Last year, Kate Winslet was criticised for apparently labelling the gender pay gap conversation 'vulgar'. But in a recent interview with E!Online, she addressed the comments, claiming they were misinterpreted.
'When you're talking about specifics of pay, that is a line of questioning I really had a hard time with,' she told a reporter at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on 2nd January. 'So my remarks were in response to that but only that. Of course we should be paid the same as the boys. We want to stand alongside them.'
She went on to praise fellow actress Jennifer Lawrence for her stance on the matter (J-Law wrote an essay on Lena Dunham's newsletter last October, criticising Hollywood for paying men more than women after the Sony email hack scandal revealed a pay divide).
'It was a very difficult situation for her,' Winslet said of Lawrence. 'Hopefully these discussions will continue to support the efforts that are being made all over the world for the right to equal pay in this field and all other industries.'
Well said, Winslet, well said!
UPDATED from November 2015...
From Jennifer Lawrence to Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep to Keira Knightley, Hollywood's leading ladies have all, at points, been up in arms about the highly-publicised gender pay gap prevalent in Tinseltown.
The US Labor Department released data recently indicating that women in the arts, entertainment, sports and music industries earn, on average, just 85% of their male counterparts. That's a whopping 15% less – enough to drive any self-respecting Oscar-winning actress hopping mad – you'd think.
That is, unless you're Kate Winslet...
At a screening for her latest film, Steve Jobs, in London yesterday, Winslet told the BBC's newsbeat she found the gender pay gap conversation 'a little bit vulgar'.
Naturally, the comment spread like wildfire, angering a number of people who feel it's the very lack of these public conversations that keeps the pay gap in place.
But with a bit of investigation, we have uncovered that all is not as it seems. Yes, Winslet did make the comment, but she also said: 'Maybe it's a British thing, but I don't like talking about money... I don't think that's a very nice conversation to have publicly at all!'
Anyone who has felt uncomfortable discussing salaries by the workplace water cooler might know what she means.
She went on to say: 'I'm quite surprised by these conversations, to be honest. Simply because, it seems quite a strange thing to be discussing out in the open like that.'
'It's not for me to comment on other people's comments...' continued the Brit star. 'I think it would be very dangerous for me to do that. I am a very lucky woman, and I am quite happy with how things are ticking along.'
The actress herself is worth a reported £60million.
When asked if she could cite any personal experiences of inequality in her line of work, she responded: 'Honestly, no! I think if I'd ever been in that situation I would have either dealt with it, or removed myself from it... but I really don't think I've ever [...] come across that. No!
'I find all this quite uncomfortable, I have to be honest. It's a bit awkward, really. We're very lucky. And I feel so blessed, and I'm perfectly capable of standing up for myself... but I haven't ever felt as though I've really had to stick up for myself just because I'm a woman.'
An actor who refuses to stand up for her sex, or someone who feels they personally have nothing to complain about?
You decide.
READ MORE: Grazia went to Parliament – and won a vote for equal pay