5 Times Celebs Were Honest About The Orgasm Gap

It may be 2025, but gender equality is still a long way off. While strides have been made, according to a 2022 report by the United Nations, it will take 286 years for all the disparities between women and men to close, making us officially equal in all ways. Although when we think about inequality, we tend to focus on income, positions of power, and of course, bodily autonomy, there's another place where striving for equality still exists: in the bedroom.

While stats vary a bit depending on the participants involved, for the most part, the majority of people with vulvas need clitoral stimulation to orgasm. One 2018 study published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy surveyed over 1000 women between the ages of 18 and 94, finding that only 18.4% of respondents can climax through penetration alone. The rest of the participants either needed clitoral stimulation to orgasm or to simply make sex more enjoyable. People with penises, on the other hand, don't usually face orgasm-related challenges. According to a 2018 study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, 95% of cisgender heterosexual (cishet) men report having an orgasm every time they have sex, while only 65% of cishet women could say the same. In other words, the orgasm gap is real.

There's no shame in struggling to orgasm with your partner, but there is shame in ignoring the orgasm gap. Thankfully, these celebrities aren't afraid to talk about it. 

In March 2023, on Rachel Bilson's Broad Ideas podcast, Whitney Cummings admitted that she hadn't had an orgasm during sex in all the years she was on birth control. "Now that I'm not on birth control, my sex drive ... by the way, I'm going to say this, wild thing. To say: I have not had an orgasm from sex until I went off birth control," Cummings said, per People. "Never had it in my life until I turned 40 ... But I could do it with my hands."

Birth control has long affected the sex drives of those who take it — for better or worse. In January 2024, The New York Times reported on 36 studies that had been analyzed by researchers and found that of the 13,700 women in those studies, 15% experienced a decrease in their libido while taking birth control.

Although a lower sex drive can be a factor in why someone might not be able to orgasm during sex, as Cummings pointed out, she was still able to climax through masturbation. So while the birth control may have been the reason for her decreased sex drive, in this case, it wasn't affecting her ability to climax. That was likely due to the orgasm gap.

On the same episode of the Broad Ideas podcast in which Whitney Cummings admitted her inability to have an orgasm during sex, host Rachel Bilson shared that she didn't climax during sex until she was 38 years old. "I was the same as you," said Bilson in March 2023, per People. "It didn't happen for me until I was about 38. Isn't that crazy?" Bilson explained that, like Cummings, she could achieve an orgasm on her own, but she couldn't get there from penetration alone.

Not only did Bilson share her orgasm gap experience, but she encouraged people to be more open about the topic of sex, saying it shouldn't be "taboo" to discuss sex with your friends. "It should feel like a safe space to be open, because so many people go through similar things," Bilson told Cummings. "And what's better than to have a support system, or feel like you're being heard and having a space to do so?" Part of practicing sexual self-care is talking to your friends openly about sex and sexuality. It helps remove the shame and stigmatization that our culture has embedded into all things pleasure-related.

Although Nicki Minaj has a lot of admirable qualities, one that really sticks out is how fearless she is. Minaj has never been afraid to call things (and people) out and call things as they are. Naturally, when it comes to the topic of sex, the rapper is just as outspoken and wants others to be as well. 

In an interview with Cosmopolitan in May 2015, Minaj shared that she "demands" she always has an orgasm during sex. "I demand that I climax. I think women should demand that," Minaj said, adding that she has a friend who's never had an orgasm in her life. "That hurts my heart. It's cuckoo to me. We always have orgasm interventions where we, like, show her how to do stuff. We'll straddle each other, saying, 'You gotta get on him like that and do it like this.' She says she's a pleaser. I'm a pleaser, but it's fifty-fifty," said Minaj. After all, fifty-fifty is true equality.

In June 2022, on her podcast, Burke In The Game, Cheryl Burke admitted that she's never had an orgasm during sex. Calling it her "biggest confession," in her interview with sex therapist Miss Jaiya Ma, Burke said, "I've never really, I guess, had an orgasm before when it comes to intercourse," per E Online. Burke went on to explain that her not being able to orgasm had nothing to do with her partners and everything to do with her shame and past trauma. According to a 2021 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, PTSD and "sexually-based index trauma" can contribute to sexual disorders, including pain, lack of desire, satisfaction, and function. 

In the same episode, Burke said she never spoke up about the fact that she didn't have an orgasm to protect the feelings of her partners, saying, "I didn't want to hurt anyone." Burke didn't say that she'd been faking it all those years, but faking orgasms may not be as bad for your relationship as you thought. Faking it is an easy way to give your partner an ego boost or get around the pressure that comes with the expectation of having an orgasm. However, don't sideline your own pleasure for the sake of someone else's needs or ego. 

Similar to Nicki Minaj, you can always expect Amy Schumer to divvy out her two cents on any topic, and to do so without fear of who she might be upsetting with her candidness. In July 2015, Schumer talked to Glamour about not just the orgasm gap but — gasp — clitorises. (Frankly, more people should be talking about clits in general.)

"Do what you feel you want to do while also considering how you'll feel the next day. Don't not have an orgasm," Schumer told the magazine, per HuffPost. "Make sure he knows that you're entitled to an orgasm. I like to say it. I'll be like, 'Hey, there are two people here.' I'll be like, 'Oh my God, have you met my clit?' Don't be self-conscious."

While introducing your partner to your clit can help you orgasm — after all, those who don't have clits may be a bit confused as to location and function — knowing how you like your clitoris stimulated is key. That's where masturbation comes into play, and the more you self-pleasure, the better understanding you'll have about your sexual needs and wants.