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The late 'Everybody Loves Raymond' actress was a renowned campaigner against age discrimination. She even testified at a 2002 Senate hearing on ageism in the media. She told People: "They like to airbrush us out of existence."

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Comedian and actress Kathy Griffin has described the twin problems of sexism and ageism as "probably my two biggest battles." In 2016, she told People that, at 55, she was accustomed to being overlooked for roles because of her age.

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While still in her early thirties, Anne Hathaway told Glamour UK that she was already losing roles to younger actresses. Speaking in 2015, she said: "All I can do right now is think that thankfully you have built up perhaps a little bit of cachet and can tell stories that interest you and if people go to see them you'll be allowed to make more."

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Jamie Lee Curtis has expressed her horror at ageist attitudes on a number of occasions. In a 2021 interview with British publication NME, she said: "There’s no question; there are some jobs that you will lose or some jobs that you won’t get because of your age.”

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Outspoken actress Jane Fonda is well aware of the double standards when it comes to male and female ageing. In 2015, she told The Daily Telegraph: "Ageism is alive and well. It is OK for men to get older, because men become more desirable by being powerful."

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If Hollywood is ageist, the world of modeling is arguably even more so. At the age of 34, model Irina Shayk told People that she felt "so lucky" to still be working in the industry.

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Actress Patricia Arquette is outspoken on the issue of ageism, but wishes it wasn't necessary. She told Elle: "I'd love to not have to talk about it anymore. I don't think men are talking about it at all. Aging is just normal!"

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Although she's enjoyed career success into her seventies, actress Jessica Lange has said that Hollywood is "not a level playing field," telling AARP that "ageism is pervasive in this industry."

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Actress Glenn Close spoke out against ageism at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, adding: "It's kind of ironic, because we're at the peak of our power. We really are."

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Tina Fey has long made cutting jokes about Hollywood's ageism problem. Co-hosting the Golden Globes with Amy Poehler in 2014, she joked that: "There are still great parts in Hollywood for Meryl Streeps over 60."

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British actress Helen Mirren called out ageist casting choices as "outrageous" at an event hosted by The Wrap in 2015. She added: "We all watched James Bond as he got more and more geriatric, and his girlfriends got younger and younger. It’s so annoying.”

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Mirren was responding to Maggie Gyllenhaal's report that, at 37 years old, she had been told by producers that she was "too old" to be cast as the romantic interest of a 55-year-old man.

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In a 2018 interview with the UK's iNews, Julia Roberts dismissed ageist attitudes, saying: "It’s silly and I don’t think anybody buys into that."

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Co-star Cynthia Nixon supported the show's decision to keep it real. She said: “I like that we’re not trying to youthify the show. We’re not including, like, a 21-year-old niece.”

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American singer Bebe Rexha shared in a 2019 Instagram post that a media industry executive had dismissed her as "too old to be sexy," at age 29. In her post, the singer said: " I’m tired of women getting labeled as “hags” when they get old and guys get labeled as sexy with age."

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Parker told Vogue that the reaction extended to co-stars Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Davis. She said: "It almost feels as if people don't want us to be perfectly OK with who we are."

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Jennifer Aniston is another star who doesn't appreciate some of the dialogue around ageing. On turning 50 in 2019, she told Allure: "Very little offends me, but what I do think is becoming dated are things like, 'Oh, you look great for your age.'"

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In an interview with Vogue, Sarah Jessica Parker spoke out on some people's reaction to the news that she was stepping back into Carrie Bradshaw's shoes nearly 20 years after 'Sex and the City' ended.

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Responding to comments on social media, the star said: "I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?"

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One key takeaway from the debate around ageism in show business is how unfairly it is slanted towards women. With all the fuss around how the 'Sex and the City' ladies are looking, very few people seem to be asking how well Mr. Big (Chris Noth) has aged!

Sources: (Vogue) (NME) (Allure) (Insider) (People)

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Nicole Kidman used her acceptance speech at the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards to thank trailblazing older female actors and to implore the industry to put "passion and money" behind the stories of older women.

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Applauding Bebe Rexha's clapback, model and TV host Tyra Banks told Access: "I actually really feel for that person that is being very ageist and is saying something very negative because when age starts to hit them, it is going to be traumatic."

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Meryl Streep herself has plenty to say on the issue of ageism. In 2011, she told Vogue: "Once women passed childbearing age they could only be seen as grotesque on some level.”

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In a 2015 interview, Gyllenhaal told The Wrap: "It was astonishing to me. It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh.”

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In a 2016 interview with British Vogue, 'Fifty Shades of Grey' actress Dakota Johnson slammed the "brutal" show business industry. She cited her mother and grandmother, the actresses Melanie Griffith and Tippi Hedren, as examples of ageism, asking: "Why isn't my mother in movies? She's an extraordinary actress! Why isn't my grandmother in movies?"

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In 2017, Banks removed the upper age limit to compete on 'America's Next Top model.' After hosting 23 cycles with a '27-or-younger' restriction, she said: "You want to audition for ‘America’s Next Top Model’? I don’t care how old you are, honey."

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Amy Poehler has described ageism in Hollywood as "systemic," but offered a tip. She told the Press Association: “If you’re a director, a male director or a male actor and you have a spouse in your movie, make them the same age as you. I think that’s an easy fix."

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People had more to say about Madonna's "unrecognizable" appearance than her speech at the 2023 Grammys, and the icon threw a few more words back at her critics. She wrote in an Instagram post that it was an honor to introduce Kim Petras and Sam Smith for their performance of 'Unholy,' since Petras was the first openly trans woman to perform at the award show, then criticized people for talking more about the photos "taken with a long lens camera" which she says "would distort anyone's face" instead of the way she celebrated "the fearlessness of artists like Sam and Kim."

"Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny that permeates the world we live in," she continued. "A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 and feels the need to punish her if she continues to be strong willed, hard-working and adventurous."

Madonna added: "I have never apologized for any of the creative choices I have made nor the way that I look or dress and I’m not going to start. I have been degraded by the media since the beginning of my career but I understand that this is all a test and I am happy to do the trailblazing so that all the women behind me can have an easier time in the years to come." She concluded by quoting Beyoncé’s track ‘Break My Soul’ and emphasizing that she will not stop pushing boundaries, "standing up to the patriarchy," nor "enjoying my life."

It's no secret that show business does not embrace the ageing process, particularly where female stars are concerned. And while the problem of ageism in the entertainment industry is nothing new, famous figures are becoming increasingly vocal in their objections to it. Ready to get outraged? Click through this gallery to find out how celebs feel about ageism.

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Supermodel Heidi Klum knows the feeling. In a 2018 appearance on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' she asked: "Do we have an expiration date?"