Debra Messing dealt E! a stinging rebuke during the network’s red carpet coverage before Sunday’s Golden Globes.
Asked by Giuliana Rancic why she was wearing black — the color celebrities standing in solidarity with the Time’s Up movement are donning — the “Will & Grace” star slammed the network for its failure to pay women and men equally.
“Time is up and we want diversity, we want intersectional gender parity, we want equal pay,” she said. “I was so shocked to hear that E! doesn’t believe in paying their female co-hosts the same as their male co-hosts.”
Last month, longtime “E! News” co-host Catt Sadler announced she was leaving the network after finding out that her co-host, Jason Kennedy, had been making “close to double [her] salary for the past several years.”
“I miss Catt Sadler, so we stand with her,” Messing continued. “That’s something that can change tomorrow. We want people to start having this conversation that women are just as valuable as men.”
Rancic made clear she agreed with the actress, saying, “Absolutely. That’s really what this movement is all about. We have an amazing platform here. There are a lot of big great voices here tonight who can speak on behalf of [people] who don’t have these voices.”