Mo'Nique and Netflix Settle Racial and Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Mo'Nique and Netflix have settled their years-long legal battle. In court documents obtained by ET, on Tuesday Mo'Nique Hicks and Netflix agreed to dismiss the lawsuit she brought against them on Tuesday, «including without limitation all claims alleged therein, with prejudice, with each party to bear her or its own costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees.» No further details of the settlement were disclosed.In 2017, Netflix and Mo'Nique began discussions for the comedian to film a comedy special to air on the streamer.
According to the original complaint, the idea fell through when Netflix made an offer that she found «biased, discriminatory» — an 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.
The 54-year-old protested the offer, noting that other comics received much more. When Mo'Nique countered, Netflix allegedly shut down negotiations and blackballed her.In a video posted in 2018, Mo’Nique pointed out the discrepancies between her offer and other comedians' pay.
According to a report by , Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle were reportedly given $20 million per special as part of their deals with Netflix (Rock signed on for two at $40 million total; Chappelle, three for $60 million total) and Amy Schumer reportedly signed a deal for $11 million for «Then Amy Schumer went back and renegotiated two more million dollars because she said, 'I shouldn’t make what the men are getting, they're legends, however, I should get more.' And Netflix agreed,» Mo'Nique added.
