Demi Moore she became the highest paid female actress in the world when she took home $12.5 million for the film “Striptease” of 1996, and that’s when the reactions against her started.

During a discussion on the New York Times podcast ‘The Interview’ while promoting the film ‘The Substance’, actor she recalled that people tried to tear her down once she started making money that rivaled male actors.

“Well, with ‘Striptease’ it was like I’d betrayed the women and with ‘GI Jane’ it was like I’d betrayed the men”Moore said.

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“But I think the interesting part is that when I became the highest paid actress and a lot of people didn’t like that… Some people tried to ‘dump’ me financially. I don’t take it personally. However, because I was making a film about the world of striptease and the body, I was extremely embarrassed.”.

The actress was married to her colleague, bruce willis at the time of her ‘Striptease’ pay and while she never compared her career to his, she was aware of the salaries he was getting for his films and thought it was only fair that she was earning what she was making in ‘Striptease’.

“It wasn’t about comparing myself to him. Yes, I saw what he was getting paid,” the actress pointed out. “I said to myself, ‘Why not do it myself?’ After doing the same job… And it’s no different than when I did the cover of Vanity Fair during my pregnancy.

I didn’t understand why this cover became such a big deal… Like I should be hiding my pregnancy. Why should we deny having sex? That’s the fear, right…“, Demi Moore said meaningfully.

Moore’s new film, “The Substance,” hits theaters on September 20.