Tammy actress Melissa McCarthy is the latest female Hollywood celebrity to speak out against the industry’s perceived culture of sexism and misogyny.
McCarthy told Entertainment Weekly this week that Hollywood sexism is “an intense sickness” and she is done playing the game.
In a new interview posted by the publication, the 44-year-old actress shared an encounter she had at the Toronto Film Festival last September, where she crossed paths with a film critic who had written a harsh, and “sexist,” review about a movie she starred in, which was directed by her husband.
“Are you the one who wrote I was only a good actor when I looked more attractive and that my husband should never be allowed to direct me because he allowed me to look so homely,” McCarthy said she asked the critic.
After the reviewer admitted to McCarthy he had made those statements, the actress pressed him further.
“Would you say that to any guy? When John C. Reilly– or any actor — is playing a character that is depressed and dejected, would you say, ‘Well, you look terrible!’?” she asked.
McCarthy, who has two daughters of her own, then asked the critic if he had a daughter, which he did, and she advised him: “Watch what you say to her. Do you tell her she’s only worthwhile or valid when she’s pretty?”
She continued:
I’m trying to take away the double standard of “You’re an unattractive bitch because your character was not skipping along in high heels.”
McCarthy joins a growing list of female A-lister’s to speak out against gender discrimination in the entertainment industry.
These include:
A week ago, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the national ACLU Women’s Rights Project ago announced they will ask federal and California civil rights agencies to investigate a “systemic failure” to hire female directors in film and television.
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