Almost a month has passed since Catt Sadler officially departed E! News due to a pay disparity between her and co-worker Jason Kennedy's salaries, and now the network is finally commenting on why Sadler was paid less. President of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, Frances Berwick, spoke to CinemaBlend and others in attendance at the TCA winter press tour and said Sadler and Kennedy's pay came down to different positions they held within the company:
Catt Sadler and Jason Kennedy had different roles and different salaries. Catt was in daytime and Jason handled prime evening news and red carpet... I hope that sets the record straight on that. I don't think it's been portrayed accurately. They had different jobs, so yes, there's a different pay scale for different jobs.
Frances Berwick added that E! Network hadn't originally planned to offer comment following Sadler's original remarks, but when Debra Messing confronted E! about the issue during the network's broadcast coverage of the Golden Globes, the record needed to be set straight. Berwick added the past 48 hours following Messing's call out brought to the network's attention that perhaps E! should've been more forthcoming with details back when this story first surfaced. Furthermore, the network admitted that at face value, the situation didn't appear right. E! Entertainment president Adam Stotsky added that Sadler's situation appeared to tie-in with the frequently mentioned Time's Up movement, but that wasn't the case. Stotsky offered his support for the initiative but also stated the movement, and Sadler's situation are two different issues.
Adam Stotsky also mentioned that E! Network has a history of paying women quite well, and listed Giuliana Rancic, Maria Menounos, and the Kardashians as good examples of that. Stotsky maintained that all employees at E! are compensated fairly based on the value of their work, and that the pay disparity between Catt Sadler and Jason Kennedy had absolutely nothing to do with gender. Saddler, who had commented on similar claims made by Kennedy's wife prior to these comments to THR, said her frustration came from the fact the two were hired at the same time and did similar jobs. Kennedy's wife, Lauren Scruggs Kennedy, wrote in a blog post that her husband had dealt with past pay disparity having been paid less than two female co-workers in the past, meaning she felt Sadler's situation was not gender related.
E! News airs daily at 12:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. ET, and at rotating times in the late evenings. 2018 is finally here and there are plenty of great shows premiering or returning that people need to watch. For an easy way to keep a grasp on what all is premiering and where to find it, head on over to our midseason premiere guide. For more on E! related news, check out the latest on Kim Kardashian and how her new baby could arrive any day now.
