Former WWE make-up artist Stella Kae is calling on the company to change the way they pay their wrestlers. Kae is no longer with the company but she remains friends with several wrestlers. Specifically, she is asking for equal pay for women in WWE.
Her first tweet on the subject read, “As people become more socially aware in this country, I wonder if WWE will ever address equal pay for women.”
Later she added, “I’ve heard rumors that there are women on tv still on NXT starting packages of like 45k.”
One of her tweets references a report that claims that the top male performer earned $12 million in 2017. The number sounds very high but she might be referencing what was reported in a Forbes article. The Forbes article claims that Brock Lesnar was paid $12 million in 2016. In some places, it was reported that the top earner in 2016 was Nikki Bella at $400,000. Again, I don’t know if those numbers are accurate but that doesn’t necessarily invalidate what she is saying on Twitter.
Check out her tweets on the subject below:
As people become more socially aware in this country, I wonder if WWE will ever address equal pay for women. 🤔
— Stella Kae (@stellakae) January 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/stellakae/status/950807273026146304
https://twitter.com/stellakae/status/950807745522839552
Estimated 2017 WWE earnings (reportedly)
Top male: $12m
Top female: $400kInteresting.
— Stella Kae (@stellakae) January 9, 2018
Here is a post from 2016 where she mentions her time with WWE:
I don't work for WWE anymore. The girls are my best friends & I work with them outside of there & sometimes film Divas/Bellas
— Stella Kae (@stellakae) August 11, 2016
This is not the first time equal pay has been brought up. AJ Lee brought up the issue publicly back in 2015:
@StephMcMahon Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times,
— AJ Mendez (@TheAJMendez) February 25, 2015
@StephMcMahon And yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster. #UseYourVoice
— AJ Mendez (@TheAJMendez) February 25, 2015
Here’s a 2015 video of Kae from backstage at a Smackdown show:
https://www.facebook.com/celebritymakeupartist/videos/10153178914955893/
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