Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech highlighting the persistent gender pay gap in Hollywood and elsewhere has brought the debate over equal compensation to the world of sports entertainment. A recent tweet from World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE 0.06% female talent AJ Lee sparked a Twitter discussion that reached as high as WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
How It All Started
The discussion began in the sports entertainment world when executive Stephanie McMahon tweeted the following in response to Arquette’s speech: “Thank You @PattyArquette for having the courage to fight for #WomensRights on such a grand platform. #UseYourVoice.”
Lee, a three-time WWE Divas champion, replied in a series of tweets with this message for McMahon: “Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times, and yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster.”
Positive Response
According to BuzzFeed, many wrestling fans rallied behind Lee’s comments using the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance.
Lee’s tweets also drew responses from within WWE, as both Vince McMahon and Stephanie McMahon acknowledged the discussion:
Medical Services Issues
Lee is not the only outspoken member of her household, as husband and former WWE talent Phil “CM Punk” Brooks received a lot of attention lately for his criticism of the medical care that WWE talents receive. Comments that Brooks recently made on a podcast have led to WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann filing a defamation lawsuit against Brooks.
WWE issued an official statement on the lawsuit, claiming, “WWE continues to have the utmost confidence in the ability and expertise of our world-class team of physicians.”
Shares of WWE traded recently at $16.74, up 0.7 percent.
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