Is J. Law Standing Up For Equal Pay?

It's easy to roll our eyes at celebrities who demand raises for their already enormous salaries, but there's a good reason to celebrate this A-lister's alleged request for a pay bump. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Lawrence has demanded a significant pay raise to star in Passengers, and it looks like she'll get her wish. Though her salary for the film Joy is currently at $15 million, Lawrence allegedly demanded her pay be raised to $20 million when she stars opposite Chris Pratt in Sony's upcoming space romance. It may sound like a star whining over an extra $5 million dollars, but, in reality, Lawrence could be fighting a battle for equal pay for women in film.

As revealed by the Sony hack this past year, Lawrence and her American Hustle co-star Amy Adams received considerably less profits than their male co-stars on the project did, despite both Lawrence and Adams' obvious star power. It's hard to deny that the pay difference is Hollywood sexism at work — even Jeremy Renner, who played a smaller role in the film than Lawrence or Adams, received more of the profits than the women.

Sources told THR that Lawrence might choose to walk away from a project that doesn't give her the cut she deserves is important — if she does, it proves she knows her worth and will hopefully set a precedent for other actresses to do the same.

Of course, we can't deny the fact that Lawrence can do this — she's one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, and filmmakers will bend over backwards knowing that she'll pull in major money at the box office. It's easy to be cynical about Lawrence's alleged move, but, ultimately, the demand for equal pay extends to even big stars like Lawrence — women don't need to stand for a sexist standard in Hollywood, even if salaries are in the millions.

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