Taylor Swift isn’t going to shake off the equal-pay cause of the U.S. women’s soccer team.
In accepting the Icon Award at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday, Swift said it was an honor to receive the honor from co-captain Alex Morgan, who helped guide the squad to a World Cup title this summer. But Swift had a bigger message to deliver about the team’s fight against salary discrimination. (See the clip below.)
“While they were winning the World Cup, they were also taking a historic stand in terms of gender equality, gender pay gap,” she told the audience in Hermosa Beach, California.
“Please, please support her and her teammates because this isn’t over yet. It’s not resolved.”
Swift continued to reinforce her plea to young fans. “What happened to them is unfair,” she continued. “It’s happening everywhere and they are heroes and icons for standing up.”
Team members, including Morgan, sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for alleged gender discrimination in March, asserting they are underpaid for their considerable accomplishments compared with the men. The women’s squad has won two straight World Cups and four overall, while the U.S. men have struggled internationally.
U.S. Soccer recently said the women were actually paid more than the men ― a claim the women’s team quickly dismissed as “utterly false.”
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