Mo’Nique is suing CBS and Paramount to seek alleged unpaid royalties from her “Moesha” spin-off “The Parkers”.
The 55-year-old comic and actress, who starred as Nicole ‘Nikki’ Parker on the show, which aired for five seasons from August 1999 to May 2004 on UPN, alleges in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the defendants “artificially depressed” the show’s profits to “retain millions that would otherwise be contractually due” to the star and its writers.
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Documents obtained by ‘Page Six’ said: “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 suit was filed by Hicks Media, the production company Mo’Nique owns with her business partner and husband, Sidney Hicks, who she married in 2006.
Mo’Nique Hicks – born Monique Angela Imes – previously sued Netflix for discrimination in 2019, claiming the streaming giant had offered her a “biased, discriminatory” deal of $500 000 for a comedy special – while her male and white female peers received multimillion-dollar cheques for similar content.
Her lawsuit at the time alleged: “Netflix reportedly offered or paid (Chris) Rock, (Dave) Chappelle, (Ellen) DeGeneres and (Ricky) Gervais 40 times more per show than it offered Mo’Nique, and it offered (Amy) Schumer 26 times more per show than Mo’Nique.
“In short, Netflix’s offer to Mo’Nique perpetuates the drastic wage gap forced upon Black women in America’s workforce.”
Netflix hit back that it intended to fight the lawsuit because the company felt its opening financial offer was “fair”, before the streamer settled with her in undisclosed terms more that two years later.