In Mo’Nique’s new Netflix stand-up special, the Oscar winner spends some time chatting and joking about her time The Parkers. However, a profit-sharing lawsuit filed today against Paramount Pictures, CBS TV Studios and others is no laughing matter.
“Although the series proved to be a huge financial success for its producers and distributors, the series’ talent was not allowed to share in the fruits of that success,” explains the infringement lawsuit against the sitcom, which aired on the Now defunct UPN 1999 to 2004 (read it here).
“The plaintiff is further informed and then believes and alleges that the writers and creators of the series conducted a forensic examination, that this forensic examination of the books and records of the series strongly suggests that the defendants unfairly structured the finances of the series, to artificially lower their profitability and preserve millions that would otherwise be contractually due and owed to the plaintiff,” adds the filing, by law firms deRubertis, APC, and Schimmel & Park, APLC on behalf of Mo’Nique’s production company Hicks Media.
“The plaintiff only recently discovered the violations described herein and/or the concealment of material facts upon learning of the details of the series’ writers and creators’ public complaint,” the plaintiff notes in the LA Superior Court filing. “Before that, they had been lulled by the words and actions of the defendants into believing that all monies were properly paid.”
Although terms like “millions” can be found in the lawsuit, the action doesn’t specify a number that actually does so Mo’Nique and search for your company. However, with a wide range of damages, full accounting and a court-ordered constructive trust as part of the exoneration plaintiff is seeking and the long track record to achieve it The Parkers had TV and syndication, streaming in the first version, we’re talking about a lot of money here
If you only know Mo’Nique from her work on the spin-off, Valuable or her comedy, you won’t be surprised to learn that the actress doesn’t have much patience with the details of Hollywood accounting and punishment. Back in 2019, Mo’Nique stood up and sued Netflix for racial and gender bias and “a discriminatory low-ball offer and ended in retaliatory blacklisting.” After the streamer failed to get the lawsuit dismissed, the parties settled in June last year. On April 4th this year, the Take no Prisoners special My name is Mo’Nique launched on Netflix.
find yourself in it Mo’NiqueIn the legal spotlight, representatives for parent company Paramount Global have not responded to Deadline’s request for comment on this latest lawsuit. When the CBS owners respond, we’ll update this post.