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Male Radio Host Demands Pay Cut For One Selfless Reason

Australian radio personality Dave Hughes says he asked his bosses for a pay cut to ensure that he and his female co-host make the same amount of money.

Fans are now praising Hughes for being a “real man leaning in,” but he’s been quick to point out that his co-host is the “real hero.”

The story began in March, on International Women’s Day, when Hughes’ longtime co-host, Kate Langbroek, announced on air that she made significantly less than he did. “This is heavy hitting. I found out last year that you get paid 40 percent more than I do for doing this show,” she said at the time.

Hughes, who claimed not to know about the pay difference, was “audibly stunned” by the reveal, reported News Corp Australia. “I had no idea what we get paid. Now I feel terrible,” he said.

“You don’t need to feel terrible,” Langbroek replied. “It wasn’t your fault that you were born with two oranges in a string bag.”

Kate Langbroek and Dave Hughes are seen in 2008. The Australian radio duo are hosts of the "Hughesy & Kate" radio show on the KIIS Network. (Photo: Ruth Schwarzenholz via Getty Images)
Kate Langbroek and Dave Hughes are seen in 2008. The Australian radio duo are hosts of the "Hughesy & Kate" radio show on the KIIS Network. (Photo: Ruth Schwarzenholz via Getty Images)

After learning about the pay gap, Langbroek says she immediately went to her bosses at the radio station KIIS Network to discuss increasing her salary to match Hughes’.

Management complied with her request, increasing her salary for the rest of 2016. However, according to News Corp, Hughes’ salary for 2017 had already been “locked in” ― and for undisclosed reasons, Langbroek’s pay was not increased to match it.

Learning this, Hughes said he decided to request a pay cut so he’d be making the same amount as his co-host.

Fair’s fair,” he wrote on Twitter.

Hughes and Langbroek, who are set to join a new radio station in 2018, told News Corp they’ve negotiated with their new employer to ensure they’ll be making the same amount when they start at their new gig. They added that they’ll be discussing their salaries going forward to ensure that parity is always achieved.

People on social media were in a tizzy on Wednesday after news of Hughes’ decision went viral.

But Hughes emphasized that Langbroek deserved the bulk of the praise, for knowing “her worth” and demanding it.

He added that Langbroek would have quit the show if the pay inequality had continued, and he “did not want that.” The duo have been working together since at least 2001.

Earlier this year, actress Emma Stone said that some of her male co-stars in Hollywood had chosen to take pay cuts so she’d get the same pay as them.

“In my career so far, I’ve needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them,” she told Out magazine. “And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair.”

Stone added that “selflessly” taking a pay cut may sometimes be necessary to challenge the status quo.

“If my male co-star, who has a higher quote than me but believes we are equal, takes a pay cut so that I can match him, that changes my quote in the future and changes my life,” she said. “It’s not about, ‘Women are this and men are that.’ It is, ‘We are all the same, we are all equal, we all deserve the same respect and the same rights.’”

In the U.S., women on average are paid 80 percent of what men are paid for equal work. For women of color, however, the wage gap is even greater ― 60 percent for black women and 55 percent for Latino women.

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Viola Davis

In a 2016&nbsp;interview with <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/02/25/viola-davis-interview/#R4h060ZHJiql" target="_blank">Mashable</a>, Viola Davis discussed the pay gap and how a big fight for women of color is first to be paid equally to her&nbsp;white female counterparts. "With me as an actress of color, I have to say to probably contradict myself, that [the pay gap is] not something I think about on a daily basis," she said. "Because&nbsp;the struggle for us as women of color is just to be seen the same as our white female counterparts."<br /> <br />"What are you telling your daughter when she grows up?" Davis added. "'You've got to just understand that you&rsquo;re a girl. You have a vagina, so that&rsquo;s not as valuable.'"<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/02/25/viola-davis-interview/#R4h060ZHJiql" target="_blank">Mashable</a> to read Davis' full interview.&nbsp;</i>

Sandra Bullock

In a 2015 interview with <a href="http://variety.com/2015/film/news/hollywood-gender-pay-gap-inequality-1201636553/" target="_blank">Variety</a>, Sandra Bullock discussed&nbsp;why we&nbsp;need more than equal pay to truly level the playing field for women in Hollywood.&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bigger issue than money,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I know we&rsquo;re focused on the money part right now. That&rsquo;s just a byproduct.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Once we start shifting how we perceive women and stop thinking about them as &lsquo;less than,&rsquo; the pay disparity will take care of itself," Bullock said.&nbsp;<br /><br /><i>Head <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sandra-bullock-wants-more-than-just-equal-pay-for-women_us_56434cf4e4b08cda3486ca67">here</a> to read the rest of the interview.&nbsp;</i>

