Are die-hard feminist Gloria Steinem and her business partner Jane Fonda stiffing their own gal pals on ladywages? The duo's GreenStone Media radio network broadcast its last shows today, and Steinem went on "The Radio Ritas" morning program to refute a Page Six claim that she and Fonda are dodging bankruptcy to save face.
The show's cohost was more interested in how much severance she and her female compatriots will get, and whether they'll have a chance to extend their health benefits until they land other gigs. Steinem, however, insisted on nitpicking the gossip item.
"The item was just backward," she said this morning. "We chose to dissolve rather than go bankrupt because it cost money to go bankrupt. It saved money for the staff." The idea is that, by avoiding bankruptcy, a company can sell off assets, and Steinem suggested that those dollars would be distributed to employees. But a source inside GreenStone tells Radar, "There are no assets! They rent a tiny space and all the equipment." GreenStone CEO Susan Ness told the staff that no one gets paid after Friday—"No severance, no extension of health insurance (COBRA), no honoring of personal contracts," some of which call for three months' severance pay, the source said.
When gently prodded by the morning show cohost, Steinem said employees would get some money but sidestepped specifics. "The important thing is that the [Page Six] item was just backward," she said. "If we'd have gone bankrupt then they'd have been paid even less," she snapped.
What's less than zero?