Daily Mail: Comedian Sarah Silverman was forced to apologize after she was caught exaggerating a story about being paid less than a man for a gig – to highlight the gender pay gap.
The comic and feminist campaigner recalled an incident at the New York Comedy Club when she claimed she was paid less than her male counterpart, for a piece she recorded a wage-discrimination-activism video for Levo League.
But Silverman has been forced to apologize after New York Comedy Club owner Al Martin revealed the story was false, because Silverman had been paid less purely because she appeared as a guest on the show and wasn’t meant to receive anything – her male counterpart Todd Barry was booked for the slot.
Silverman has since publicly apologized to Martin and revealed she fabricated the story. But she stressed that critics should not use the story as a way to undermine the gender pay gap campaign.
‘To the maniacs who want to use this as a chit against women’s issues, I ask that you please don’t. Because that would be super s****y,’ she said in a statement, according to National Review.
In the video, released on April 6, Silverman accused Martin of paying her $50 less than Barry to perform. She claimed while both did 15 minute back-to-back sets she was paid $10, while Barry went home with $60. ‘So I went back inside and I asked the owner Al Martin and I said, “Al, why did you pay me $10 and you paid Todd Barry $60?”‘ she said. ‘And he, it was so perfect. He goes, “Oh, did you want a $60 spot?” It was symbolic, I didn’t need $60, but, you know it was pretty s****y.’ She added: ‘If you work a job and a man is working the same job, then you should be getting paid the same.’
However Martin revealed what really happened in a Facebook post – prompting Silverman’s apology.
She said: ‘When I was interviewed by Levo, they asked me “Do you remember a time you were paid less for the same job” and this story, being just that, popped into my head.’ The comic said she regretted mentioning Martin by name getting caught, who had always been ‘so lovely’ to her. She also admitted her anecdote lie had not been a good example of the gender pay gap.
In a Facebook post Martin said he fully accepted Silverman’s apology and invited her back to perform. He wrote: ‘It takes a big person to apologize and and today Sarah proved she is that kind of person.’
Silverman came under criticism last month after she posted a list of ten ‘rape prevention tips’ on Twitter. Critics blasted the comic for offering ‘tips’ to potential rapists while dozens of men responded by branding her sexist for suggesting that all men desire to rape women.
The sarcastic set of rules, which focus on the perpetrator of the crime rather than the victim, also include ‘if you are in an elevator and a woman gets in, don’t rape her’, as well as ‘when you encounter a woman who is asleep, the safest course of action is not to rape her’.
See also:
- Sarah Silverman Faked Abortion (to Trick Young Girls Into Having Them)
- The blasphemy of Sarah Silverman: Jesus is pro-abort
- Sarah Silverman is sick
- What offends Sarah Silverman
DCG
