Mila Kunis Slaps At Sexism In An Open Letter About Working In Hollywood
Mila Kunis is the latest Hollywood actress to come forward and blow the lid (or at least crack it a little to let the steam out) off of the truth about being an actress in Hollywood. Mila wrote an essay about sexism called “You’ll Never Work In This Town Again…” for Medium. Mila writes that she was threatened to be sent to the end of the unemployment line when she refused to bring the sexy.
Mila keeps the details of her experience vague; she only says it happened while promoting a movie and the source of sexism was a producer. Mila claims a producer threatened her with the old-timey Hollywood threat of “You’ll never work in this town again” after she refused to pose “semi-naked” on the cover of a men’s magazine to promote their film. Mila says it was the first time in her career that she said no, and was surprised that after she did, the gates of Hollywood didn’t close on her.
Just like Jennifer Lawrence, Mila wants to see the wage gap closed. One solution Mila had was to start her own production company, Orchard Farms Productions. But that didn’t stop the sexism. Mila claims that while pitching a project, a male executive described her as “one of the biggest actors in Hollywood and soon to be Ashton Kutcher’s wife and baby momma.” Mila says being reduced to someone who let Ashton Kutcher put a baby in her prompted her company to withdraw their involvement in the project.
Mila’s last nerve might have been tested way back when she was asked to work her half-naked business on a magazine cover, but now she’s officially over it.
“I’m done compromising; even more so, I’m done with being compromised. So from this point forward, when I am confronted with one of these comments, subtle or overt, I will address them head on; I will stop in the moment and do my best to educate. I cannot guarantee that my objections will be taken to heart, but at least now I am part of creating an environment where there is the opportunity for growth. And if my comments fall on deaf ears, I will choose to walk away.”
Mila adds that she knows she’s fortune enough to be a successful actress who doesn’t have to worry about putting food on the table for her kids, and that she’s speaking up because she has the platform to do so. You can read the whole thing here.
I know Mila is busy, what with being a working person and having two kids to look after (Wyatt and Ashton) and with one more on the way. But if she wants to take this whole “done compromising” thing one step further, I think it would be really great for her to volunteer her services. If anyone is going to get you a raise at work or stop that gross dude in marketing from referring to you as “hey gorgeous,” it’s this woman.
Pic: Splash