LeBron James “had to intervene” when Octavia Spencer demanded equal pay for her work on a new Netflix series.
The Oscar-winning actress says women need men to join the fight.
At last year's festival, Octavia Spencer shared how Jessica Chastain lobbied for the duo to get equal pay on a film. At this year's #Sundance2019, Spencer announced another new pay advocate: LeBron James. https://t.co/0CxI1snvqH
— Kate Erbland (@katerbland) January 27, 2019
Spencer and James (who moonlights as a Hollywood mogul) collaborated on a biopic of the pioneering businesswoman Madam C. J. Walker.
Per IndieWire:
“I think my goal is to make sure that all women of color get equal pay, and all women get equal pay,” Spencer said. “The only way to do it is to have these conversations, to talk numbers with your co-stars. Jessica and I stood together, and that was interesting that she would take that position — well, I mean, she is Jessica Chastain — but we also need advocates and allies in negotiating.”
One advocate: LeBron James, who is executive producing the Netflix series “Madam C.J. Walker,” which will see Spencer starring as the eponymous haircare mogul (and America’s first black self-made millionaire).
“I have to say, when I was negotiating my deal for ‘Madam C.J.,’ LeBron James had to intervene,” Spencer said. “So we need all our male counterparts to be in the fight with us.”
