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The comedienne Mo’Nique has been challenging her supporters to boycott Netflix for color and gender bias, when Netflix presented her with an offer 26 times less than her white female counterpart, Amy Schumer. Most recently, Mo’Nique has attacked Florida A&M University alum Will Packer as a conributer to her "black-balled" reputation by comparing him to Harvey Weinstein when she was a guest on The Breakfast Club radio show.
Packer has responded, saying "there's a reason black Hollywood, a pretty supportive and tight-knit group, is largely silent on this one."
However, Chance The Rapper, a member of black Hollywood, has stated, "I'm with Monique" on Twitter and Instagram.
On Jan. 19, Mo’Nique posted a video on her Instagram account detailing how Netflix, the world’s leading internet entertainment service with over 117 million members in over 190 countries, offered her a $500,000 deal in contrast to commedienne Amy Schumer’s T13 million deal. Twelve days later she posted the Netflix deal, detailing that the $500,000 will deny her the right to “tape or negotiate with any third party with respect to her next comedy special,” a year after the Netflix premier.
Furthermore, Mo’Nique’s Netflix deal also denies her ability to “perform or use any material from the special in any recorded program” for two years after the Netflix premier and after the two years are up, “a first negotiation/first refusal right.”
On Feb. 3, Monique posted emails between her husband/manager Sidney Hicks and “Almost Christmas” producer Packer, in which he accused Packer of being a bully, intimidator and someone who would ruin someone else’s character. The email followed with a video of a fire where trailers blew up on the set of “Almost Christmas.”
Mo’Nique stated that she is “still waiting on an email from Mr. Packer asking if anyone was harmed, injured or if anything was lost.”
The tone of the email sent by Packer, however, did not seem to reveal a bully or someone who attempted to ruin the character of Mo’Nique or Hicks. “Myself, my team, and Universal’s staff have gone out of our collective ways to bend over backwards to make Monique feel comfortable during every step of this process,” Packer said in the email. “You have been trying to renegotiate your deal since you made it,” Packer continued.
Packer concluded his email to Hicks advising him on future communication efforts: “Any further correspondence you deem necesssary please communicate via your attorney, Ricky Anderson, who has managed to maintain strong relationships in this industry despite often being on the opposite side of the negotiation table.”
On Feb. 22, Mo’Nique addressed her issue with Packer to Angela Yee on The Breakfast Club. Mo’Nique compared Packer to Harvey Weinsten’s sexual assault allegations as to why no one else has come forward accusing him of the same accusations. Mo’Nique also accused Lenard McKelvey (Charlamagne Tha God) of not having a “value on black women and women of color.” McKelvey later posted on Twitter that Mo’Nique “degrades a lot of black people too. She … tried to equate Will Packer to Harvey Weinstein. That’s pretty disgusting to me.”
Packer responded stating that the comparison was “slanderous” and reinforced his statement by explaining that black Hollywood is “largely silent” on this issue for “a reason.”
Hours later Chance the Rapper, who won a Grammy as an unsigned artist and has made notable contributions to the city of Chicago, posted on his Twitter “I’m with Mo’Nique.”
Chance The Rapper also posted a picture of Mo’Nique accepting her first Oscar on his instagram with the caption “give her, her coin.”
It’s clear that we’re a long way from a (black) Hollywood ending.
