UPDATE (4:51 p.m.) The Wrap reports that McGowan’s former agent, Sheila Wenzel, has left Innovative Artists, and that the agent in fact left the company two days before McGowan claims she was fired. Our original story follows.
UPDATE #2 (June 26, 11:07 a.m.) McGowan has reached out to clarify that she no longer has an agent for acting, and her previous agent was for voiceover work.
Actress Rose McGowan made headlines last week when she took to Twitter in order to call out a rather specific and objectifying casting note she received along with a script for a film starring a “male” actor whose name “rhymes with Madam Panhandler.” McGowan later admitted, to the surprise of no one, that she was referring to Adam Sandler. Now McGowan claims she’s been fired by her agent for speaking out about the Sandler audition, but recent interviews from the actress indicate the cause and effect might not be entirely clear-cut.
The audition note in question, as posted by McGowan, reveals what many suspect: the antiquated casting-couch mentality is alive and well in Hollywood. The note reads as follows:
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
McGowan followed up that tweet with a round of interviews where she talked about her history with sexism in Hollywood. In an interview printed on Tuesday, McGowan told Entertainment Weekly:
Speaking of agents, McGowan took to Twitter again Wednesday night to claim she had been dropped by hers as a direct result of her recent statements.
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
But what’s interesting is that in an interview with Defamer published earlier in the day on Wednesday, McGowan said she had no agent. Speaking about acting projects she regrets, the actress said:
But while the time line of when and how McGowan wound up without representation remains a little unclear, the message she has about sexism in Hollywood is perfectly in-line with the recent momentum we’ve seen from female industry power players. Meryl Streep’s appeal to Congress, Patricia Arquette’s Oscar- acceptance speech, Helen Mirren’s unfiltered condemnation, the A.C.L.U.’s call for action, and the recent unsettling confessions from female directors all paint a rather damning portrait of Tinseltown. As for Rose McGowan, she’s just filled in another corner of the canvas.
VF Hollywood reached out to Rose McGowan’s publicist for comment but has not heard back.