Netflix Shares Statement Responding To Mo'nique's Discrimination Lawsuit

BYAron A.Updated on September 26, 20223.4K Views

Mo'Nique attends the BET Hip Hop Awards '10 at Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center on October 2, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Netflix is ready to go to court.

After making allegations of bias pay, Mo'nique has finally filed a lawsuit against Netflix over discriminatory pay. However, Netflix does not seem like they're backing down from this. They've issued a statement claiming that they did offer her negotiations over her 2017 special.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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

In her suit against Netflix, she accused the company of "bias discriminatory" offer to her. Mo'nique was offered $500K for her special while her male and non-black female peers in the industry received higher offers. "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," it reads in the docs she filed. “When the talent was not a Black woman, Netflix offered to pay, and did pay, astronomically more than it pays to Black women like it offered to Mo'Nique."

Mo'nique has previously received support from Chance The Rapper for speaking out against Netflix over their alleged discriminatory bias against her.

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.