Gal Gadot Pay Controversy: Some Wonder Whether Woman’s Pay Gap Is Fake News
This week, rumors have swirled over actress Gal Gadot’s pay for her role in the Wonder Woman movie, with comparisons to that of Henry Cavill leading some to wonder if she is a victim of sexism in Hollywood, reports BBC.
On Tuesday, a tweet by journalist Lauren Duca that compared Gal Gadot’s salary for Wonder Woman to Henry Cavill’s salary for Man of Steel went viral, receiving over 14,000 retweets and over 29,000 likes. The tweet stated that the Man of Steel star made $14 million for his film, while Gal Gadot made only $300,000 for her role as Wonder Woman, ending in the quip “The most compelling DC villain is the pay gap.”
Many people were quick to get outraged at this apparent injustice. However, a cursory examination of the facts reveals that this outrage was likely unwarranted.
Is Gal Gadot A Victim Of Sexism?
According to the BBC, while some outlets confirm the male actor’s $14 million paycheck, others dispute this number. What is potentially more troubling is that Gal Gadot’s initial pay was compared to Cavill’s pay after he received box office bonuses for the film. BBC explains that Gal Gadot may even end up earning more money than the Superman actor, since Wonder Woman has already made an estimated $578 million, while Man of Steel, released four years ago, made a total of $668 million.
Even the fiercely feminist Jezebel admits that the Gal Gadot pay gap drama was overblown. The article explains that it is common for rising stars to be paid a small sum of money for their first lead superhero role, mentioning that Robert Downy, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Evans were all paid less than $500,000 for their first superhero gig.
Jezebel also contests the $14 million pay cited for Henry Cavill, stating that, according to an insider, this pay is “insane.” A Vulture piece on the issue states that Cavill was actually paid a similar fee for Man of Steel to that of Gal Gadot for her role as Wonder Woman. Interestingly, his more-famous female co-star, Amy Adams, was reportedly paid a substantial amount more than the Man of Steel star for her supporting role as Lois Lane.
Check Your Sources, Not Your Privilege
According to Jezebel, this mix-up occurred as a result of Forbes using a figure for Henry Cavill’s salary obtained from a website called The Richest, which currently lists Cavill’s entire net worth at a mere $8 million. Elle, apparently basing its article off of the Forbes piece, used this questionable piece of information to write an article about the gender pay gap in Hollywood, using Gal Gadot as an example.
Lauren Duca then used this information to publish her widely-viewed tweet. BBC reports that Lauren Duca deleted her tweet, which can be confirmed by viewing her Twitter page, which is missing the tweet in question, as well as any follow-up tweets apologizing for the mistake.
@GalGadot got the same pay for WW as @ChrisEvans did for Captain America, that's called business not sexism.
— Tricornes (@Tricornes) June 20, 2017
It looks like outrage on the internet was once again wasted on fake news, as Gal Gadot appears to have received a pay check for Wonder Woman that is commensurate with that of her male superhero star colleagues.
[Featured Image by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Images]
