Women "receive a fraction of the wages... of the majority of the male roster," A.J. Lee said
Inspired by Patricia Arquette’s Oscars speech about the gender pay gap in Hollywood, prominent female wrestler A.J. Lee has spoken out against alleged inequality in the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).
After WWE executive Stephanie McMahon tweeted a message of support for Best Supporting Actress winner Arquette, Lee, who is a three-time WWE Divas champion, wrote back in a series of tweets, “Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times, and yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster.”
As BuzzFeed notes, fans criticized the WWE on Twitter earlier this week for the disparity in screen time between male and female wrestlers using the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance. Both McMahon and WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon (her father) acknowledged Lee’s tweets within a few hours.