Mo’Nique and Netflix have reportedly resolved her lawsuit in which she accused Netflix of racial and sexual discrimination for reportedly offering her a lowball offer for a proposed comedy special.
According to Michael Parks, a lawyer representing Mo’Nique in the lawsuit, the issue has been “amicably resolved.”
The conditions of the agreement between the streaming behemoth and the comedian and Oscar winner were not disclosed Wednesday, when they jointly filed for the case to be dismissed in a Los Angeles federal court.
Embed from Getty ImagesNetflix did not respond to a comment request, and the law firm representing the company in the lawsuit declined to comment.
According to Mo’Nique’s lawsuit, Netflix executives commended her work before offering her $500,000 for a comedy special in early 2018 and refusing to compromise further. According to her suit, this represented the company’s propensity to underpay Black women.
In contrast, the suit claimed that Netflix was willing to make a deal with other comedians, and that it had made deals worth tens of millions of dollars for comedy specials from Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Dave Chappelle, and Ricky Gervais.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn a statement issued at the time, Netflix rejected the principal allegations of the suit, which was filed in November 2019.
“We care deeply about inclusion, equity, and diversity and take any accusations of discrimination very seriously,” Netflix said then. “We believe our opening offer to Mo’Nique was fair – which is why we will be fighting this lawsuit.”
The suit claimed Netflix violated California’s fair employment and civil rights laws and is representative of pay inequity for Black women.
Mo’Nique, born Monique Angela Hicks, was one of the Queens of Comedy and starred in “The Parkers” tv show, she also starred in “Precious” and took home an Oscar for best supporting actress.
