Having been sued by the 'Precious' star, the streaming giant has through its lawyers pointed out a contradiction inside her pay complaints and sought to dismiss her claim about its retaliation.
- Jan 16, 2020
AceShowbiz - Netflix chiefs are seeking to have Mo'Nique's discrimination lawsuit against them dismissed, on the grounds that her pay complaints are "nonsensical".
The Oscar-winning star sued the streaming giant last year (19), alleging that an offer of $500,000 (£384,000) for a comedy special amounted to discrimination against a black woman because other stars received far greater sums for similar shows.
Her complaint names a host of comedians and their rumoured Netflix deals, including the $100 million (£77 million) Jerry Seinfeld reportedly received, as well as Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Ricky Gervais, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes' alleged mammoth paydays.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, on Monday (January 13), Netflix's lawyers filed a motion stating the "Precious" star's discrimination claim was contradictory as it named Sykes, another African-American woman.
"(Her) Complaint contradicts its core premise by noting that other persons of colour, other women, and another African-American woman (like Plaintiff) have been paid substantially more money to create comedy specials for Netflix's streaming service than what was offered to Plaintiff," Netflix's attorney Cynthia Nix-Hines writes, adding that Mo'Nique, "fails to explain why she was entitled to be offered what the stars to whom she compares herself were offered for creating such comedy specials."
Netflix chiefs are also seeking to dismiss the comedian's claim that they retaliated against her for speaking out on social media fails because she hasn't proven they "engaged in any conduct after she made her complaints," calling her claim "nonsensical".
In addition, streaming service bosses want several parts of Mo'Nique's suit stricken from proceedings, relating to past incidents on Netflix shows, including allegations Kevin Spacey used racist language on the set of "House of Cards", and alleged pay disparity on "The Crown". They claim raising the matters in Mo'Nique's lawsuit is "impertinent, scandalous and prejudicial".
