Cape Town - Oscar-winning actress and comedienne Mo'Nique sued Netflix on Thursday for racial and gender discrimination. The streaming giant allegedly only offered the star a fraction of what other comedians are paid.
According to NBC News, the suit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court accuses Netflix of giving a "biased, discriminatory" offer to Mo'Nique for a one-hour comedy special around November 2017, while other stars were offered tens of millions of dollars. This includes the likes of Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer and Ricky Gervais.
"Despite Mo’Nique’s extensive résumé and documented history of comedic success, when Netflix presented her with an offer of employment for an exclusive stand-up comedy special, Netflix made a lowball offer that was only a fraction of what Netflix paid other (non-Black female) comedians," the lawsuit filed by her lawyers read.
The 51-year-old comedienne confirmed the lawsuit in an Instagram post.
"Hi my loves – I can confirm that today I filed a pay discrimination lawsuit against Netflix," she began.
"I had a choice to make: I could accept what I felt was pay discrimination or I could stand up for those who came before me and those who will come after me. I chose to stand up," she continued before saying she had no further comment on the matter.
SEE THE POST HERE:
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix responded to the allegations stating that they take accusations of discrimination very seriously.
"We care deeply about inclusion, equity, and diversity and take any accusations of discrimination very seriously," they said."We believe our opening offer to Mo'Nique was fair — which is why we will be fighting this lawsuit."
