Demi Moore was ‘shamed’ over her $12.5 million striptease salary

Demi Moore's record payday was not without public opposition.

The Golden Globe nominee recently addressed criticism of her daring lead role in 1996's “The Last Man.” stripteaseas well as the controversy surrounding her reported $12.5 million salary for the Andrew Bergman-directed film.

“Well, with stripteaseit was as if I had cheated on women, and with GI Janeit was as if I had betrayed men,” Moore explained on The New York Times' The interview Podcast. “But I think the interesting thing is that when I became the highest paid actress – why did they decide at that moment to take me down? I don't take it personally. I think anyone who was in the position of being the first to get that kind of pay equality would probably have taken a hit. But because I made a film that dealt with the world of stripping and the body, I was extremely mortified.”

She played in striptease as Erin Grant, a former FBI office assistant who, out of desperation, takes a job as a dancer in a Miami strip club while fighting to regain custody of her daughter from her ex-husband. The black comedy also starred Burt Reynolds and Ving Rhames.

Moore was married to Bruce Willis at the time, and her daughter Rumer Willis appeared in the film as Angela, her character's daughter. Meanwhile, Bruce was well known for his leading roles in Die Hard (1988), Hudson Hawk (1991) and pulp Fiction (1994).

“It wasn't about comparing myself to him,” she said. “Yes, I saw what he was getting paid. It was more about, 'Why shouldn't I? If I'm doing the same amount of work, why shouldn't I?' And it's no different than when I did the cover for Vanity Fair pregnant. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal, why women had to hide their pregnancy? Why do we have to deny that we've had sex? That's the fear, isn't it, that if you show your belly that means, oh my god, you've had sex.”

striptease grossed $113 million worldwide, but was panned by critics.