Haim has spoken out on an incident where they were paid 10 times less than a male artist during an appearance at a festival, reports the BBC. The band—comprised of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim—fired their agent after they learned about the massive pay gap.
Haim initially did not think much of their payday because they were hoping the (unnamed) festival would earn them valuable attention. "We had been told that our fee was very low because you played at the festival in the hope you'd get played on the radio," said Danielle. "We didn’t think twice about it, but we later found out that someone was getting paid 10 times more than us. And because of that, we fired our agent."
Alana told Grazia according to the BBC, "It's scary out there and [messed] up not even to be paid half the same amount. But to be paid a 10th of that amount of money? It was insane."
The Los Angeles group have traditionally been outspoken on women's rights issues in the music industry and have a history of supporting women artists. In 2015, Este noted during an interview with Vulture that the sisters had an idea for a "festival that’s just ladies." She said, "We talk about this all the time, how there aren’t enough female represented bands and artists at festivals. You don't see them. And it's really sad for us. We came up with the idea basically of why can’t we just bring back a festival that's just ladies—not that we don't love the boys. Love the men."
Maybe this incident will rekindle the idea for a new Lilith Fair–esque ladies-only fest.
