Demi Moore Has Had Enough of Being ‘Extremely Shamed’ for Iconic Role That Made Her $12.5 Million

Demi Moore recently reminisced on the backlash she received for her 1996 film Striptease and the controversy surrounding her rumored $12.5 million compensation for the Andrew Bergman–helmed picture. Moore slammed critics who shamed her for displaying her body on television for a big payment claiming that this should have been seen as a win for women in Hollywood.

Moore said this when appearing on The New York Times‘ The Interview podcast, "Well, with Striptease, it was as if I had betrayed women, and with G.I. Jane, it was as if I had betrayed men. But I think the interesting piece is that when I became the highest-paid actress — why is it that, at that moment, the choice was to bring me down? I don’t take this personally. I think anyone who had been in the position that was the first to get that kind of equality of pay would probably have taken a hit. But because I did a film that was dealing with the world of stripping and the body, I was extremely shamed."

In Striptease, she played the role of Erin Grant, a former FBI office assistant who, in her quest for custody of her daughter, gets a job dancing in a Miami strip club. Ving Rhames and Burt Reynolds also featured in the black comedy. While Moore maintained that she never compared her salary to her then-husband Bruce Willis', she did acknowledge that she believed it was fair given the amount he was earning from his own films at the time, which included Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Last Man Standing.

Moore further elaborated, "It wasn’t about comparing myself to him. Yes, I saw what he got paid. ‘It was really more about: 'Why shouldn’t I? If I’m doing the same amount of work, why shouldn’t I?'" In another part of the discussion, the Golden Globe contender addressed the criticism she faced after a cover she did for Vanity Fair in 1991. Many people were disturbed by the cover of the prominent fashion magazine, which featured a pregnant woman who was seven months along in her pregnancy. As a consequence, some grocery store chains throughout the United States refused to stock the issue.

Additionally, Moore recently spoke with Variety, where she said, "It wasn't just about me; it was about changing the playing field for all women." She went on to say that her spectacular Striptease compensation was particularly meaningful to her because of this larger impact.  Despite her sense of empowerment, she added, "The narrative quickly became, 'Well, she’s only getting paid that number because she’s playing a stripper.' It hit me really hard. But at the same time, I understood that anybody who steps out first is going to take the hit. That goes for anybody challenging the status quo."