Beyoncé

In a recent interview with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/beyonc%C3%A9s-first-in-depth-interview-in-years-is-all-about-feminism_us_5703dc89e4b0daf53af0e765">ELLE</a>,&nbsp;Beyonc&eacute; made her views on gender inequality and the&nbsp;pay gap&nbsp;<i>very</i> clear. "When we talk about equal rights, there are issues that face women disproportionately," Bey said. "If your son can do it, your daughter should be able to."&nbsp;<br /><br />The feminist pop star wrote about&nbsp;this same issue in 2014 in a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/beyonce-shriver-report-gender-pay-gap_n_4588398.html">powerful essay for The Shriver Report</a>. "Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change," Bey wrote. "Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect."<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://www.elle.com/author/5008/tamar-gottesman/" target="_blank" data-beacon="{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;entry_text&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:9}}">ELLE</a> to read the rest of Beyonc&eacute;&rsquo;s interview.&nbsp;</i>

Carli Lloyd

In April, star midfielder of&nbsp;the U.S.&nbsp;Women's National Soccer&nbsp;team <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/carli-lloyd-equal-pay-because-women-should-get-what-they-deserve_us_570bb7b4e4b0885fb50d8342?ir=Women&amp;section=us_women&amp;utm_hp_ref=women">Carli Lloyd wrote a powerful op-ed</a> in The New York Times addressing the wage gap that exists between women pro soccer players and&nbsp;their male counterparts. The essay was published just a month after five&nbsp;players from the U.S. national women's team filed a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/sports/soccer/uswnt-us-women-carli-lloyd-alex-morgan-hope-solo-complain.html" target="_blank">wage-discrimination complaint</a> against U.S. Soccer.&nbsp;<br /><br />"We can&rsquo;t right all the world&rsquo;s wrongs, but we&rsquo;re totally determined to right the unfairness in <i>our</i> field, not just for ourselves but for the young players coming up behind us and for our soccer sisters around the world," Lloyd wrote. "Simply put, we&rsquo;re sick of being treated like second-class citizens. It wears on you after a while. And we are done with it."&nbsp;<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/sports/soccer/carli-lloyd-why-im-fighting-for-equal-pay.html?_r=1" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> to read Lloyd's full essay.&nbsp;</i>

Melissa Harris-Perry

In a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/14/melissa-harris-perry-tax-day-pay-gap-men-women_n_3080983.html">2013 segment of her former MSNBC show</a>, Melissa Harris-Perry broke down exactly why it's so important that we close the wage gap.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;Seventy-seven is how many cents women working full time currently make for every dollar men are paid. $11,084 is the yearly wage gap created by that pay deficit between full-time working men and women,&rdquo; Harris-Perry&nbsp;said. &ldquo;Sixty-four cents is how much African-American women are paid for every dollar men earn, showing that women of color are more impacted by these unequal pay disparities.&rdquo;<br /><br /><i>Watch the full segment <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/14/melissa-harris-perry-tax-day-pay-gap-men-women_n_3080983.html">here</a>.&nbsp;</i>

Emma Watson

In a March 2016 interview with Esquire, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/feel-free-to-call-emma-watson-a-feminazi_us_56e033c5e4b0b25c91803910">Emma Watson&nbsp;discussed</a> the gender pay gap and reminded everyone why it's so important to speak up about. "We are not supposed to talk about money, because people will think you&rsquo;re 'difficult' or a 'diva,'" Watson&nbsp;said. &nbsp;<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/news/a9624/esquire-meets-emma-watson/" target="_blank">Esquire</a> to read Watson's&nbsp;full interview.&nbsp;</i>

Jennifer Lawrence

In an October 2015 essay for&nbsp;Lena Dunham&rsquo;s Lenny Letter, <a href="http://www.lennyletter.com/work/a147/jennifer-lawrence-why-do-i-make-less-than-my-male-costars/" target="_blank">Jennifer&nbsp;Lawrence wrote about her experience with pay inequality</a>.&nbsp;She wrote that she didn&rsquo;t want to be deemed &ldquo;difficult&rdquo; or &ldquo;spoiled&rdquo; by demanding more money.&nbsp;<br /><br />"When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with dicks, I didn't get mad at Sony," Lawrence wrote. "I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early."<br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;m over trying to find the &lsquo;adorable&rsquo; way to state my opinion and still be likable! Fuck that,&rdquo; she wrote.<br /><br /><i>Read the rest of Lawrence's&nbsp;essay <a href="http://www.lennyletter.com/work/a147/jennifer-lawrence-why-do-i-make-less-than-my-male-costars/" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;</i>

Nicki Minaj

In a May 2015 interview with Cosmopolitan, Nicki Minaj urged young women to talk&nbsp;about how much they're paid in order to close the wage&nbsp;gap.&nbsp;<br /><br />"Women are uncomfortable talking about money. I know it's taboo to discuss it at work," Minaj said. "You have to ask questions. 'What is this person getting?' Do your research. I've always been pretty competitive in terms of my pay."<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a41113/nicki-minaj-july-2015/" target="_blank">Cosmo</a> to read Minaj's full interview.&nbsp;</i>

