good movie after all these years. I was really struck by how good McQueen was as an actor.

[meaculpa2011]

79. My wife and I "saw" Bullitt...

at the Sunrise Drive-In 45 years (?) ago.

They tell me there was a great car chase scene.

I wouldn't know.

[kwassa]

81. It was about a shotgun wedding ....

[meaculpa2011]

82. Funny how these things work out...

We got married in 1972 and our first child arrived in 1990. Second in 1993.

Lesson 1: Parenting is for young people.

Lesson 2: Parenting is life without parole.

P.S. I just got back from running an errand with my Little Angel.

Ring... Hi Dad, what are you doing?

I'm working.

That's nice. Pick me up in five minutes, I have to........

[kwassa]

91. I became a first-time parent at 55 ...

so far, I don't regret the decision.

[closeupready]

75. Sorcerer - terrific film, director and lead actor; personally, I never liked McQueen

that much, except in The Great Escape, but most moviegoers DID love him. I like the original Wages of Fear, Henri-Georges Clouzot, but the remake was even better, IMO.

[CBGLuthier]

77. They are both essential films.

I do think Friedkin found a way to a more universal story. I too would rather have seem Scheider in a movie than McQueen but Hollywood thought differently.

I remember walking into Sorcerer in a theater a couple minutes late and everything was in French and we wondered if we had walked into the wrong movie. Was my first exposure to Tangerine Dream and such a dark, dark story.

[Major Hogwash]

85. I think McQueen was over rated.

I thought that Sorcerer was an odd movie, maybe even quirky.
But, I didn't know that Friedkin wanted McQueen in that movie.

[CBGLuthier]

90. I am not a huge fan of McQueen but he did have a presence and he did have a few great roles

I keep watching Papillon when it runs on the local version of TMC. Unfortunately it is in french but I can still study the face. My french sucks so it helps I know the movie well.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

86. I am trying to parse her words, but

something seems to be lacking. Like proper grammar.

[Stuart G]

89. Jack Nickelson, earned 60 million on one film, Batman, at least 150 million in today's money

Jack Nicholson received a percentage of the gross on the film, and due to its massive box-office took home around $60 million. As of 2003 it is still the single-movie record for actor's salary.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

How about that...150 million for one film in 2015?...(perhaps more depending how one measures inflation) It had to do with a percentage of the profits..

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/trivia

I might add..that is nothing compared to the interest alone that some multi billion worth people get on investments in one year.