Mo’Nique is suing Paramount and CBS, in search of what the Oscar-winning actor and comic says are unpaid royalties from her sitcom “The Parkers.”
The breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by The Associated Press alleges the defendants artificially depressed the present’s profitability to “retain thousands and thousands that might in any other case be contractually due” to Mo’Nique’s manufacturing firm.
“While the Series has proven to be a major financial success for its producers and distributors, the series’ talent have not been permitted to share in the fruits of that success,” the swimsuit says.
The swimsuit was filed by Hicks Media, the manufacturing firm Mo’Nique owns along with her husband and enterprise associate, Sidney Hicks. It names as defendants CBS Studios, Paramount Pictures and the present’s manufacturing firm Big Ticket Productions. It seeks financial damages to be decided at trial.
Emails in search of remark had been despatched to representatives of the defendants.
The swimsuit says the collection’ creators and writers have been equally underpaid, and that Mo’Nique realized of the alleged breach of contract after they just lately filed an analogous lawsuit.
“I simply need the contractual compensation that I’ve earned,” Mo’Nique mentioned in a press release.
“The Parkers,” a by-product of the sitcom “Moesha,” ran for 5 seasons and 110 episodes on the now-defunct community UPN, a forerunner of The CW, from 1999 to 2004. Mo’Nique starred as Nikki Parker, a mom who returns to the identical school her daughter is attending.
The present has been rerun in syndication in numerous kinds since, and has been out there for streaming on Netflix since 2020.
In a earlier lawsuit, Mo’Nique sued Netflix for race and intercourse discrimination in its provide for a proposed comedy particular, accusing the streaming service of giving her a lowball provide that was half of a bigger firm tendency to underpay black ladies. The swimsuit was settled final 12 months.
“Mo’Nique shouldn’t be shy about taking up these David vs. Goliath battles in Hollywood to problem these questionable practices which can be endemic to the business,” David deRubertis, one among her attorneys in each lawsuits, mentioned in a press release.
The 55-year-old actor, whose authorized identify is Monique Angela Hicks, first gained fame as a stand-up comedian and was among the many “Queens of Comedy” featured within the 2000 movie of the identical identify. She received an Academy Award for greatest supporting actress for her efficiency within the 2009 film “Precious.”
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