Pay Gap: Natalie Portman Was Paid Three Times Less than Ashton Kutcher for Forgettable Movie

Andrew Lipovsky/NBC(LONDON) — In 2011, Natalie Portman won an Oscar for Black Swan. It was also the year she earned three times less than Ashton Kutcher, her co-star in a flop of a romantic comedy called No Strings Attached.

The actress, who many feel will again be on the Oscar short list for the lead role in Jackie, tells Marie Claire UK that the pay gap stung. “I wasn’t as pi**** as I should have been. I mean, we get paid a lot, so it’s hard to complain, but the disparity is crazy.”

The 35-year-old notes, “Compared to men, in most professions, women make 80 cents to the dollar,” but added, “In Hollywood, we are making 30 cents to the dollar.”

“We just have a clear issue with women not having opportunities,” Portman said. “We need to be part of the solution, not perpetuating the problem.”

In 2015, Jennifer Lawrence also opened up about the gender pay gap in Hollywood, when she penned an op-ed piece for Lena Dunham’s newsletter Lenny about how she was paid significantly less than her male co-stars in 2013’s American Hustle.

Since then, other stars, including Patricia Arquette, Sienna Miller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bradley Cooper, have spoken out about the wage gap.

Incidentally, Lawrence was the highest paid actress in Hollywood for the past two years, with a 2016 haul of $46 million, according to Forbes. 

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