Michelle Williams stands up for pay equity in rousing Emmys speech

While accepting her Emmy for lead actress in a limited series or movie, Michelle Williams used the limelight to talk about pay equity.

Williams, who portrayed Gwen Verdon in FX’s “Fosse/Verdon,” thanked the network for valuing her equally as they would a male counterpart, saying, “My bosses never presumed to know better than I did about what I needed in order to do my job and honor Gwen Verdon,” she said at Sunday’s ceremony.

“I want to say thank you so much to FX and Fox 21 Studios for supporting me completely and for paying me equally because they understood that when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherit value and where do they put that value? They put it into their work.”

She went on, urging the entertainment industry to pay women of color equally.

“So the next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterpart, tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her,” Williams said.

“Believe her. Because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it. Thank you.”