Those waiting for the much-anticipated sequels to Crazy Rich Asians will have to wait a bit longer because the project has been hit with a typical Hollywood setback: the first film’s co-writer, Adele Lim, has left the sequels because of the gender pay gap.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lim has left the Crazy Rich Asians sequels because co-writer Peter Chiarelli is getting paid about 10 times more.
An Asian female writer bailing on a movie about ridiculously rich Asians because her white male colleague is getting paid way more than she is. Think about that.
While specific numbers weren’t given, Hollywood Reporter sources say that Chiarelli was getting between $800k to $1 million while Lim was getting a measly $110k-plus. The studio says these figures are “industry-standard established ranges based on experience” and “making an exception would set a troubling precedent in the business.” Make of that what you will.
Believing that women and people of colour are generally nothing more than “soy sauce” in Hollywood – they’re hired to put in culturally specific details on a script so it feels “authentic” – Lim says “Being evaluated that way can’t help but make you feel that is how they view my contributions.”
Now this is nothing on Chiarelli, who offered to split his fee with Lim. However, she said no on principle, saying that what she and other women and people of colour make “shouldn’t be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer.”
“If I couldn’t get pay equity after CRA, I can’t imagine what it would be like for anyone else, given that the standard for how much you’re worth is having established quotes from previous movies, which women of color would never have been [hired for].”
Crazy Rich Asians made over $200 million so money clearly shouldn’t be an issue here, nor should the thing about experience since Lim is a veteran who’s been in the business for nearly two decades so this whole saga is ridiculous and another instance of the gender pay gap that sadly still exists in Hollywood.
Credit to Adele Lim for standing her ground on this issue because it’s something that continues to linger around in Hollywood. Her departure will undoubtedly affect the Crazy Rich Asians sequels, which is won’t begin filming until late 2020 at the earliest, work on those films will chug along because it’s Hollywood and the show must go on.