Comedian and Oscar-winner, Mo’Nique, is currently suing the streaming service Netflix due to alleged race and sex discrimination. Mo’Nique claims that the company is not equal when it comes to how it pays performers, according to TMZ. Netflix offered the comedian $500,000 for an hour-long comedy special, but comedian, Amy Schumer, was paid $13 million for a comedy special similar to Mo’Nique’s.
Michael W. Parks, Mo’Nique’s attorney, released this statement: “Netflix is one of Hollywood’s most innovative companies, yet it not only perpetuates racial and gender inequality, it also takes advantage of [the] gender pay gap that disproportionately affects black women, who nationwide make only 61 cents for every dollar white males bring home. When Mo’Nique, one of the most well-known black female comedians in America, faced that anachronistic attitude, she knew it was time to challenge the status quo.”
Within her lawsuit, Mo’Nique brings the pay gap between actors and actresses on The Crown to the forefront and addresses both the actor Kevin Spacey and executives of Netflix’s use of racial slurs while on the job. With Mo’Nique’s allegations, she is choosing to sue for “unspecified damages and an injunction forcing the company to change [the] policy.”
This suit is not the beginning of Mo’Nique’s charged campaign against Netflix. Mo’Nique commenced these acts in 2018, causing friction between herself and other celebrity entertainers who were supposedly her friends. Steve Harvey took some backlash from the comedian due to him appearing to side with Netflix in early 2019.
In February, Mo’Nique told Harvey, “This is my brother, and when I heard you go on the air and you said, ‘My sister done burned too many bridges. There’s nothing I can do for her now.’ Steve, do you know how hurt I was?”
In response Harvey commented: “We can’t come out here and do it any way we want to. Your husband can’t be the Sidney [Hicks] that he really is out here. This is the money game. This ain’t a Black man’s game; this ain’t a white man’s game. This is the money game!”
To all the comments made, a Netflix spokesperson responded with, “We care deeply about inclusion, equality, and diversity and take any accusations of discrimination very seriously. We believe our opening offer to Mo’Nique was fair – which is why we will be fighting this lawsuit.”
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