Here's Why The Highest Paid Actors & Actresses List Of 2018 Has Us Shaking Our Heads
It's the time of year again, kiddos.
Forbes has released its list of the highest paid actors and actresses in the world, and we're shocked...but for all the wrong reasons.
Take a look for yourself:
World's Highest Paid Actors
1. George Clooney - $239 million
2. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - $124 million
3. Robert Downey Jr. - $81 million
4. Chris Hemsworth - $64.5 million
5. Jackie Chan - $45.5 million
6. Will Smith - $42 million
7. Akshay Kumar - $40.5 million
8. Adam Sandler - $39.5 million
9. Salman Khan - $38.5 million
10. Chris Evans - $34 million
World's Highest Paid Actresses
1. Scarlett Johansson - $40.5 million
2. Angelina Jolie - $28 million
3. Jennifer Aniston - $19.5 million
4. Jennifer Lawrence - $18 million
5. Reese Witherspoon - $16.5 million
6. Mila Kunis - $16 million
7. Julia Roberts - $13 million
8. Cate Blanchett - $12.5 million
9. Melissa McCarthy - $12 million
10. Gal Gadot - $10 million
A huge congrats to ScarJo who has skyrocketed to the top of the list for her role as Black Widow in Marvel's Avengers franchise and George Clooney, who sold his Tequila brand Casamigos for an eye-watering $1 billion...but can we take a minute to talk about the disparity between these lists?
Johansson might be the world's highest paid actress, but she's not even making half as much as Clooney or runner-up, The Rock. In fact, the combined salaries of the top ten highest paid actresses still doesn't compare to Clooney's pay check.
According to Forbes, "part of the discrepancy is down to a shortage of opportunities in long-running franchises or action movies that pay the big bucks both up front and on back end."
The publication added that the lists shows "that even among millionaires, a gender pay gap persists," and shared the alarming statistic that in 2017 U.S. women earned 80.5 cents for every dollar men earned in 2016. This only worsens for African-American, Native American and Latina women.
It's a similar story here in Australia. According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Australian women earn on average $244.80 per week less than men.
Topping these lists is a huge accomplishment for the silver screen stars we love so much, but it's also just another reminder that there is a long way to go when it comes to gender equality.
