Mo'Nique sues Netflix for racial, gender bias over $500,000 offer for her comedy special as Amy Schumer bags $13 million
Mo'Nique is suing the streaming giant Netflix for discrimination. She claimed that she was offered $500,000 for a comedy special while Amy Schumer was offered $13 million for hers.
The comedian went ahead and filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday and alleged that she was treated unfairly given her race. She shared that Netflix had offered to pay her $500,000 as a 'talent fee' for a one-hour standup special in 2017. On the other hand, Amy Schumer was offered $11 million for a similar show, but wound up getting $13 million after negotiations.
Mo'Nique also gave examples of several male comedians such as Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock, and Dave Chapelle all of whom are paid much more than she and Schumer. Eventually, Mo'Nique did not end up making a show with Netflix. This is not the first time she has accused the streaming service of discrimination.
In her lawsuit, her attorneys have shared that the pay gap between white men and black women is not limited to lower-paid workers and also extends to Hollywood. As reported by The Daily Mail, she shared, "The pay gap for Black women cuts across the economic spectrum affecting low paid workers and highly compensated ones alike".
She added that even though she was dubbed a 'legend' by a few Netflix executives, she was lowballed. In their first rejection of Netflix's offer, Mo'Nique's representatives wrote, "What makes her somehow … worth $12,500,000 less than Amy Schumer?" In the lawsuit, she also says that there is a lack of diversity amongst Netflix's senior leadership.
"Despite Mo'Nique's extensive résumé and documented history of comedic success, when Netflix presented her with an offer of employment for an exclusive standup comedy special, Netflix made a lowball offer that was only a fraction of what Netflix paid other (non-Black female) comedians," one of her attorneys shared.
"When the talent was not a black woman, Netflix offered to pay, and did pay, astronomically more than it pays to black women like it offered to Mo'Nique," they continued.