Mo’Nique Settles Discrimination, Retaliation Suit Against Netflix
American streaming platform, Netflix has finally settled a lawsuit filed by popular comedian, Mo’Nique where the platform was accused of discriminating and retaliating against the comedian by refusing to negotiate with her in good-faith.
According to Mo’Nique, Netflix had discriminated against her by approaching her with what she called a low-ball offer.
Earlier this week, both sides moved to dismiss the suit though details and terms of the deal were not made public.
It should be recalled that in 2017, Netflix approached Mo’Nique for a comedy special at a time when the streaming platform was aggressively ramping up its stand-up content.
However, the negotiations didn’t get far because the Oscar-winning actress did not agree to what she considered a low opening offer of $500,000 for a one-hour show that Netflix would have complete control over, including owning the copyright and retaining all audio-only rights to the special.
She protested the offer as discriminatory, which resulted in Netflix backing out of the negotiations with her back then.
The comedian eventually sued Netflix for its refusal to proceed beyond its initial opening offer and accused the streaming platform for systematically underpaying Black women.
She wasted no time in pointing to 8-figure deals with Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Amy Schumer, who allegedly leveraged other comedians’ compensation during negotiations and was paid 26 times more than what Mo’Nique was offered.
