Catt Sadler was a key contributor to E! News for many years, and she went on to contribute to a number of other E! projects. Fans of the network could count on her delivering entertainment news for more than a decade. On December 19, however, Sadler made the unexpected announcement that she was leaving the network altogether, and we now know the reason why she made the decision to cut ties. Apparently, it all goes down to a shocking pay disparity.
Earlier this year, an executive at E! informed Catt Sadler that there was a massive disparity between her salary and the salary of her co-anchor Jason Kennedy. As the two had very similar roles at E! and E! News, Sadler was understandably unhappy at the discovery that he was making a great deal more than her. In fact, Sadler revealed in a post on her website that Kennedy was making nearly double what she had been paid for the last several years.
When the time came for E! and Catt Sadler to renew or terminate their professional relationship, Sadler and her team requested a bump in pay. Although Sadler has not publicly specified just how much of a raise she was asking for, we can probably bet that she was looking for at least parity with her co-host. According to Sadler, the requests for such a raise "were denied repeatedly," and so Sadler decided that she could not accept an offer from the network. She cited the actions of the many women who have come out in recent months to address some of the gender imbalance in showbiz as a large reason why she could not stay on at a company where she believed her contributions were not being valued despite dedication that matched the dedication of her male counterpart.
All of this said, Catt Sadler has had nothing bad to say about Jason Kennedy, referring to him as her "TV husband" and a "close friend and colleague that I adore." Her objection was clearly to her treatment by the network, not with her co-host. She never argued that he deserves less; just that she deserves more. Her departure is undoubtedly a bummer for fans of her work on E! News and Daily Pop, but hopefully she'll be back on the small screen at some point.
For its part, E! denies that Catt Sadler was discriminated against for her gender. USA Today reports that a statement from the network asserts that employees are compensated for their work "fairly and appropriately based on their roles, regardless of gender." The statement goes on to wish Catt Sadler the best following her choice to move on from E!
E! will undoubtedly look different moving forward with Catt Sadler. We'll have to wait and see what's in store for her next in her career. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our midseason TV premiere schedule for what will hit the airwaves in the new year. Take a look at the breakdown of the 10 most-watched scripted shows for 2017 fall TV to discover the biggest hits of the past several months, and swing by our 2017 TV cancellation guide for the shows that weren't quite so lucky.
