2 months ago
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Demi Moore is reflecting on her legacy. The 61-year-old actress became the highest paid female actor in the world when she earned $12.5 million for 1996’s Striptease. During a discussion on The New York Times’ The Interview podcast, she recalled the backlash. “Well, with Striptease, it was as if I had betrayed women, and with G.I. Jane, it was as if I had betrayed men,” she said. Keep reading to find out more… “But I think the interesting piece is that when I became the highest-paid actress — why is it that, at that moment, the choice was to bring me down? I don’t take this personally. I think anyone who had been in the position that was the first to get that kind of equality of pay would probably have taken a hit. But because I did a film that was dealing with the world of stripping and the body, I was extremely shamed.” She was married to Bruce Willis at the time, and was aware of his own salaries. “It wasn’t about comparing myself to him. Yes, I saw what he got paid,” she said. “It was really more about: ‘Why shouldn’t I? If I’m doing the same amount of work, why shouldn’t I?’ And it’s no different than when I did the cover for Vanity Fair pregnant. I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, why women when they were pregnant needed to be hidden? Why is it that we have to deny that we had sex? That’s the fear, right, that if you show your belly, that means, oh, my gosh, you’ve had sex.” Listen inside…
