Mo’Nique Sues Netflix for Racial, Gender Discrimination

Mo’Nique‘s war with Netflix continues. On Thursday, the actress and comedian filed a lawsuit accusing Netflix of making her a “biased, discriminatory” offer for an hourlong stand-up special. Mo’Nique has long called for her fans to boycott the streaming giant after they allegedly offered her $500,000 for a comedy special, a number that she says is more than $10 million lower than the figure offered to comics like Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle.

“We care deeply about inclusion, equity, and diversity and take any accusations of discrimination very seriously,” a Netflix spokesperson told Decider in a statement. “We believe our opening offer to Mo’Nique was fair — which is why we will be fighting this lawsuit.”

According to NBC San Diego, Mo’Nique has filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court that alleges that Netflix attempted to drastically underpay her for an hourlong comedy special in November 2017. The 39-page suit reportedly takes aim at top Netflix executives and accuses them of enabling racial discrimination and perpetuating the gender pay gap. TMZ reports that Mo’Nique specifically points to former Chief Communications Officer Jonathan Friedland, who was fired after using the N-word in a 2018 meeting, and the controversy surrounding Claire Foy’s unequal pay on the first season of The Crown as examples of Netflix’s discriminatory practices.

Mo’Nique first announced her boycott of Netflix in January 2018. In an interview with TMZ TV, the Oscar winner said that Netflix offered her just $500,000 for a comedy special, while “Amy Schumer got an offer from Netflix for $11 million. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle got offers for $20 million.” She insisted that the discrepancy is racially motivated. “I’m a black woman in Hollywood,” she told Harvey Levin. “Why should I have to take it somewhere else when my comedian brothers and sisters have been given these offers based off of their resumes and their tenure in the business?” Added the actress and comedian, “It’s gender bias. It’s color bias.”

The lawsuit filed Thursday reads similarly to Mo’Nique’s initial interview with TMZ. “Despite Mo’Nique’s extensive résumé, when presented with an opportunity to do an exclusive stand-up comedy special for Netflix, she was given a low-ball offer that was only a fraction of what Netflix paid other comedians,” the suit alleges. Mo’Nique is reportedly seeking unspecified damages and hopes to earn an injunction forcing Netflix to address its discriminatory policies.

This story has been updated to include comment from Netflix.