After speaking out about a sexist casting call on Twitter, Rose McGowan says that she has been fired by her acting agent.
Last week, the actor and director posted a screencap of a casting call requesting women to audition for a role wearing a push-up bra. The description makes it pretty clear that the prospective actor will be judged by her appearance, and while McGowan didn’t say the name of the movie, her tweet made it obvious Adam Sandler was involved.
Since Sandler’s next movie is so offensive that some actors literally walked off the set, this isn’t difficult to believe. This is the guy who said he signed a deal with Netflix because it rhymes with Wet Chicks, after all.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/611378426344288256
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/613189549372645376
The casting call got some attention online, but only as another drop in the ocean of evidence that Hollywood is a sexist hellhole. McGowan’s tweets certainly don’t seem controversial enough to warrant professional criticism, but on Wednesday night she tweeted that she had since been fired by her agent.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/613888367013556224
The Daily Dot has contacted McGowan’s talent agency for comment, but they are yet to reply.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/613934047165857792
If McGowan was let go by her agent for criticizing a sexist casting call—and at the moment, there’s no reason to believe otherwise—then this illustrates just how difficult it is to fight discrimination in Hollywood. Actors and filmmakers can get away with all sorts of scandalous behavior, but a woman speaking freely about systemic sexism is a step too far.
If Sandler makes a sexist and racist movie, then he garners some social media backlash but continues to rake in lucrative deals with major Hollywood studios. Meanwhile if McGowan tweets a mild criticism of a sexist casting call, she gets dropped by her talent agent.
Update 2:24pm CT, June 25: Variety is reporting that McGowan’s agent Sheila Wenzel has left Innovative Artists following McGowan’s comments. Wenzel couldn’t comment on the matter. But McGowan says that Wenzel actually left Innovative Artists prior to the controversy.
https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/614147007872139265
The Daily Dot noted two agents listed on her IMDb Pro page, Wenzel and Steve Muller.
Photo via The Heart Truth/Wikimedia (Public Domain)
