Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Business
BusinessEntertainmentFilmHer SideTelevisionTV

‘Forbes’ Highest-Paid Actresses List Lacks Diversity

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: | Updated on August 18, 2017 CommentsComments (0)

Emma Stone (from left), Jennifer Anniston and Jennifer Lawrence appeared on the highest-paid actresses list last year, too. (Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons)

There have been a few changes to the annual list of highest-paid actresses this year.

For one, Emma Stone took Jennifer Lawrence’s top spot and the top 10 has shuffled since then, too. What hasn’t changed is Forbes’ list of women, which still includes Mila Kunis, Julia Roberts and Charlize Theron.

And once again, Black women are left out in the cold.

For the second year in a row, the likes of Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis are nowhere to be found in the rankings, continuing a trend that has occurred for at least a decade. That’s despite their award-winning turns in two of the biggest movies of the last year — Hidden Figures” and “Fences.”

Instead, Forbes’ tally from June 2016 to June 2017 gives Stone the crown with a $26 million income. She can credit landing the top spot to her role in “La La Land,” which was briefly — and mistakenly — announced as the winner of the Best Picture Oscar in February. (“Moonlight” was the actual winner.) Melissa McCarthy and Jennifer Anniston swapped places, putting the “Mother’s Day” actress at No. 2 with $22.5 million and McCarthy earning $18 million at No. 4. Jennifer Lawrence’s $24 million earnings placed her at No. 3 and Mila Kunis rounds out the top five with $15.5 million.

Check out the complete list below.

  1. Emma Stone – $26 million
  2. Jennifer Aniston – $25.5 million
  3. Jennifer Lawrence – $24 million
  4. Melissa McCarthy – $18 million
  5. Mila Kunis – $15.5 million
  6. Emma Watson – $14 million
  7. Charlize Theron – $14 million
  8. Cate Blanchett – $12 million
  9. Julia Roberts – $12 million
  10. Amy Adams – $11.5 million

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top