TheU.S. women’s national soccer team’s victoryon Sunday at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final was met with celebration from celebrities both American and abroad – plus repeated calls for equal pay.
Many celebrities heaped praise on the team and congratulated the athletes on a victory well earned.
“The US women’s soccer team are the world champions! I’m so happy. These women are the best of what our country represents,”Ellen DeGenereswrote. “You’re welcome on my show any time. My World Cup runneth over.”
Joosep Martinson - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Also, Irish singer Niall Horan had a congratulatory message, as did Australian/New Zealand singer Keith Urban.
“Huge month or so for women’s football. New heroes made for little girls all over the world. Congrats @USWNT,” Horan wrote.
Despite the festive mood, the fact that more than two dozen members of the team, including Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, filed suit against the USSF in March for gender discrimination, claiming they were paid less than men, was not lost.
Tennis great Billie Jean King commended the athletes’ skills on Twitter, and also wrote that “it is long past time to pay them what they rightly deserve.”
Saturday Night Livecomedian Leslie Jones also referenced the pay controversy, using the hashtag, “Pay Us Damn It” on a celebratory video, while Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did the same with the hashtag “Equal pay.”
Actress Regina King felt similarly, writing on Twitter, “Congrats to the elite @USWNT on winning your FOURTH World Cup!!! Consistently bringing home the win but not the check. Bittersweet. #USWNT #equalpay.”
See below for more celebrity reactions.
Rapinoe, who earned the Golden Boot Award on Sunday, recentlycriticizedFIFA President Gianni Infantino after his announcement that the Women’s World Cup prize money will be doubled in 2023 from this year’s amount of $30 million to $60 million.
“It certainly is not fair,” she said, noting that the prize money for the 2022 Men’s World Cup will be $440 million. “We should double it now and use that number to double it or quadruple it for the next time. That’s what I mean when we talk about, ‘Do we feel respected?’ “
source: people.com
