Eva Longoria, Debra Messing and Laura Dern called out E! on the Golden Globes red carpet Sunday to slam the network for former host Catt Sadler’s departure over her pay gap.
E!’s Ryan Seacrest was interviewing Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria and Nicole Kidman when Longoria jumped in to say she supports Sadler, who made headlines last month when she announced she was leaving the company due to a “massive” pay disparity.
“With Time’s Up, we support gender equity and equal pay, and we hope E! follows that lead with Catt as well.” Longoria said. “We stand with you Catt.”
Witherspoon and Kidman nodded in agreement while Longoria spoke. Seacrest responded saying, “We love Catt, we love her,” before ending the interview.
Debra Messing also used her red carpet time on Sunday to express her dismay over Sadler’s departure from E!
“I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts as their male co-hosts,” Messing said while speaking to E!’s Giuliana Rancic on the carpet. “I miss Catt Sadler. So we stand with her. That’s something that can change tomorrow, you know. We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.”
“Big Little Lies” star Laura Dern also addressed the issue during her own E! red carpet interview. “We need the powers that be, and all the industries and all the networks, including E!, to help us with closing this pay gender gap,” she said.
Sarah Jessica Parker brought up the subject without mentioning Sadler’s name during an interview with Seacrest saying: “I know it’s affected your network,” she said. “I know that there have been conversations that have been challenging for all of us, but I think it’s incredibly timely. It’s exciting. And parity and equality and safe work environments, they shouldn’t be controversial.”
Sadler announced her departure from E! in a December 19 blog post.
“An executive from E brought something alarming to my attention — namely, that there was a massive disparity in pay between my similarly situated male co-host and myself,” Sadler wrote. “More recently, when E reached out to renew and extend my deal, I learned that he wasn’t just making a little more than I was. In fact, he was making close to double my salary for the past several years.”
Though Sadler didn’t mention him by name in her blog post, Jason Kennedy served as her co-host for years.
An E! spokeswoman referred CNNMoney to an earlier statement on the matter, which said the network “compensates employees fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter contributed to this report.
