Demi Moore reflects on controversial $12.5 million “Striptease” payday: ‘Why should I not get equal to what I deserve?’
Demi Moore reflects on controversial $12.5 million “Striptease” payday: ‘Why should I not get equal to what I deserve?’
Ryan ColemanSat, October 3, 2026 at 9:44 PM UTC
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Demi Moore in ‘Striptease’Credit: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett CollectionKey Points -
Demi Moore says she didn’t think of her fight to be paid $12.5 million for Striptease as “fighting for something.”
Moore became the highest-paid actress in ’90s Hollywood for the film, and asks now, “Why should I not get equal to what I deserve?”
Looking back on the controversy, the Oscar nominee reflected in 2024, “I was extremely shamed.”
Demi Moore is looking back on the controversy that flared up after she became the highest-paid woman in Hollywood for Striptease.
The scandalous 1996 film starred Moore as Erin Grant, a former FBI secretary who turns to exotic dancing to raise funds to win back custody of her young daughter. The content of the film, directed by Blazing Saddles co-writer Andrew Bergman, was contentious enough, but public sentiment truly whipped up around the details of Moore’s payout for her work.
The substantial $12.5 million sum Moore fought for and won made her the highest-paid actress in the world at the time — yet another target added to her back during the resulting furor over the film. During Step Up’s 2026 Inspiration Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, Moore looked back on her equal pay fight — which she didn’t even consider a fight at the time.
Demi Moore in ‘Sriptease’Credit: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
“I think when we look at something as a fight, I think againstness breeds againstness,” Moore shared (per PEOPLE).
“So I don’t think that I was looking at it as fighting for something,” Moore continued. “It was just simply asking the question of, ‘Why not? Why should I not get equal to what I deserve? If I earned it, I shouldn’t just be given it to be given it.’”
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Striptease was revelatory for Moore, in more ways than one. The film represented a massive commercial step up in her already remarkable career. And the actress took considerable creative risk in the endeavor, going topless for the film and appearing in several key scenes in scanty states of dress.
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The negative pushback to Striptease can be summed up by the film sweeping that year’s Golden Raspberry Awards. Moore and Bergman won for Worst Actress and Worst Director, respectively, and the film won Worst Picture. Burt Reynolds was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor, but was not saddled with the dishonor.
“With Striptease, it was as if I had betrayed women, and with GI Jane, it was as if I had betrayed men,” Moore reflected in 2024 on the New York Times Interview podcast. “But because I did a film that was dealing with the world of stripping and the body, I was extremely shamed.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
