Barbara Corcoran dismisses women's workplace challenges

Business magnate Barbara Corcoran, best known as an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank, dismissed the idea that men stifle women’s success in the workplace. While on The View Tuesday, she attributed corporate inequality to a case of disparate judgment rather than longstanding bias.

“I think that’s a fallacy promulgated out there… Nobody is putting women down … The women I know that have been in corporate America that made it to a certain rank, they opt out more than anything because they have good judgment,” Corcoran said. “They think ‘Is this worth it?’ No. ‘Is the politics worth it?’ No. ‘Do I want to spend more time raising my family and being a good parent?’ Yes.’ They make a quality-of-life judgment. I think that’s more of it than anything else, than guys putting girls down.”

She added that men make disparate decisions because “they’re too stupid to make a quality-of-life judgment.”

Fellow Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban, who joined her on Tuesday’s panel, disagreed with her concluding statement, arguing that he’d made a “quality-of-life” judgement when he opted to delay marriage in order to build his business, and many of his female colleagues have done the same.

“I made a choice that I had certain goals and it wasn’t about having a family at that point in time,” he said. “We all make decisions and you have to live with it. Probably more than half of the entrepreneurs I’ve invested in on Shark Tank are women.”

Corcoran’s assertions add her to a growing list of female celebrities sounding off about women in the workplace. Last October, Jennifer Lawrence penned an open letter expressing her disappointment upon finding out she was paid less than her male co-stars for American Hustle, with Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Reese Witherspoon, and more later chiming in to back her stance.

Many stars have landed on Corcoran’s side of the discussion, too. Stacey Dash called the outcry around the gender wage gap “just an excuse,” and Jeremy Renner made headlines when he referred to the controversy as sensationalism.

With Tuesday marking Equal Pay Day, the conversation will likely draw more voices into the discussion, both critics and supporters alike.

Watch The View‘s panel debate the topic below.