Here’s The Disgusting Reason Mila Kunis Was Told She’d ‘Never Work Again’

Mila Kunis has a no-tolerance policy to sexism, but says it’s taken many years of self-discovery to get to this point.

The actress published a personal essay today via her husband Ashton Kutcher’s news site A Plus, in which she hit out at the US entertainment industry for its constant objectification of women. “Throughout my career, there have been moments when I have been insulted, sidelined, paid less, creatively ignored, and otherwise diminished based on my gender. And always, I tried to give people the benefit of the doubt; maybe they knew more, maybe they had more experience, maybe there was something I was missing,” she explains.

“I taught myself that to succeed as a woman in this industry I had to play by the rules of the boys’ club. But the older I got and the longer I worked in this industry, the more I realised that it’s bullshit! And, worse, that I was complicit in allowing it to happen.”

Mila, who is currently pregnant with her second child, recalled one specific incident when a producer told her she’d “never work in this town again” after she refused to pose “semi-naked” for a men’s magazine while promoting a film.

“What this producer may never realise is that he spoke aloud the exact fear every woman feels when confronted with gender bias in the workplace,” she writes. “I was livid, I felt objectified, and for the first time in my career I said ‘no.’ And guess what? The world didn’t end. The film made a lot of money and I did work in this town again, and again, and again.”

After years of micro-agressions and “subtle sexism” – including one incident where a producer referred to her in official emails as “Ashton’s baby momma” – the actress says she has had enough.

“I’m done compromising; even more so, I’m done with being compromised. So from this point forward, when I am confronted with one of these comments, subtle or overt, I will address them head on; I will stop in the moment and do my best to educate… And if my comments fall on deaf ears, I will choose to walk away.”

This isn’t the first time Mila has spoken out about sexism in the film industry. In 2011 she called out production companies for refusing to see beyond looks when casting films. “The bottom line is if you’re an attractive female in this industry, people just take you as that: attractive. People aren’t getting the opportunity to move beyond being attractive,” she explained to The Hollywood Reporter.

“People are distracted by looks. It happens. I’m not saying it happened to me, but it happens.”

• Ashton Kutcher
• Mila Kunis