Stacey Dash and Meredith Vieira had a difference of opinion on gender pay equality on Wednesday’s The Meredith Vieira Show, and the interview got a little heated.
Meredith Vieira, 61, gently pressured Stacey Dash to answer to the her opposition to female celebrities who fight for equal pay for men and women.
“I feel like it’s an excuse. It’s the same thing with race. It’s an excuse. Stop making excuses,” Stacey Dash said of the issue. “If there are opportunities, seize them and be prepared for them, and be the best, if that’s what it takes. If you have to be extraordinary, then be extraordinary.”
Meredith Vieira countered that sometimes that isn’t enough.
“I feel like we’re fighting an uphill battle. When you look at just the numbers, we make 78 cents for every dollar that a man makes,” she said. “At the rate we’re going, my daughter, who’s 22, will be 65 when there’s finally pay equality. There’s something wrong, something clearly wrong.”
Stacey Dash argued back, “I don’t know if that’s true.”
“That’s true, that’s documented,” Vieira quickly replied.
Meredith Vieira & @REALStaceyDash argue over equal pay in an awkward @MeredithShow interview. http://t.co/jqSaut854U pic.twitter.com/cgUE0dXQkA
— EntertainmentTonight (@etnow) April 29, 2015
Once Stacey Dash acknowledged that Vieira may be correct about the statistics, she said, “I feel like your daughter will be able to make as much money as she wants in her life. Just like you are — I mean, look at you.”
Vieira said it took her many years to get to her position and for many years, she was not getting the same pay as her male counterparts. Stacey Dash asked her if she believed it was because she is a woman.
“I think that had a lot to do with it,” said Meredith Vieira.
Meredith Vieira slams Stacey Dash in very uncomfortable interview: http://t.co/SM9knxbni4 pic.twitter.com/kh3TufqwQ7
— AOL.com (@AOL) April 29, 2015
“I guess I won’t put my fate into anything other than my own action, and taking my destiny in my hands,” Stacey Dash declared. “I will not be a victim.”
“I’m not saying I’m a victim,” Vieira interrupted. “I’m pissed off.”
“And that’s the thing: If you want to be pissed off about it, then be pissed off about it and work harder for it,” Stacey Dash responded. “Because there is a law passed that we get equal pay.”
“Except we don’t,” Meredith Vieira exclaimed. “We don’t. We don’t.”
Meredith Vieira took on Fox News' Stacey Dash over wage inequality in America: http://t.co/bM0UDj8dat pic.twitter.com/GYScSLF2g9
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) April 29, 2015
You be the judge. Who won the debate?
