Jason Kennedy’s wife has come to his defense after Catt Sadler’s exit from E! News over a pay disparity.
On Tuesday (19Dec17), Sadler announced she was leaving the E! Network after a 12-year stint as an anchor and presenter because one of her male co-hosts, thought to be Kennedy, was earning “double” her salary.
In light of Sadler’s allegations of pay inequality at the entertainment broadcaster, Kennedy’s wife Lauren Scruggs has posted a long message on her Instagram page on Thursday night (21Dec17) stating that her partner had been the target of a number of negative comments over the last couple of days and that there are “two sides to every story”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc_AkwugroZ/?hl=en&taken-by=laurenscruggs
“I believe in female empowerment and gender equality, but it’s heartbreaking that a network is being deemed sexist when that is simply not true. At one time my husband had a female co-anchor on E! News who made 3 times his salary,” she wrote, alluding to former anchor Giuliana Rancic. “Women are paid accordingly on this network, and the difference in his salary versus hers did not affect Jason. He knows there are always more components to consider when determining one’s salary than gender alone.”
Scruggs then noted that she believed Kennedy would take action if he was aware of gender inequality in the workplace, and that other women currently or formerly employed at E! News had assured him that the office was an equal opportunities environment.
The blogger is frustrated by the attention Kennedy has received and is “so sad to see him unfairly publicly shamed”.
In Sadler’s original statement, she said that while she thoroughly enjoyed her job, she knew she had to exit after a colleague brought to her attention “a massive disparity in pay between my similarly situated male co-host and myself”.
This left her feeling like she could no longer operate with integrity if she renewed her contract and is hopeful that her actions would make her “an agent for change”.
