One of the most memorable — and viral — moments of this year’s Golden Globes occurred when Debra Messing was being interviewed by Giuliana Rancic on E!’s red carpet, and she brought up the pay gap controversy that was unfolding with veteran E! host Catt Sadler. The month before, Sadler very publicly quit E! News because of what she said was a “massive†gender pay gap between her and a similarly qualified male colleague, vowing to never return to the network as a result. “I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts,†Messing said to Rancic. “I mean, I miss Catt Sadler, and so we stand with her.â€
Interestingly, in a new roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Messing explained how she initially wasn’t planning on taking such a critical stance against E! until she was encouraged to do so by another actress. “I never would’ve ever even thought about doing that before,†Messing said. “It was actually Amy Schumer. She was like, ‘Debra, if you can get there first, that would be awesome.’ It was her idea. And [I only did it] because I knew that there were tons of women who were like, ‘I’m with you, there is not gonna be fallout because we are all here standing right beside you.’ â€
And indeed, that’s exactly what happened. Messing’s comments prompted Sarah Jessica Parker, Laura Dern, and Eva Longoria to speak out about E!’s treatment of Sadler, when they were all interviewed on the network. “We support gender equity and equal pay and we hope E! follows that lead with Catt as well. We stand with you Catt,†Longoria said, with Parker adding how she knows pay inequality has “affected your network.â€