James R | On 17, Nov 2019

Mo’Nique has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing it of discrimination.

The Oscar-winning actress and comedian, won an Academy Award for her supporting role in 2009’s Precious, filed the complaint because she says the streaming giant offered her $500,000 for a 2017 comedy special, a fraction of the high figures Netflix offers to male comedians, such as Chris Rock and Ricky Gervais, and white, female comics, such as Ellen DeGeneres.

Mo’Nique, whose full name is Monique Hicks, said the lowball offer for the one-hour stand-up show indicated racial and gender discrimination on the part of the streamer.

“While the sky seems to be the limit when it comes to Netflix’s content budget, estimated at $19 billion in 2019, there apparently is a ceiling when it comes to Netflix’s willingness to pay talent of certain demographics, namely, Black women,” her lawsuit reads (via Bloomberg.

The complaint was filed on Thursday in Los Angeles.

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

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