The possibility of high returns incentivizes unestablished actors to accept minimal wages in exchange for roles. Economics Īccording to economists Thomas Borcherding and Darren Filson, the high risk and returns in Hollywood cinema encourage the casting couch phenomenon. In The Atlantic, linguist Ben Zimmer described the casting couch as 'a metonym for the skewed sexual politics of show business', which has been normalized into a cliché due to the prevalence of sexually aggressive men with positions of authority in Hollywood cinema and Broadway theatre. In the United States, the majority of lawsuits related to the practice are settled, resulting in a lack of case law. The casting couch is illegal under United States and California law.
