Fox Host: Actresses Paid Less Than Male Co-Stars Should Be ‘Grateful’ To Be Cast

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Fox News contributor and former actress Stacey Dash said on Friday’s “Outnumbered” that female actresses should stop complaining about gender bias and be “grateful” for being cast alongside famous male actors.

Dash’s comments were made during a discussion about gender bias within Hollywood, which women such as actress Elizabeth Banks and director Kathryn Bigelow have taken issue with.

“I think that if you are directing a film, man or woman, there is pressure and if you don’t do a good job, the results are the same — you’re not gonna get to do it again, or maybe you will,” Dash said. “But it doesn’t matter on your gender. That’s not what’s gonna, you know, affect the outcome.”

“If you want something, you have to fight for it, you know,” Dash said. “And the other side of this is that I know hundreds of thousands of actresses who would love to play the leading lady to a Leonardo DiCaprio, a Matt Damon, you know, a George Clooney. So, you’ve gotta be grateful for what you got and if you want more, then get it. Work for it.”

Co-host Harris Faulkner agreed with Dash, noting that there were plenty of female executives.

“How many female exec— I mean you’ve got Oprah Winfrey,” Faulkner said, “you know I mentioned Ava with ‘Selma’ who directed that, you’ve got Oprah Winfrey. You’ve got a lot of people who are opening doors for other women in the business, too. You know, Tyler Perry is another. I mean you do have lots of opportunity.”

At this point, co-host Melissa Francis pointed out that the numbers actually show that over the past 17 years there has been a decline in the number of women directing films.

“The reason why this matters is because if there is a woman executive producer, writer, or director, then 39% of the time the lead in the movie is also a female,” Francis said. “If it’s a male writer, director, producer, only 4% of the time is the opportunity there for the actress.”

Co-host Sandra Smith then chimed in with her take on the issue.

“But, that makes so much sense to me,” Smith said. “Yes, sometimes you need a female perspective from a directional (sic) standpoint — correct me if I’m wrong, you guys are the experts in this industry — but sometimes you need a male direction.”

Dash added that Kathryn Bigelow got an Oscar for the movie “The Hurt Locker.”

“Like it’s relative. It’s all relative,” Dash said. “Like I said you have to fight for what you want and be good at it. Be extraordinary at it.”

Watch the video below, courtesy of Media Matters:

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for mazs mazs says:

    Projecting the demise of her own “career”, I’d guess.

  2. Black folks don’t want her anymore - is there another race and/or place of national origin willing to adopt her?

  3. "It’s all relative,” Dash said. “Like I said you have to fight for what you want and be good at it. Be extraordinary at it.”

    Or have a dick. Yeah, have a dick. That's the easier route to take.
  4. At some point, you have to wonder weather Fox Host’s contributors have been instructed to troll viewers by making the most outrageous statements possible(whether or not they believe what they are saying). If it is, they are remarkably successful judging by all the link-bait they generate.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

57 more replies

Participants

Avatar for rook429 Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for pickwick Avatar for manhattan123 Avatar for doitlive Avatar for jtgeomom Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for trumpdog Avatar for meangreen Avatar for orthostice Avatar for callmeeric Avatar for chatterboxing Avatar for johnscotus Avatar for spocksblackpants Avatar for kdnicewanger Avatar for yeshua Avatar for mrf Avatar for sweetdee Avatar for orsay Avatar for darrtown Avatar for gailefranz Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for beattycat Avatar for jinnj

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: