Fresh off the heels of her long-awaited comedy special ‘My Name Is Mo’Nique’ hitting Netflix last week, now Mo’Nique has filed a fresh lawsuit over owed royalties from her hit sitcom ‘The Parkers’ according to fresh reports.
Mo’Nique sued Paramount and CBS on Wednesday, seeking what the Oscar-winning actor and comedian 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 show’s profitability to “retain millions that would otherwise be contractually due” to Mo’Nique’s production company.
“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 says.
The suit was filed by Hicks Media, the production company Mo’Nique owns with her husband and business partner, Sidney Hicks. It names as defendants CBS Studios, Paramount Pictures and the show’s production company Big Ticket Productions. It seeks monetary damages to be determined at trial.
The suit says the series’ creators and writers have been similarly underpaid, and that Mo’Nique learned of the alleged breach of contract when they recently filed a similar lawsuit.
“I just want the contractual compensation that I’ve earned,” Mo’Nique said in a statement.
“The Parkers,” a spinoff of the sitcom “Moesha,” ran for five seasons and 110 episodes on the now-defunct network UPN, a forerunner of The CW, from 1999 to 2004. Mo’Nique starred as Nikki Parker, a mother who returns to the same college her daughter is attending.
The show has been rerun in syndication in various forms since, and has been available for streaming on Netflix since 2020.
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Mo’Nique also took to IG to announce the lawsuit.
Today we filed a lawsuit to make sure that we are fairly paid money that we are owed for “The Parkers”. Actors rely on the good faith of Hollywood companies to honor their profit participation agreements. The Parkers was a huge success and continues to be a source of revenue through syndication and streaming channels. To further make my point, the Executive Producers of “The Parkers” took legal action for the same concerns that I have, and they’ve already settled. Unfortunately, all too often, talent gets kept in the dark. We’re looking forward to shedding some light on the subject!
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It’s not clear how the lawsuit would impact the other surviving stars of ‘The Parkers’ including Countess Vaughn, but best of luck to Mo’Nique in her lawsuit.
If you haven’t seen her new Netflix special yet, check out the trailer below.