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain spoke out in support of Jennifer Lawrence's essay on the wage gap in a 2015 interview with <a href="http://variety.com/2015/film/news/jennifer-lawrence-pay-gap-jessica-chastain-1201618672/" target="_blank">Variety</a>. "There&rsquo;s no excuse," Chastain said. "There&rsquo;s no reason why [Jennifer Lawrence] should be doing a film with other actors and get paid less than her male costars. It's completely unfair."&nbsp;<br /><br />In an&nbsp;October 2015 interview with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jessica-chastain-the-martian-wage-gap_us_56214dc3e4b02f6a900c44cf">The Huffington Post</a>, Chastain added that she's experienced the gender wage gap herself. "Someone wrote an article once that said I made a certain amount of money for &lsquo;The Martian.&rsquo;...&nbsp;I made less than a quarter of that in reality, so there is a huge wage gap in the industry," she said.<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://variety.com/2015/film/news/jennifer-lawrence-pay-gap-jessica-chastain-1201618672/" target="_blank">Variety</a> to read the rest of Chastain's interview.</i>

Salma Hayek

At Variety's Power of Women luncheon in October 2015, Salma Hayek gave a riveting speech on gender equality and the importance of closing the wage gap.&nbsp;"[Women] are 66 percent of the work power of the world. However, we only get 10 percent of the income of the world," she said. "This is really, really sad and tragic."&nbsp;<br /><br />"We are such an economical power, women in the country," she added. "We represent such a strong part of the audience that they cannot ignore us anymore."<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/salma-hayeks-powerful-gender-equality-speech-they-cant-ignore-us-anymore-166771/" target="_blank">Access Hollywood</a> to read the rest of Hayek's remarks.&nbsp;</i>

Judy Greer

In an op-ed for Glamour, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/06/judy-greer-pay-gap-glamour_n_7224226.html">Judy Greer called bullshit</a> on the gender pay gap.&nbsp;&ldquo;In the past few months, I&rsquo;ve become convinced of one thing: If I were a man, I&rsquo;d be paid more,&rdquo; she wrote.&nbsp;<br /><br />"In Hollywood I can continue to fight for more movies and TV shows -- with bigger budgets -- that value women," Greer wrote. "Women who are more than arm candy. Women who are layered and flawed, just like us. Women who kick ass. And yes, women who get paid for it.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br /><br /><i>Head to <a href="http://www.glamour.com/story/actress-judy-greer-end-hollywood-pay-gap?mbid=partner_facebook_huffpowomen" target="_blank">Glamour</a> to read Greer's&nbsp;full essay.</i>

Rosario Dawson

In a November 2015 interview with MTV, Rosario Dawson talked about how&nbsp;the pay gap is different for women of color. "It&rsquo;s a very complex situation when you think about what are black women making in comparison to white women, what are Latin women making, what are Asian women making in comparison," she&nbsp;said. "And it gets even more convoluted."<br /><br />"Male, female, young or old, when people aren&rsquo;t properly being paid for the job, what that does for their children and their access and opportunities&hellip; it just builds up," Dawson added. "Generationally we&rsquo;re impacting people and I hope that that changes."<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/2423831/rosario-dawson-wage-gap/" target="_blank">MTV</a> to read the rest of Dawson's interview.&nbsp;</i>

Carey Mulligan

In a November 2015 interview with <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/11/carey-mulligan-suffragette-interview-feminism-jennifer-lawrence-1201637614/" target="_blank">Deadline</a>, Carey Mulligan applauded <a href="http://www.lennyletter.com/work/a147/jennifer-lawrence-why-do-i-make-less-than-my-male-costars/" target="_blank">Jennifer Lawrence for speaking up</a> about the wage gap.&nbsp;<br /><br />"I think it&rsquo;s a good thing for someone like Jennifer to speak out; it means an awful lot to women," Mulligan said. "...[The discrepancy] is inherently unfair and she has an enormous platform to speak out against it. Men in Hollywood look up to her because she is powerful. She&rsquo;s using that platform to correct something that isn&rsquo;t right."<br /><br /><i>Head over to <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/11/carey-mulligan-suffragette-interview-feminism-jennifer-lawrence-1201637614/" target="_blank">Deadline</a> to read the entire interview.&nbsp;</i>

Patricia Arquette

In her <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/22/patricia-arquette-best-supporting-actress_n_6715610.html">now-iconic acceptance speech</a> after&nbsp;winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, Patricia Arquette made a passionate plea to close the pay gap.&nbsp;<br /><br />Arquette expanded on her speech in a November 2015 interview with The Huffington Post.&nbsp;&ldquo;Basically what I was saying is I don&rsquo;t know why women are never a part of the conversation,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The women&rsquo;s movement hasn&rsquo;t moved at all. ... We don&rsquo;t talk about women at all. They&rsquo;re the invisible part of our whole nation, so I was appealing to our great activist leaders to help women, to remember us, to lend their hand, and maybe that&rsquo;s not my place to say.&rdquo;<br /><br /><i>Head&nbsp;<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/patricia-arquette-says-oscar-speech-was-meant-to-be-inclusive-of-all-women_us_5645fcb7e4b060377348a5a5">here</a>&nbsp;to hear more from Arquette's follow-up interview.&nbsp;</i>

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.