The pay gap that women experience in the workplace is horrific, but the pay gap that women of colour experience is that much worse. Which is why it is particularly satisfying to hear that a black woman and actual genius, Shonda Rhimes, is the highest paid person doing her job in the whole industry,
It makes total sense. Rhimes has given us so much during her career as a showrunner. She’s the creator of Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder. That is a lot of good quality, bingeable content that she has blessed us with for years.
We’re literally on season 15 of Grey’s Anatomy, and the strong female characters and heartbreaking traumas just don’t let up.
Last year Shonda Rhimes signed a deal with Netflix for a dollar amount that was rumoured but never disclosed. But on Monday night at Elle magazine’s 25th annual Women in Hollywood celebration, Rhimes got very real about pay.
“I am the highest-paid showrunner in television,” announced the 48-year-old network hitmaker.
Shonda Rhimes’ whole speech was amazing, especially the empowering reason she gave for boldly declaring her salary status.
“The other day I came to this conclusion that men brag and women hide. Even when they don’t deserve to brag, men brag.” She said.
“A little while ago in an inspiring article, Ellen told the world she was the highest-paid women in dramatic television. She did not hide. She bragged. She said she was powerful and she said deserved it, and there was some blowback,” Rhimes continued. “There should not have been. I have seen a thousand articles like that from men, but she’s a woman and she shouldn’t say things like that.”
“My point is that we need to set an example, because I am awesome and we are awesome, which is another way of saying we have power. We are powerful women and when we say we have power, what we are really saying is that we deserve to have power. We deserve whatever good thing it is that we are getting. Demanding what you deserve can feel like a radical act,” said Rhimes.
Basically Shonda Rhimes is the official Queen of Making Us Cry for both her onscreen drama and her offscreen empowerment. Her work is the best, so she deserves to paid accordingly, and she deserves to proudly tell the world about it.
Not that we didn’t already know it, but life goals are essentially to be more like Shonda Rhimes.