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‘Neighbors 2’ Star Seth Rogen Says ‘You’re Welcome’ For The Sony Hack

By Monique Harris
Published on: 04:48 PST, May 20, 2016

Seth Rogen joked he is partially responsible for raising awareness about the pay gap between men and women in Hollywood during a recent interview for Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising with Entertainment Weekly.

In 2014, hackers hacked the Sony email system. This is rumored to be a result of outrage over Rogen’s comedy, The Interview, which depicted an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The movie launched a cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment. Company emails were leaked, included messages that revealed Jennifer Lawrence was compensated less than her male co-stars for American Hustle.

“Thanks to our Sony hacking, everybody knows about it,” Rogen joked during an interview with the cast of Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. “Technically, you guys are welcome. If we hadn’t done that, then Jennifer Lawrence wouldn’t know.”

Lawrence, along with Patricia Arquette and Jessica Chastain, spoke about the wage gap that has always existed in the United States. The conversations in Hollywood reached a fever pitch.

During the interview Rogen said the following in regard to the hack.

“Technically, I…you guys are welcome. If we hadn’t done that, then.”

Rogen and his Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising costars Rose Byrne and Zac Efron sat down with EW’s Sara Vilkomerson to talk about the film, and Vilkomerson asked whether Hollywood has made any progress toward closing the gender pay gap between men and women in Hollywood.

Rogen and Byrne, who is reprising her role as Kelly Radner in the R-rated comedy, said the short answer is “no.” However, Byrne believes Hollywood is heading in the right direction.

“I would say no, but at least there’s a conversation about it and it’s been brought to light, which I think is really important, because it’s only through that there can be change,” Byrne said.

Byrne also weighed in on being constantly asked about whether women can be funny.

“I’m so naïve to that,” she said. “When we did Bridesmaids and we were on the tour, that’s all anyone would talk about, like, ‘Oh my God, women are funny!’ It’s like we were dolphins or something.”

“Everyone knows dolphins are funny,” Rogen added, laughing. “It is ignoring that Shelley Long and Bette Midler made like 20 hilarious movies together, and there was Gilda Radner and tons of funny [women]. It was the same thing when we made Knocked Up. It was as though I was the first not completely conventional looking human to star in a movie. And I was just like, have you heard of John Candy and Bill Murray?”

In late 2015, Lawrence was the highest paid actress in the world. She made the headlines with an op-ed titled, “Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?” published in Lena Durham’s Lenny Letter newsletter.

Arquette had famously spoken out on the issue during her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress at the 2015 Oscars. She earned a standing ovation and an enthusiastic response from Meryl Streep. Arquette has continued to advocate for the issue publicly.

Earlier this week, Robin Wright threatened to go public unless she is paid the same as her co-star Kevin Spacey for her role on House of Cards.

“I was like, ‘I want to be paid the same as Kevin,'” The Huffington Post quoted Wright as saying. “It was the perfect paradigm. There are very few films or TV shows where the male, the patriarch, and the matriarch are equal. And they are in House of Cards.”

Michelle Rodriquez also commented on the wage gap in an impromptu interview with TMZ about the Seth Rogen-led discussion of the wage gap. In a video, Rodriquez mentioned she makes significantly less than her coworkers. but she doesn’t complain because being born a woman is just like being born a slave.

[Photo by Jordan Strauss/AP Image]

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